An Exploration of InterAction’s NGO Members’ Interfaith Collaboration

Religion has long been a conduit for charitable acts and work within the NGO sector. Because of similar values and principles, members of the faith community have a strong and inherent bond from their religion. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have long known the importance of interfaith collaboration in program planning and working with program participants.

Members of the Together Project represent InterAction’s broader membership’s diversity, spanning different faiths, sizes and operations. In speaking with the Together Project’s core Members, Muslim faith-based organizations and Associate Partners, who range from Jewish to Catholic to secular, we noted the overlap of their operations. Often, Members work in the same country on similar projects and even undertake country programs jointly.

This study was developed to highlight interfaith collaboration among InterAction Members and the success and challenges that come with it. It will provide examples of interfaith collaboration to demonstrate how crucial this often is to successful international development programs and humanitarian assistance delivery. The study concludes with the recommendation to promote interfaith collaboration in programs abroad as the world faces some of the worst crises in decades.

JLI Resource listed in the study: Partnering with Local Faith Actors to Support Peaceful and Inclusive Societies