Talk sponsored by the Forum on Religion and Democracy:

Why International Development Projects Often Fail — and a Path Forward
A New Paradigm Applied to Community Mental Health in Tanzania

Sub-Saharan Africa is littered with failed projects in education, healthcare, and beyond — internationally funded initiatives designed without a real understanding of local realities. This talk examines why and introduces a clinical- developmental approach, rarely applied in international development, that situates lives in context and builds interventions that fit. Through a case study in Tanzania, I show its promise for improving the mental health and well-being of one of the region’s most vulnerable groups: poor rural women. 

The approach highlights the importance of person- centered, context-focused contributions from anthropology, psychology, psychiatry, public health, education, and policy to strengthen global development efforts that genuinely improve lives. 

Lunch provided

Michael Kaufman, PhD, MBA, is a clinical, developmental, and personality psychologist whose work focuses on mental health and well-being in international development. He has worked in Tanzania for eight years, including as a Fulbright Scholar and faculty member at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, and now serves as Senior Research Scientist at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute. He is also the founder of Affiliates Global, an international development consultancy advising initiatives in healthcare and education in East Africa. Kaufman's current project is funded by the Kiphart Fund at the University of Chicago.