FAITH in Ghana Alliance Re-organizes for Greater Participation and Impact

In 2015, ahead of a national election, Ghanaian faith leaders from eight Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal religious bodies joined together as the FAITH in Ghana Alliance to assure peaceful voting and that both major political parties would abide by the election results. Their success led to other joint projects to educate students about corruption, protect the environment, and combat land-grabbing. In 2019, members of the FAITH in Ghana Alliance began a conversation with Faith in Action international about partnering to promote greater grassroots leadership in the Alliance. In April, Rev. John Rutsindintwarane and Fr. Innocent Rugaragu from PICO Rwanda, Gordon Whitman from Faith in Action International, and Rev. Juard Barnes, from Faith in Action traveled to Ghana to participate in a national meeting of religious leaders and visit local communities. The outcome was a decision by religious leaders to re-organize the FAITH in Ghana Alliance for greater impact and to support grassroots organizing in each of the 16 regions in the country. Ghana is known for close ties between Christian and Muslim communities, and the new grassroots direction for the FAITH in Ghana Alliance is meant to harness that collaboration to engage local residents across faith traditions in organizing to improve access to water, electricity, sanitation, health, education and other vital needs. Our next step is returning to Ghana to support an August three-day leadership training retreat in community-based multi-faith organizing for 100 clergy and lay leaders from eight regions.