Resources

Faith communities and faith-based organizations have a long history of caring for children and adolescents living with and affected by HIV. However, these efforts have not been well documented and hence their contributions have not been well understood nor resourced.…

Around 12 million girls aged 15–19 years and at least 777,000 girls under 15 years give birth each year in low and middle-income countries. Prioritizing adolescent sexual and reproductive health services and information can address these and other urgent 1…

This article examines the role of local faith actors in institutional responses to refugees (henceforth refugee response), first in relation to global policy guidelines and frameworks promoted through the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) affirmed by the UN General Assembly…

This guide book is an update of Child Care in Islam, which was previously published by Al-Azhar in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the year 1405 Hijrah (1985 AD). The previous document constituted an important advocacy…

This article is based on the findings of a 40-day summative evaluation (Brown, 2016) that was carried out at the end of the SCORE ECD project, employing a triangulating data collection method that included 20 focus group discussions of 30-90…

Learning Exchange with MEAL WG member, Subodh Kumar from Food for the Hungry February 19 Presentation Subodh Kumar presents on lessons from Food for the Hungry's experience in building organizational EL&A culture Where Food for the Hungry came from Introduction…

A companion to From Faith to Action, Journeys of Faith features: 12 strategies for supporting the needs of orphans & vulnerable children Inspiring examples of how churches in the United States are getting involved Stories of partnership between U.S. churches & African orphan…

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child advocates for the provision of programs and services that will promote early health, development and well-being of children and their caregivers. This is particularly important given that current statistics indicate…

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) play a crucial role in increasing access to maternal and newborn health (MNH) services worldwide. In developing countries, faith-based health care facilities provide a significant percent- age of health care services. With networks that reach even the…

Religiously-motivated stigma regarding HIV may lead to denial and discrimination, preventing children and adolescents from receiving the critical care they need. Without treatment, HIV progresses rapidly and is often fatal in infants and children – almost 75% of untreated, HIV-infected…

Published in Child Abuse & Neglect Dec 2019 When religious institutions are discussed in the context of child maltreatment, the topic is typically sources of danger for children. Although some religious institutions are counted among the formal organizations in which child abuse has occurred…

In 2018, the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) at Coventry University was contracted by World Vision to conduct three in-depth, qualitative analyses of Celebrating Families, focusing on implementation in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Tanzania. These were commissioned to…

Inter-faith initiative on engagement of young people in support of ending violence against children Overview UNICEF and COEPA’s (the inter-religious council of Panama) partnership has brought together diverse denominations in Panama to advocate for ending violence against children. The core…

Multi-level, Multi-theme and Multi-platform Inter-faith engagement Overview The partnership between Al-Azhar University and UNICEF Egypt initially started through advocacy in the 1980s. With an enabling government environment, the involvement of the Ministry has shown success in joint advocacy and policy…

The Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) is working with UNICEF’s Communication for Development Section in Programme Division and the Civil Society Partnerships Unit in the Division of Communication on an initiative, titled the “Faith and Positive…

One of the most powerful influencers of individual behaviours, social norms and collective action at community and societal level is religion.
To maximize opportunities for more positive and impactful influence towards improving child and family wellbeing, UNICEF (Communication for Development Section and Civil Society Partnerships Unit in NYHQ), the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities and Religions for Peace in 2018 embarked on a new global Initiative on Faith and Positive Change for Children.

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…

Religions for Peace worked with the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities to devise a guide to action for religious leaders and faith communities. This guide includes introductory information on global responses to refugees and migrants, reflections on…

For millions of refugee girls, education is out of reach. Despite substantial increases in access to girls’ education around the world over the last two decades, refugee girls remain left behind. In countries affected by conflict, girls are 2.5 times…

There is a strong complementarity between the guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the core values of religious teachings. The global study, Faith and Children’s Rights: A Multi-religious Study on the Convention on…

Afin de maximiser les opportunités considérables qu’offre le Pacte mondial sur les réfugiés (PMR), la communauté internationale doit reconnaître l’expérience et les capacités des acteurs confessionnels et lever les obstacles qui se posent aux partenariats avec ces acteurs afin d’être…

من اجل تحقيق الحد الاقصى من الفرص المهمة التي تقدمها الاتفاقية الدولية بشأن اللاجئين يجب على المجتمع الدولي ، ان يعترف بتجربة وقدرات الجهات الفاعلة العقائدية وكسر الحواجز القائمة امام الشراكات لتمكين استجابه دائمة وفعالة وأكثر شمولية . وبينما تقر…

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…

The predicament of refugees is a common concern of humankind. Refugee situations have increased in scope, scale and complexity and refugees require protection, assistance and solutions. Millions of refugees live in protracted situations, often in low- and middle income countries…

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…

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…

Guião de Promoção e Protecção dos Direitos da Criança para os Líderes Religiosos Para a promoção da Saúde, Educação e Protecção da Criança Guide to religious leaders for the promotion of health, education and child protection in Portuguese The involvement…

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…

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…

July 2018  

Worldwide, refugees often live through devastating experiences prior to fleeing their homes, including fearing or being close to death, seeing the death of loved ones and experiencing deprivation or torture (Cardozo, Vergara, Agani, & Gotway, 2000; Kleijn, Hovens, & Rodenburg,…

This booklet from Jesuit Refugee Service presents teaching, reflections and guidance of Pope Francis regarding migrants and refugees. It contains a Message from Pope Francis and twenty action priorities in two versions. One is meant for active pastoral engagement with migrants…

The Rohingya Refugee Crisis is a children's emergency. Over a five-month period, 655,500 people have fled widespread violence in Myanmar, 58 percent of which have been children. Since arriving in refugee camps in Bangladesh, many of these children have reported the…

In the summer of 2007, focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted with Liberian refugee women living in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the means through which Liberian families were…

The relationship between spirituality and resilience has been enquired into by academic researchers across different disciplines, especially around people experiencing death (Greef et al. 2008, 293), violent trauma (Connor et al. 2003, 491), war (Fernando et al. 2011, 55), austerity…

Speakers: • Daniel Endres, Director of the Division of Resilience and Solutions UNHCR • Ojot Ojulu, Assistant General Secretary, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) • Alastair Ager, Director, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University • Ann Reggie Jaj,…

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…

The declaration, known as an Affirmation of Welcome, is the first to involve UNHCR and a spectrum of faith-based groups. It sets out principles to guide faith leaders in providing welcoming environments for refugees and displaced people, and those without citizenship, including through promoting community understanding and tolerance, and combatting xenophobia.

The idea for a joint declaration emerged from a meeting hosted by UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in Geneva in December 2012 with religious leaders and faith-based NGOs.

Taking place between February and April of this year, drafting of the Affirmation involved a coalition of leading faith-based organizations and academic institutions. The text draws upon principles and values of welcome shared by religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

UNICEF and other child rights organizations* have a long history of partnering with religious communities of all faiths on a wide range of issues that affect children. Religious communities are uniquely positioned to promote equitable outcomes for the most vulnerable…

There has been a plethora of psychosocial interventions in the tsunami region – some have spoken of a psychosocial industry! Either with programmes which are specifically psychosocial or with psychosocial aspects to more traditional aid programmes. In general, they include…

May 2018 Share responsibility, shared humanity: a communique from the International Refugee Congress

This paper examines the interplay between the destructive and healing forces within human communities, as reflected in the life of children. This work stems from over 30 years of being involved as a participant/near-miss survivor/therapist, in a society exposed to…

Over 70,000 Burmese refugees have resettled in the United States in the past decade. While Burmese adolescents quickly acculturate into American society, their perspectives on health are not well-known. The purpose of this study was to identify adolescent Burmese refugee…

This article examines education policy for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, drawing on 44 stakeholder interviews conducted in March 2016. Findings indicate that the idea of children’s rights, enshrined in international conventions, combined with foreign aid, encouraged the creation of a…

Rights without borders Locations: Grenada, Lebanon, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Uruguay, Rwanda, South Africa, Italy, Thailand, Australia Program overview: Primary care (but not exclusive) to children, young people and their families. Promoting education through extra schooling support, non-formal education and ongoing formation…

Statement by members of the U.S. Catholic Working Group on the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration   Click download button for statement

Released June 26, 2018  

Education for Refugees and the forcibly displaced Jesuit Relief Service USA

In 2005 Dybicz concluded his review with: “This is how far best practice research has reached: interventions based upon theory” (p. 768). The interventions which Dybicz wrote about were aimed at serving children and adolescents living and working in the…