Opinion: The world is becoming more religious. That matters for development

With faith influencing the lives of billions, and a major element of the social and political context in which global development efforts take place, it is simply too significant a force in the world — both for good and for ill — to be disregarded. Since the 1990s there has been remarkable progress in human development. But in the last five years, the very lowest-income countries have seen these gains stall, and in some cases go into reverse. The climate crisis, conflict, debt, and economic inequality stand in the way of poverty eradication. If we are to effectively tackle these biggest global issues, we need to better understand the world in which we operate. As leaders at Islamic Relief and Christian Aid, we see that among many global development groups, faith is a force that is either marginalized or ignored. There are a variety of reasons for this. Faith is often seen as a source of division that undermines principles of universality and impartiality. The secularization thesis, which proposes that as people become richer, more rational world views push religious belief and practice to the margins, has underpinned a lot of Western thought about global development, and often leads to religion being seen as a barrier to progress. Yet irrespective of our personal or institutional affiliation, faith undeniably plays a significant part in the identity, beliefs, and daily decisions of a large majority of the world’s people, especially in the lowest-income countries. As the demographic weight of the global south increases, the world is arguably becoming more, rather than less religious. This gap in religiosity between higher- and lower-income countries risks driving a wedge of mutual incomprehension between development groups in the global north and those in the global south. Indeed, we fear the failure to apply a faith-literate approach to development will come at a cost in terms of community acceptance and effectiveness. Our organizations, in partnership with the University of Leeds and the Joint Learning Initiative, are convening an international conference this week — 12 years after the defunct U.K. Department for International Development launched its faith partnership principles — to explore the role of faith in international development. It is our hope this conference will help established development groups, from bilateral donors to international NGOs, to better understand this landscape and engage more effectively with faith as a key factor in development. Working with faith groups, and taking account of faith, is not without its challenges. Some religious beliefs and practices foster inequality and marginalization. Faith groups’ particular strength, of being grounded in communities, often means that they are also operating at a small scale. The role of faith groups in sectors such as health and education can come at the expense of state capacity and accountability. But that unique trait of being locally rooted and globally networked is also a powerful asset in reaching parts that other development groups cannot reach. In the poorest parts of the world, it is often mosques, churches, and temples that are most effective in responding to people’s needs. As locally embedded institutions that strengthen people’s voice and agency, they can also sow the seeds for long-term systems change and become indispensable in a decolonized approach to development. Local faith leaders have enormous potential to drive initiatives that get girls into school, challenge harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, and promote peace building and mutual tolerance. The ecumenical pilgrimage for peace to South Sudan last year by global church leaders is but one example of the positive role of faith. Religious communities have long played an outsized role in movements for change, on debt cancellation, trade justice, anti-corruption, good governance, and climate justice. The former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, when asked to reflect on what he would have done differently in relation to the influential 1980 Brandt report, reportedly said, "Too many economists, not enough anthropologists." He meant that the report had not paid enough attention to the role of culture and religion in development outcomes, and that they were neglected at the cost of effective development efforts. It is our ambition to remedy that imbalance, and to foster a more holistic approach to development, which responds to the reality of life as it is lived in communities affected by poverty. Governments and policymakers, in the U.K. and globally, need to integrate faith better into their work, if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved. Dig into Roots of Change, a series examining the push toward locally led development. This is an opinion piece produced as part of our Roots of Change series. Click here to learn more.