Global Development
The world's leading religious traditions all emphasize the importance of solidarity with the poor and suffering. Religious communities are among the most important players in the politics and policy of development in the US and around the world. For all its importance, the religious factor in global development is poorly understood. Development professionals are overwhelmingly secular in outlook, and collaboration between governments, international organizations, and religious communities is not extensive. Berkley Center programs examine the engagement of religious and secular organizations around challenges of development, including HIV/AIDS, education, and economic growth. Center events, research, and teaching serve to increase our knowledge about activities at the intersection of religion and development and to bring together stakeholders to explore best practices and foster collaboration.
Read the report on Challenges of Change: Faith, Gender, and Development created for the Women, Faith and Development Alliance’s Summit Breakthrough: The Women, Faith, and Development Summit to End Global Poverty at the Washington National Cathedral in April 2008. >>more
At the Center
Katherine Marshall, an expert on questions of religion, ethics, and development with many years of leadership experience at the World Bank, is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Center. She coordinates the Global Development theme within the Luce/SFS Program on Religion and International Affairs.» more
Berkley Center Blog Washington Post On/Faith Blog
On June 24-25, 2008, the Berkley Center will convene a Workshop on Global Development with Faith-Inspired Organizations in Africa and Europe. The Institute for Social Sciences at the Hague, Netherlands, and the World Faiths Development Dialogue are partners. » more
In April 2008, the Berkley Center published Challenges of Change: Faith, Gender, and Development for the Women, Faith and Development Alliance’s Summit Breakthrough: The Women, Faith, and Development Summit to End Global Poverty at the Washington National Cathedral. » more
On December 17, 2007, the Berkley Center and the Center for International and Regional Studies at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar, hosted a Symposium on Global Development, Organizations, and Faith in the Muslim World. » more
In November 2007, the Center published Faith Communities Engage the HIV/AIDS Crisis: Lessons Learned and Paths Forward and set up a dedcicated database page that tracks the activities of faith-inspired groups in this sector. » more
On April 16, 2007 the Center hosted a Symposium on Faith-Inspired Organizations and Global Development Policy: US and International Perspectives. » more
Through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, the the Center convened NGO leaders to discuss religion and housing issues in December 2006 for the Faith and Shelter project. » more
In December 2006 Berkley Center Undergraduate Fellows completed a research project on: "Religious and Secular Approaches to Development: A Common Ground?"
In collaboration with the Luce/SFS program, the Center is developing a Religion and Development Database that tracks the engagement of religious communities worldwide around questions of education, healthcare, and poverty relief. » more
Around the University
The School of Foreign Service now offers a Certificate in International Development. "Ethics, Religion, Culture and Development" is one of its five subfields.
The Pacem in Terris Lecture series, sponsored by the President's Office, has featured a number of speakers working at the intersection of religion and global development.
The Institute for the Study of International Migration, School of Foreign Service, applies social science, legal and policy expertise to the complex and controversial issues raised by international migration. It is home to the ISIM Humanitarian Network and the International Migration Journal.
The Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD), established within the Medical Center more than four decades ago, serves vulnerable children and their families and works to influence local, state, national and international programs and policy.
Database Information
Religion and Development Database
The Religion and Development Database tracks the activities of religious communities across a range of development issues including poverty relief, health care, housing, gender, and education. Users can filter results by country, tradition, and topic area.
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Faculty Profile
Carol Lancaster
Carol Lancaster, Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies and co-chair of the Berkley Center's faculty seminar on Religion and Development, recently co-authored (with Ann Van Dusen), Organizing U. S. Foreign Aid: Confronting the Challenges of the 21st Century (Brookings Institution Press, 2005). The book argues that while US foreign aid has increased in recent years, the way it is organized and delivered by the U.S. government has become increasingly fragmented and chaotic. The proliferation of federal agencies engaged in foreign aid has created serious disconnects and inefficiencies in the use of this important tool of U.S. foreign policy. Lancaster and Van Dusen offer several models for streamlining the organization of foreign aid. In a forthcoming book on the politics of development policy, Lancaster includes a discussion of the growing salience of faith-based organizations in the development field.
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