Resources

The initial draft of this text was developed based on discussions at workshops in Geneva (May 2018), New York (July 2018), and Rome (July 2018). It included comments and feedback received from partner organizations, the international advisory committee members, and…

This targeted resource brief provides a selection of works published by academics, NGOs, and faith actors (FAs) on the role that faith plays in contexts of forced displacement. The resources are grouped into the three main areas in need of…

To maximize the significant opportunities presented by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the international community must recognize the experience and capabilities of faith actors (FAs) and break down existing barriers to partnerships to enable a more comprehensive, effective, and…

Amidst the talk of the weakening of multilateralism in this age of disrupting political shifts across the world, and the worrying effects of climate change, the role of the United Nations has never been more important or its relevancy more…

Despite considerable strides made in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, it still remains a formidable challenge in the areas of public health and general development in the continent. This entails that there is no gainsaying the need for continued…

In Africa, more than four in every 10 women of reproductive age want to avoid pregnancy. However, 47% of African women who do not want to become pregnant either use no contraceptive method or use traditional methods, which typically have…

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a form of gender injustice which affects millions of girls and women in the world and is deep rooted in social gender norms and practices. GBV is a leading cause of death, illnesses and disabilities of…

Drawing upon evidence compiled in a recent literature review, we identify five arguments for seeking faith-sensitivity in psychosocial programming: it is indicated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS); it is implied by…

Sept 2018 As faith-based organizations working with refugee communities across the globe, ACT Alliance, Catholic Relief Services, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and Islamic Relief recognize the important role that the GCR can play in building the political will to address the…

Reflections on missionary and wider faith-based approaches to development Misean Cara is an Irish and international faith-based missionary movement working with poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities in more than 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle…

Conceptual Framework and Current Development Context July 2018 The missionary approach to development interventions is driven by the Christian inspiration and ethos of the global movement of missionary organisations1 (see Figure 1, above). Specific features of the missionary approach make…

THIS IS A SUMMARY of the Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding Analysis Guide, which is written for people working to address violent conflicts where religion plays a role in the conflict or can play a role in peacebuilding. It provides…

Association, Dissociation, Kindness, Justice and Compassion Responses to 50 faith-based arguments against peaceful co-existence and an introductory examination of Islamic textual evidence for peaceful interfaith relations See Da'wah Insititute Website

More than 200 million women in the developing world want to avoid pregnancy but currently are not using family planning. Family planning can contribute to reductions in maternal and child mortality and improve health and wellbeing. Christian hospitals, clinics, and…

Five key questions were posed to the panelists of the multi-faith discussion at Hartford Seminary on November 13, 2016. These eminent thinkers, representing different faiths, reflected on the questions together and contributed insights from their respective traditions. Following the discussion,…

Faith-based programmes were successful to improve general health maintenance, cholesterol and blood pressure levels, weight, and cardiovascular health previously, but have been unheeded to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) status. We designed a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) to evaluate the effectiveness…

Partnering through Faith South Sudan Context and overview

This essay examines local and international Christian efforts on Mount Kilimanjaro to educate children. A prevailing idea among people who live on the mountain is that children engender trust and trade. This idea is illuminated through the adage 'Take the…

This paper addresses the operations of faith-based humanitarian organizations and their rationale for the measures taken for education provision for the non-camp Syrian children in Turkey. In unveiling the role of the Islamic humanitarian sector in exercising education facilities for…

Religion is a powerful force in southern Africa, affecting all aspects of daily life and health (Anderson 2001, Chitando 2007a), particularly among rural women (Agadjanian 2005). Rural churches are a center for informal social interaction, shaping attitudes and behaviors of…

There is a growing interest within academic and policy circles surrounding the roles played by local faith communities (LFCs) and faith based organisations (FBOs) in responding to displacement.i This trend contrasts with some of the significant negative and secular assumptions…

These Guidelines provide a critical framework for engagement with faith‐based organisations (FBOs). They are not a blue‐print. Like all similar guidelines, these are provided with the pragmatism that each UNFPA Country and Regional Office will consider them in light of the specific political, social, cultural and economic circumstances.

Accounts of humanitarianism regularly address the historical influence of religious traditions and commitments in shaping our understanding of this field. Whether focused on ancient writings regarding obligations to others, the religious views and backgrounds of key humanitarian figures of the…

Adaption and innovation: meeting humanitarian needs in fragile and conflict contexts There is no simple roadmap for operating in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The nature of these contexts requires constant learning, adaption and revision. And although contexts vary considerably, World…

The Code of Best Practices for Christian Refugee Ministry is designed as a benchmark document to guide the policies and practice of organisations regarding Christian humanitarian service and witness to refugees, internally displaced people and asylum seekers. It is not…

Report developed by the International NGO Council on Violence against Children on harmful practices. Includes information on harmful practices based on religion and concrete recommendations to religious leaders, faith based institutions, etc.

Report developed by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children on armed violence in the community. See section 5.6.1 for the role of community and religious leaders and actors.

The impact of the Interfaith Peace Platform on the peace process in the Central African Republic Geneva Liaison Office of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Together with Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, president of the Central African Islamic Council, and Archbishop…

For more than 15 years “Fundacion Una Brisa de Esperanza” (Breeze of Hope Foundation) has been using an innovative approach for comprehensive management for children victims of sexual violence. This document of the case study does not use religious language…

To a large extent, governance capacity and community resilience explains the nature and structure of the response. In this report, three case studies – from Angola, Mali, and Honduras – of actual responses to climate change and conflict are presented.…

Developing Effective Partnerships Between Faith and Secular Actors to Challenge Discriminatory Gender Norms and Secure Rural Women’s Rights Co-hosted by: Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in New York, the ACT Alliance, DanChuchAid and UNFPA in partnership with Christian Aid,…

Overview of Ethiopian Faith-Based Organizations’ response for the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Child Early Forced Marriage (CEFM) from 2010-2016. This report provides a baseline to engaging FBOs for future programming and provides evidence on how FBOs have…

Policy brief from Tearfund- Queen Margaret University Research Social connections and levels of trust among displaced and settled communities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq Full article on the study

HIV services provided in the country of Kenya and the percentage of those services provided by the faith-based sector.  This work was carried out as part of a Joint Initiative between the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the…

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Email: [email protected]  Internet: www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FaithForRights.aspx In March 2017, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched its initiative on “Faith…

The first Inter-agency Consultation on FBO Engagement took place at UNFPA headquarters on Wednesday, 9 July 2008. The meeting comprised representatives from various United Nations agencies that have some experience and insight regarding programmatic engagement with faith-based organizations (FBOs). For…

This report provides an overview of the engagement with faith-based actors and faith-related activities by the members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging Faith-Based Actors for Sustainable Development (short: UN Task Force on Religion and Development or…

“Churches’ Commitments to Children” is an open invitation to the WCC member churches and partners to address the needs of children as an integral part of the ecumenical commitment to the pilgrimage of justice and peace. The present document has…

Engaging with Faith Groups to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls in Conflict-affected Communities Globally, one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is particularly prevalent and hard to…

Brief from the Center for Security Studies in Zurich Religion is a factor in conflict and further understanding of the relationship is needed to resolve these conflicts. Challenges and opportunities in mitigating religious conflicts and effective approaches.  

Based on the Fez Process As efforts to prevent atrocity crimes and their incitement are most likely to succeed when different actors are working in collaboration, the Plan of Action also includes recommendations for other actors, including States and state…

Alliance for Peace Annual Conference: Peace Now More than Ever Session: Beyond a Leap Of Faith: Evaluative Reflections on the Practices of Monitoring and Evaluating Inter-Religious Peacebuilding October 13, 2017 Panelists Peter Woodrow, Executive Director of CDA Collaborative Learning Projects James Patton,…

In its seventh annual iteration, the United Nations Strategic Learning Exchange (SLE) to Develop Literacy Around Religion and Development expanded the collective literacy and understanding of UN system entities and some of their governmental counterparts, in their work with faith-based…

SECULARIZATION VS THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN HUMANITARIAN AID Until the late seventies secularization was understood, almost universally, to be irreversible, equated with modernization and progress. Religious institutions seemed to have lost much of their influence. Religion had little or…

The aim of the presentation is to highlight the role of faith-based actors in conflict related humanitarian response by drawing on specific experiences from Norwegian Church Aid's work and partnership with two of our many local FBO partners namely The…

Although faith based organizations (FBOs) have had a long presence teaching health personnel and delivering health services to many rural and remote populations in the developing world, their poor visibility for this work can be due to several factors. FBOs…

This report presents the conclusion of a preliminary study aimed at shedding light on the role of Sunni Muslim religious discourse in the Syrian crisis and understanding how to assess this discourse and turn it into a tool to end…

Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security Prepared by the Soka Gakkai International October 2017 In March 2011, the northeast region of Japan known as Tohoku1 was hit by a natural disaster of enormous magnitude: The Great East Japan Earthquake.…

World Vision Central African Republic (World Vision CAR) has been implementing a variety of social cohesion and peacebuilding programmes as a part of its larger response to an ongoing humanitarian crisis. World Vision began operations in the CAR in 2014.…

The current crisis in Central African Republic (CAR) is often framed in religious terms, with a ‘Muslim’ Seleka group seizing power in the majority-Christian country in early 2013, then with ‘Christian’ militias called the ‘anti-Balaka’ rising up to counter this.…

The changing nature of armed conflict over the past century has seen an increasing impact on civilians. It is estimated in most current conflicts that up to 80% of those affected by displacement, injury and death are women and children.…

Partners: Tearfund and Queen Margaret University, supported by the Universities of Duhok and the American University of Kurdistan, in the Duhok Governorate Location: Kurdistan Region of Iraq Religions involved: Yezidi and Muslim research participants. Tearfund is a Christian faith-based organization. The research…

The  Review of Faith and International Affairs has just published a special series on Reconsidering Religious Radicalism See Full Journal Here   Includes the following articles: Reconsidering Religious Radicalism: An Introduction to the Summer 2017 Issue Judd Birdsall & Drew Collins Radicalism,…

Report conducted by Arigatou International GNRC and Goldin Institute (GI), on Experiential Stories of Former Child Soldiers (FCS), it is noted that the human race is losing close to 20,000 children daily on brutal wars. Children are conscripted against their…

Studies in Muslim-Christian Cooperation This publication presents case studies on interreligious action, highlighting specific approaches and tools that CRS staff members created and the networks they helped forge. They address shortcomings as well as successes and delineate lessons garnered from everyday experience. They…

In South Kivu in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), various church actors have chosen to involve in advocacy and mobilization through a formalized civil society structure known as La Société Civile (LSC). In this article,…

This contribution from an insider Muslim author provides peace workers with a few resources from Islamic tradition that could be used when addressing a conflict rooted in an Islamic context. It presents briefly a number of basic Islamic concepts that…

Promotion of a culture of peace and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace 26 September 2016 Report of the Secretary-General The present report provides an overview of the activities that have been carried out by the main…

102 UNICEF offices provided information about their extensive work with faith communities over recent years. Partnerships included sensitization activities, capacity development, and support for advocacy and social mobilization. The mapping report concludes: “With evidence of UNICEF’s extensive engagement with religious communities in plain view, UNICEF must now turn its attention to maximizing the benefits of its partnerships with these critical actors”

Quranic schools (QS) play a central role in the education system in the Islamic world. Despite their relatively small numbers, QS teachers play a major role in introducing Islamic values to the public. Thus, working with QS becomes a key…

Interfaith initiatives respond to the violence and uneasy tensions of our times and interfaith efforts aim to confront the root causes, especially those that touch on religious beliefs and practices. Interfaith work looks to identify solutions in common values and…

Islam, like all religions, strongly influences social, economic and political spheres of life. Tenets that are perceived to be Islamic shape the status of and relationship between women and men. These tenets result in women – because they are women…

Role of Religion and Religious Leaders in Farmer-Pastoralist Conflict in Plateau State: An Inter-Religious Peacebuilding in Northern Nigeria (IPNN) Qualitative Research Report In the context of persistent, low-intensity conflict, which has characterized Nigeria’s Middle Belt for the past decade, Mercy…

From analysis to action: World Vision’s journey of rapid context analysis in humanitarian emergencies This briefing explains one of the tools that World Vision has developed in order to assess contexts rapidly: ‘Good Enough Context Analysis for Rapid Response’ (GECARR).…

Presentation by Dr Jeff Haynes Centre for the Study of Religion, Conflict and Cooperation, London Metropolitan University, UK at the Third Annual Symposium: The Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs in NY. Focus: How do FBOs affect…

This report provides an overview of the engagement with faith-based actors and faith-related activities by the members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging Faith-Based Actors for Sustainable Development

The sharpening focus on global health and the growing recognition of the capacities and scope of faith-based groups for improving community health outcomes suggest an intentional and systematic approach to forging strong, sustained partnerships between public sector agencies and faith-based…

Effective Inter-religious Action in Peacebuilding (EIAP) Guide for Program Evaluation Peter Woodrow and Michelle Garred, with assistance from Diana Chigas, and contributions from David Steele and Ricardo Wilson-Grau CDA Collaborative Learning Projects The Alliance for Peacebuilding and its partners in…

Presentation from Maryam Dada Ibrahim at Faith Works Africa: Partnerships for Peace and Prosperity on Conflict Prevention, Migration and Counter Violent Extremism. Includes next steps and recommendations in engaging faith based groups.

Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), in collaboration with CDA Collaborative Learning and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) recently convened a group of 30 leading experts to discuss how to better measure the effectiveness of inter-and intra-religious action for peacebuilding. The meeting…

Click here to read what IMA World Health is doing related to Faith-Based Organization (FBO) Engagement: http://imaworldhealth.org/faith-based-organization-fbo-engagement/

Statement from FBOs regarding unmentioned faith in the Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 during WCDRR 2015 in Sendai Japan. To see the document, and other publications by the Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, click here: http://www.humanitarianforumindonesia.org/Download/SeminarMaterial.aspx

The Syria crisis alone is the worst humanitarian crisis since the second world war. The following eBook, shows a basic  explanation of the refugee crisis, how life as a refugee destroys children's future and steps anyone can take to make a difference. To…

This case study provides an overview of how a peace movement led by lay religious women inspired people across ethnic and religious lines and helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003). The study examines this Liberian…

Since the conflict began, more than 1,900 Palestinians – including women and children – have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. Over 1.5 million people are without reliable access to basic services and the public health system…

Religious approaches have special significance for health issues facing Guatemala, and religious institutions play vital, but often piecemeal, roles in healthcare. Religious health missions fill important gaps, but can undermine local capacity. This brief seeks to assess healthcare in Guatemala…

This report, published with the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies (CIRIS), offers background on the January 2016 Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Minorities in Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities. Muslim scholars and politicians issued the Marrakesh Declaration as…

Islamic Relief report, Invisible Lives, outlining how a lack of livelihoods options, chronic underfunding and the threat of violence, is making life difficult for Syrian women refugees living in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon.

The case study reviews the religious landscape in Kenya and provides an overview of the various types of violence, pointing to the complex overlapping of ethnicity and religion. The difference between types of conflict and their causes are explored, with…

This article explores the role of Religious Leader Engagement (RLE), a capability under development in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and operational focus of the CAF Chaplain Branch. It stands as a recent contribution to the Comprehensive Approach. Full length…

"Faith-based Interventions in Peace, Conflict and Violence: A Scoping Study" was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on May 23, 2016 at the JLIF&LC & Soka Gakkai International Side Event "Evidence on Religious Groups' Contributions to Humanitarian Response". For more…

Report from the Second Donor-United Nations-Faith Based Organizations' (DUF II) Policy Roundtable This technical report focuses on the role of religious actors, and religious considerations in the SDG agenda, particularly as they pertain to gender equality, peaceful coexistence and security…

This article underlines the need to move beyond the exhausted notion of all religions preaching peace to studying the specific manner in which violence is legitimised in each religion. This is the first step liberal secularists need to take if…

With the unexpected and disconcerting reemergence of religion as a first order cleavage in global politics, scholars and policy makers have been scrambling to bring some analytical order to the phenomenon. In this article, the author seeks to show why…

Article by Saferworld Bangladesh, January 2016 By involving religious leaders and using their influence in the local community, a Saferworld project in Bangladesh has been able to more effectively address safety and security issues and promote peace, write G.M. Shoeb…

Reflections and recommendations on "Working on Religion, Peace and Conflict in Theravada Buddhist Countries" arising from an exchange between peacebuilding practitioners held 19-21 March 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. The reflection contains four pages. They include highlights and summarized recommendations.

The aim of this Toolkit is to help lower the discomfort of USAID staff in making the analytical and programmatic connections between conflict, religion and peacebuilding. The Key Issues section provides additional arguments for why development practitioners should—and can—address religion…

Global disparities in maternal and newborn health represent one of the starkest health inequities
of our times. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have historically played an important role in providing
maternal/newborn health services in African countries. However, the contribution of FBOs in service delivery
is insufficiently recognized and mapped.

World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) in collaboration with UNICEF carried out a study to survey what religious groups are doing to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and to develop an improved and detailed understanding…

These Guidelines provide a critical framework for engagement with faith‐based organisations (FBOs). They are not a blue‐print. Like all similar guidelines, these are provided with the pragmatism that each UNFPA Country and Regional Office will consider them in light of…