Berkley Center

Michael Gerson, a Washington Post columnist and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, addresses the link between faith and international development, with a focus on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Since PEPFAR’s creation in 2003, nearly three million Africans have been given antiretroviral drugs, and a range of related public health projects in the developing world continue to be carried out through the program. A broad coalition, including many faith communities, played a crucial role in securing funding for it and other key programs. Evangelicals in particular have become more engaged. Their increasing concern with foreign assistance and global health has created some strange bedfellows, including collaboration with more secular-minded development professionals, but has proved very effective in practice. The military leadership, too, increasingly recognizes such programs as a critical part of any comprehensive national security policy. In the tightening budget environment, these successful programs are under threat, and faith communities will need to make their voices heard again to ensure their political survival.