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Understanding the Effects of Faith: A Comparison of Religious and Secular HIV Prevention NGOS in Kenya
Author(s) -
Hershey Megan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3075
Subject(s) - faith , kenya , faith based organizations , legitimacy , sociology , religious organization , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , political science , law , politics , theology , medicine , philosophy , family medicine
Religious non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) are active in development efforts, yet the role faith plays in these organizations—and its effects on programs—remains unclear. Drawing on evidence from a study of Kenyan NGOs, I find that faith rarely emerges in the programs of Christian religious NGOs. I argue that both secular and religious NGOs are constrained by donor restrictions and a need for legitimacy that simultaneously remove religious elements from religious NGOs and promote minimal religious practices within secular organizations. The second half of the article discusses the nuanced ways in which faith does manifest within the organizational characteristics and practices of NGOs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.