Challenges of Change: Faith, Gender, and Development

Abstract

This report addresses the relationship between faith, gender, and development in the world's poorer societies. It explores social changes that accompany development, taking religion as a lens and focusing on how women observe, understand, and influence these transformative processes. This report explores relationships among religion, gender, and the international development agenda, asking first what we know and what we do not, and second what seem to be the emerging issues and debates. More specifically, the report examines progress and examples of best practices, where religion appears to be a positive force advancing women's rights and welfare. It also explores tensions, difficulties, and gaps in knowledge and understanding. The goal is to illuminate the major issues and provide a framework for understanding them, so that the joint issues of religion, gender, and development receive greater attention and engender a more purposeful dialogue.