Berkley Center

Ghana embodies two conflicting realities: a forerunner and model of international development, grappling with uncertainties linked to global developments and dynamic political and social forces; a robust and thus contentious democracy in an increasingly troubled region where democratic institutions seem to flag. Ghana’s youthful and diverse society contends with unsustainable foreign debt, social and cultural debates (many tinged with religious overtones), governance challenges, and the tensions and aspirations of today’s globalized world. With religious engagement in many respects an accepted and “normal” part of the landscape, Ghana’s government and development partners have had little impetus to see religious actors explicitly as central players in development work. In practice, national and international development actors engage with religious institutions on strategic national development in a highly piecemeal fashion. Many analyses of Ghana’s development lack even passing reference to the religious landscape. 

This project, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, aims to strengthen strategic religious engagement and practical operational models, focusing on the thematic areas of education and support for society’s most vulnerable. It is part of Towards Better Strategic Religious-Development Engagement: Exploring and Comparing Challenges through Education and Social Protection, a project conducted by the World Faiths Development Dialogue with support from the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University and the Joint Learning Initiative for Faith and Local Communities.