Evaluating the strength of faith: Potential comparative advantages of faith‐based organizations providing health services in sub‐Saharan Africa

Governments and funding agencies are increasingly partnering with faith‐based organizations (FBOs) to deliver sought after health services in sub‐Saharan Africa. Despite the fact that FBOs have been major providers of health services for hundreds of years, governments and funding agencies are increasingly seeking to formally partner with them, understanding that they can be found in most communities around the world, and may also be more effective than other types of non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). However, there is currently no comprehensive theoretical framework to compare faith‐based and secular non‐profits. This article proposes an analytic framework for identifying potential FBO comparative advantages above and beyond those of NGOs, looking specifically at FBO health service delivery in sub‐Saharan Africa. This article suggests that the most important comparative advantage that FBOs bring to health service delivery in sub‐Saharan Africa is moral and ethical standing. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.