Resources

Religions for Peace (RfP), the global multireligious network, is a founding partner of the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI), which focuses on mobilizing religious actors to protect the critical tropical forest basins of the Amazon, the Congo, and Southeast Asia. WFDD…

This review outlines the findings of a literature analysis conducted by the World Faiths Development Dialogue  on behalf of Religions for Peace, focused on the intersections between religion, gender, and climate change in three rainforest regions: The Amazon, Congo Basin,…

Religions for Peace and the World Faiths Development Dialogue explore the manner and extent that both latent and manifest gender roles are reflected in the approach to the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative and its management. By probing this often-neglected dimension of…

An increasing number of recent studies on mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) points to the importance of cultural adaptation of MHPSS programmes to suit the context in which they are applied. There is a significant need for MHPSS interventions…

The 2022 Evidence Summit brought together more than 430 faith actors and faith-based organizations (FBOs), donors, and peacebuilding practitioners across 12 unique sessions to explore evidence on strategic engagement and partnership with faith actors and FBOs in the peacebuilding, development,…

Niger is a secular country with a Muslim majority. The communities live in harmonious peace and cultivate the spirit of living together regardless of ethnic or religious differences. Freedom of worship is a reality in the country. However, in recent decades,…

Religion is a positive force for peacebuilding and preventing violent extremisms (PVE). Indeed, religious institutions and actors play an important role in building peace yet underutilized instruments in the prevention and resolution of violent extremisms. The objective of this research…

This brief is aimed at policymakers, practitioners and donors working on PVE, conflict and peace and/or research capacity-sharing. It summarises key learnings from a PVE-focused collaborative research capacity-sharing project implemented by the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities…

The G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20), which has convened annually since 2014, brings important dimensions to the G20 process. It shares some features with other engagement groups but has distinctive aspects that relate, above all, to the widely diverse landscape of…

This report evaluates contemporary interreligious dialogue activities in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. In order to do so, it introduces a theoretical framework for analyzing interreligious dialogue activities in the Middle East and presents a cross-national analysis of contemporary dialogue…

An Exploration of InterAction's NGO Members' Interfaith Collaboration Religion has long been a conduit for charitable acts and work within the NGO sector. Because of similar values and principles, members of the faith community have a strong and inherent bond…

This publication aims to highlight the actual and potential roles of faith actors in contributing towards an effective and holistic response to child displacement in Europe and Central Asia. These roles range from providing shelter and other material support to…

Report following the ‘From Faith to Action’ online conference, 10 - 11 December 2020 The “From Faith to Action” initiative focuses on children escaping conflict, persecution, natural disaster or poverty, and brings together UNICEF and stakeholders from faith-based communities who…

2020 G20 Interfaith Forum May 27, 2020 The COVID-19 crisis highlights the urgent need for G20 leaders to support and protect tropical rainforests. Destruction of these forests poses an existential threat to the future global climate: deforestation results in emission…

A G20 Interfaith Forum Policy Brief (Draft) October 12, 2020 Hate Speech: A Global Phenomenon that demands collaboration and engagement of religious and non-religious leaders In a continuously globalising reality, hate speech has increasingly become a powerful factor in the…

In the absence of any effective medicine or vaccine, COVID-19 remains a global threat. Social and political sciences inform us about patterns of behaviour among individuals, communities, societies and states in times of crisis and conflict. In such situations, policymakers…

Learning Exchange with Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik from Alliance for Peacebuilding June 17, 2020 Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TH7pVwINFk&feature=youtu.be Jessica Baumgardner-Zuzik, Senior Director of Learning & Evaluation at Alliance for Peacebuilding, presented on the Eirene Peacebuilding Database, AfP's #CreativityInCrisis video series, and the Effective Inter-religious…

Council on Foreign Relations Webinar, May 14, 2020 Mary Evelyn Tucker, senior lecturer, senior research scholar, and codirector of the Forum of Religion and Ecology at Yale University, discusses religion and climate change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbzc3XxzZZ4&feature=youtu.be You can access the webinar and transcript here.

The Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities conducted a survey with faith leaders across the world to gauge their levels of awareness and understand the challenges that they face, in order to develop the right tools and knowledge resources to better…

MEAL DPro provides an overview of basic MEAL concepts and introduces tools and processes which underpin strong MEAL systems, focused on the use of quality data to improve programming. It is accompanied by a series of online learning materials on…

The Public Health, Religion and Spirituality Bulletin is a publication of the Public Health, Religion, and Spirituality Network. The Bulletin aims to be a place to highlight research, teaching, and practice, past and present; share ideas, resources, and opportunities; house…

Introducing the Network for Dialogue: EMPOWERING INTERRELIGIOUS AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE FOR THE SOCIAL INCLUSION OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES The Network for Dialogue was initiated in 2018 by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) in order to bring faith and civil society…

iDove – Interfaith Dialogue on Violent Extremism Training and Training of Trainers Manual including Teaching Material In February 2017, the African Union Commission’s Directorate of Citizens and Diaspora Organizations (AUC-CIDO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, commissioned…

2019 Kofi Annan Faith Briefings at the United Nations July 15, 2019, New York City The 2019 Kofi Annan Faith Briefing was held during the High Level Political Forum and guided by the theme, “empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and…

Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework (KASF) 2014/15 – 2018/19 embraces a multi-sectoral approach to HIV programming and emphasizes the importance of participation and accountability in every sector in the HIV response. This calls upon communities to respond to HIV within their…

For over five decades, USAID has partnered and collaborated with civil society actors, of which faith-based, faith-inspired and local community organizations play a vital role towards achieving developmental goals. The United States writ large is an extraordinarily generous country. Faith-based…

This note on the 2019 G20 Interfaith Forum highlights what happened, with some analysis of key points. This ambitious effort aimed to bring together a “network of networks”, linking religious actors working on global issues within the broad framework of…

May 1st to 3rd, 2019 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Eigtveds Pakhus, Copenhagen At the closing of last year’s GAM held at Château de Bossey, Switzerland, the PaRD Steering Group gratefully accepted the invitation by PaRD member Ministry of…

UN Environment held its fourth Environment Assembly during 11-15 March 2019, with the themes of sustainable consumption and production, and innovative approaches to solving environmental issues. The Faith for Earth Initiative held its thematic dialogue in the Faith and SDG…

The December 2016 international conference held in Nanjing to discuss the theme “Religion, Values, Ethics and Development” was one of the few in China to bring together both scholars of religion and faith-based development practitioners. Co-organized and hosted by the…

This report provides an analysis of data gathered for a learning review of the Amplifying Community Voices programme. A participatory research process gathered qualitative data from a range of stakeholders through interviews, focus groups, community and household visits in March…

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…

Mozambique’s Interfaith Program against Malaria (PIRCOM) developed the volunteer, Christian and Muslim sermon guide. They provide basic facts about malaria prevention and health seeking behavior, providing scriptural texts in support of the actions that a family should be taking. These…

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…

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

The factor "faith" receives too little attention in global development cooperation despite the fact that human development is inseparably interwoven with worldview. The societies and cultures in which development projects are implemented are deeply influenced by religion. At the same…

Learning to Play Together, the initiative featured in this booklet, sought to introduce ethics and intercultural learning into physical education using Arigatou International’s Learning to Live Together programme as a foundation. It was launched in Greece in 2011 by Dr.…

The Partnership Note sets out broad guidance for UNHCR staff to engage with, reach out to, and partner with faith actors in the context of forced displacement. It describes UNHCR’s understanding of the range of faith actors and the role they play in humanitarian responses. The Note also flags the challenges of partnership and highlights instances where we would not normally engage owing to humanitarian and human rights considerations. More importantly, it contains examples of good practice and lessons learned from existing partnerships in the field and highlights principles that are a point of departure for dialogue and cooperation with faith actors and communities, while setting out actions and activities to put these principles into practice. The Partnership Note may be used as point of departure for conversations on many issues between UNHCR and faith actors. It can also help guide you, as partners, to establish dialogue across faiths and with a range of humanitarian 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…

Brief from Musawah: a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, which advances human rights for women in Muslim contexts, in both their public and private lives. Also see more information on Musawah's course on Islam & Gender Equality…

University of Potsdam Germany 15-17 June 2017 website: g20interfaith.org see brief here More than a hundred experts and leaders from fields ranging from economy, law, politics, religion, development to humanitarian aid, coming from 30 different countries, gathered for the fourth…

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,…

The Capacity for Interreligious Community Action program (CIRCA) was a three-year capacity-building program financed by GHR Foundation and supplemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The overarching goal of the program was to contribute to human development and more peaceful coexistence…

Salvation Army International Magazine Salvation Army Website [embed]https://issuu.com/salvationarmyihq/docs/atw-oct_2017-web[/embed]

The following policy brief focuses on lessons learned around attitudes toward engaging faith more broadly.

In Senegal, many people are uncertain what their religious traditions teach about birth spacing and family planning. the Cadre des Religieux pour la Santé et le Développement (CRSD) is an interfaith association of Senegalese faith leaders, to promote maternal and child health…

This case study will briefly examine MERATH’s localized approach, including a spotlight on child-focused programming in education in emergencies in Lebanon and child protection in Syria, providing quantitative and qualitative evidence of its community-level impact based on focus group discussions,…

This discussion guide and toolkit provides ideas and approaches to enable you to think through your research partnerships; to encourage you to critically engage with issues such as the roles different actors play in partnership; and what types of evidence…

Alliance for Peacebuilding, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, and Search for Common Ground, with support from the GHR Foundation, This guide intends to improve the practice of inter-religious action for peace, by encouraging the regular application of monitoring and evaluation tools. Religious communities have…

LWR outlined its institutional Approach to Resilience in a technical document produced in 2015 (see below). Building on the foundations laid out in LWR’s approach, part II goes one step further: It provides the basis to apply resilience thinking in…

The current crisis in CAR began in December 2012, when the northern-based Muslim Séléka forces overthrew the government, forcing then-president François Bozizé to flee the country. This led to the formation of Christian self-defense militia groups, the Anti-Balaka. Since then…

The harm suffered by refugee children is not limited only to traumatic experiences suffered while in South Sudan or in transit to Uganda but is also especially prevalent in the new settlements, where usual child protection systems and coping mechanisms…

A tenth anniversary guide for reflection and discussion The Kyoto Declaration has served as an invaluable resource for those engaged in multi-religious cooperation and advocacy for children. It explicitly recommends prohibition of corporal punishment and has provided a guide for…

The primary aim of this Resource Guide is to mobilize Faith-inspired resources to end Child Poverty. The Guide has been developed by Arigatou International's Interfaith Initiative to End Child Poverty, (End Child Poverty) - a multi-faith, child centered, global initiative…

Key messages from Islam and Christianity on protecting children from violence and harmful practices This book explores the approaches to preventing all forms of violence against children from the perspectives of Islam and Christianity. It is intended as a guide…

There is a growing awareness of the importance that faith and belief systems play in the lives of refugees, displaced persons and those affected by humanitarian crises in general. This was clearly articulated in the UNHCR High Commissioner’s Dialogue on…

Organisers: Working Group on Children and Violence of Child Rights Connect - Global Partnership to End Violence against Children - Office of the Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence against Children - Office of the High Commissioner for…

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…

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…

The purpose of this study is to assess the barriers and enablers to community acceptance and implementation of safe burials in Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus continued to spread in Sierra Leone partly because communities were initially resistant to Burial…

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”

Religious leaders are in a prime position to change harmful attitudes about family planning. They are some of the most important and respected opinion leaders in Ugandan communities who can help shift social norms. By virtue of their status and…

Channels of Hope research findings presentation- Building the evidence base on the role of local faith leaders to critical issues to enhance outcomes towards SDGs *Presentation for Dec 2016 Mobilization of Local Faith Communities Hub meeting Christo Greyling

This publication is Catholic Relief Services (CRS) training guide on partnership and capacity strengthening. The organization has a rich history of working productively with local organizations, including both Church and non-Church partners. The CRS Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Unit seeks to support Country…

Road Map to Resilient Communities: Church Agencies Network, Disaster Operations.

“Sustained Relational Collaborations”. Rev Bob Mitchell's words on behalf of the Church Agencies Network.

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…

Matthew Frost delivers opening remarks of the Religious & Faith-based Communities Perspectives Panel. To watch the video, please click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRaCrT3dnJY

Report on the role of religion and development. Download the resource from the download link

A strategic review of Oxfam's work in Haiti between 2011 and 2014. To download this and other Oxfam resources, click here: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/

The World Faiths Development Dialogue, with financial support from the GHR Foundation, selected Kenya for a case study to identify and better understand the roles religion plays in building peace, with particular attention to inter-religious relations and collaboration. Kenya offers…

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…

The African Christian Health Association (ACHA) family planning programme sought to utilize faith communities to improve contraceptive uptake. The program was in part implemented by increasing information, education, and communication on family planning to religious leaders and by them. This program aimed to create a replicable model for strengthening family planning within Christian Health Association’s (CHA’s) in other sub-Saharan countries.

A simple monthly tool was developed to be used by religious leaders for reporting, and a guide for messaging was developed to be used by religious leaders. In each country, the Ministry of Health (MOH) community referral forms and the MOH family planning cards and registers were used to collect data on referral and uptake of family planning services.

Tags:Capacity Building

WACC facilitates a Development Initiative Programme under which project partners in countries of the global South carry out one-year-long initiatives that place communication (including traditional media and digital technologies) at the centre of strategies to bring about social change.

Tags: Capacity Building, Data Collection by Local Community

Religions for Peace and UNICEF, with input from religious leaders and
child protection specialists, have developed this guide as a tool to support
religious communities’ work to promote child rights and to prevent and
respond to rights violations, in particular violence against children.

Faith leaders, as trusted and respected members of their community, have played a hugely significant, and often unsung, role in the Ebola crisis. In the midst of confusion, fear and panic, communities have often turned to them for guidance. They…

In December 2013, representatives from 12 faith-based organisations came together to explore and articulate a theory of change for faith group and community mobilisation. The process examined assumptions about what success looks like and how we contribute to change; and specifically analyzed the role of faith, drawing on any existing evidence base. A small working group then met together in July 2014 to draw together the theory of change. Throughout the process, the group was careful to surface both similarities and differences. The theory of change diagram captures the core underlying beliefs that the group hold in common, while the narrative explains the diagram, fills in more detail and highlights areas of debate and that need further learning and testing.

World Vision’s HIV and AIDS response strategy focuses on building the capacity of communities to prevent the spread of HIV and on providing care and advocacy for people living with HIV and for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The Channels of Hope (CoH) methodology, one of World Vision’s three core HIV and AIDS response models, is used to mobilise the infrastructure, organisational capacity, pool of current and potential volunteers, and unmatched moral authority of local churches and faith communities towards positive action on HIV and AIDS. Once they have been mobilised, World Vision works with churches and faith-based organisations to co-ordinate and equip sustainable, community-based HIV and AIDS programmes with an emphasis on reaching OVCs in need of care and support.

In the communities where WV works, many serious issues often limit improved child well-being (CWB). These might include violence against children, poor birth spacing, gender inequality, early marriage, wife inheritance, malnutrition, early marriage, gender-based violence, HIV infections, TB and malaria, trafficking, and more.

The central argument in the paper is that development is primarily about safeguarding and enhancing the dignity of human beings. Human dignity originates from God who has singled out humankind from other creations and favoured it in several ways. We are the only creatures that contain the Divine spirit which was placed in humankind by God during creation (Qur’an, 15:29). God has also distinguished humans from the rest of creation by endowing us with intellect (‘aql). Further, God has given humans the custodianship (khalifa) of the rest of creation on earth.

The success of integrated sustainable development (ISD) entirely rests upon a firm foundation of sound analysis of the following: Start-up assessment, Well-being and assets, Structural causes of poverty, Vulnerabilities to shocks and climate change, Opportunity analysis.

Description of the Featured Member, World Vision, and their program, Channels of Hope.