Faith-Based Organizations and Poverty Reduction Strategy in Liberia (2008-2011)

Abstract

The article explored the role Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) played in poverty reduction strategy of Liberia over a specified period 2008-2011. Five organizations were studied, namely: the Lutheran Development Services (LDS), CARITAS Monrovia Office, Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Community Development Services Program of the United Methodist Church, and Humanity First Liberia. The paper adopted a qualitative research method and a case study design. The study materials consisted primarily of relevant scholarly literature and documents on the poverty reduction program of Liberia, as well as program reports, evaluations, interviews, and plans from the five sampled FBOs in Liberia. Significantly, the article argues for the role of five FBOs in Liberia's development efforts on the grounds that secular development practitioners have not paid enough attention to the role of religion and/or FBOs in development thinking and practice. For instance, Jeffery Haynes states that ‘’the role of religion was often explicitly excluded from the national development programs by modernization processes often led by secular government practitioners in many parts of the developing world’’ (Haynes 2007, p. 4), of which Liberia is part. The overall conclusion based on the findings revealed that the role of the five FBOs was included in the poverty reduction strategy program of Liberia from 2008–2011. It pointed to the separation of state and religion and the fact that the Republic of Liberia is a secular state in the 1986 constitution. Even though the role of the five FBOs was excluded, the conclusion is that, on the ground, in the Liberian context, the five FBOs are actively involved with poverty reduction or development work to the extent that they contributed to two pillars of the poverty reduction strategy: infrastructure, basic social services, and economic revitalization.