Effective Giving as a Means to Interreligious Conflict Reduction

With more than 110 active armed conflicts in the world and more and more countries recording a drop in peacefulness, it is more important than ever to foster collaborative interfaith efforts and bring together groups of differently-minded people to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Previously developed theories such as contact theory and economic empowerment suggest that both social and economic factors need to be taken into consideration to reduce intergroup violence. Our proposal is that effective giving, a method of philanthropic giving to the most cost-effective charities in the world, meets the needs of both the social and economic criteria to reduce intergroup violence. At One for the World, an effective giving organization, we have seen how different groups of people can come together and form deep social bonds when aligned over a similar cause. We propose that using the same organizing principles as existing interfaith initiatives has potential to contribute to a reduction of violence and an increase in positive intergroup attitudes between those groups.