Catholic and Non-Catholic NGOs Fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issue Framing and Collaboration

While governments in sub-Saharan Africa work to provide in-country relief for the HIV/AIDS crisis, much health care and infrastructure comes from local or international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The literature on NGOs suggests that collaboration increases their efficacy. Many non-Catholic NGOs do not work collaboratively with Catholic NGOs on HIV/AIDS, though the Catholic Church has rich and varied resources at its disposal for relief work. Observers often characterize the incompatibility of Catholic and non-Catholic NGOs as tactical, especially with regard to condom use. However, divergent issue framing is a critical and more fundamental distinction between the two groups. Contrasting the Catholic Church’s unique spiritual frame with the scientific frame of many non-Catholic NGOs highlights the epistemological and teleological differences between the two. Reconciling these differing approaches, or finding ways to cooperate despite them, is a key element of promoting broader NGO collaboration on HIV/AIDS relief work. This theoretical analysis suggests directions for future empirical research