What difference does faith make to the work of faith-based development organisations? As official donors increasingly recognise the complex and intense connections between religion and development, many are asking European FBOs to articulate the value added of their faith. Some staff, trustee boards and Southern partners are also asking FBOs to be more explicit about what they believe and how this makes a difference to their practice.
However, many FBOs are reticent to do this. This may be partly because: they do not want to seem exclusive; they do not want to be seen as condoning or engaging in proselytic activity; they do not want to appear arrogant; and simply because they do not know how to go about it.
Currently, there are few examples to learn from. This Praxis Note describes one attempt to research the impact of faith, using as case study an FBO-run child development programme (CDP), funded by an international sponsorship scheme. The research was undertaken by a Masters student at Birmingham University with an international FBO in Uganda.
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Praxis-Note-55 - Assessing the impact of faith - Anna Aiken
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