Resources

The Philippines is a deeply religious society, and institutions and beliefs permeate social, economic, and political institutions. Religious actors are thus deeply engaged in development, from debates and ideas about directions to politics and on the ground implementation. A large…

“Created in Gods Image” Southern Africa Faith Leaders Support Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights for All We, as members of the faith community, believe that we cannot stand by and watch when our people are without information on Sexual and…

“We can no longer be silent as we are called to uphold human dignity for all creation” Faith Communities Respond to Gender-Based Violence Our Southern Africa region is struggling with the epidemic of gender-based violence. It is perpetrated in our…

“We will walk every step with our Children” Southern African Faith Leaders Commit to Respond to Teenage Pregnancy We, the faith community in Southern Africa (African Traditional Religion, Baha’i faith, Christian and Muslim) view children as whole human beings who…

En Francais: NIGER PLAN D'ACTIONS The Action Plan details the steps to take on promoting child care and well-being in Niger from January to December 2020. The topics include health, education, child protection, child nutrition and hygiene and clean environment…

En Francais: ARGUMENTAIRE RELIGIEUX HARMNISE RELATIVE A LA PROMOTION DES DROITS L’ENFANT (FILLE ET GARCON) AU BIEN-ETRE This religious document relating to the Rights of the child (Girl and Boy) and their well-being, is the result of a commitment by…

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…

This year World Environment Day 2019 coincides with Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Iyad Abumoghli, of the United Nations Faith for Earth Initiative, explains how all religions call upon us to protect the…

The Faith for Earth initiative from UN Environment is uniting religions around the world to focus on environmental issues. At the environment assembly 135 faith leaders from 12 different religions came together to talk about using the influence of faith…

Monitoring the objectives of the project indicated in the message addressed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers to “consider the possibility of setting up an Islamic academy for environment and sustainable Development to…

Faith-based organisations (FBO) have been active in promoting climate action, campaigning and diffusing information about climate change and innovating for sustainable consumption and production. They also possess great potential in mobilising more members of civil society and government bodies to…

"The way we Christians talk about our responsibility for creation and to our neighbors should not be entirely controlled by the scientific and ideological arguments coming either from the right or from the left. The great biblical narrative of creation,…

Religion & Development is the Discussion Paper Series of the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development. The series aims to contribute to the discourse about religion and development by putting up research on specific topics for scholarly debate.…

The SMC (Swedish Mission Council) was founded in 1912, following the 1910 mission conference in Edinburgh, and has since then been working in the intersection between religion and development. Religious actors – whether Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or any other confession…

From 16 to 19 June 2019, 52 participants from 22 countries and from different confessional and faith traditions gathered in Wuppertal, Germany for a conference entitled “Together towards ecotheologies, ethics of sustainability and eco-friendly churches”.1 1 In Wuppertal we were…

Christians are not alone in wanting a better world. In this respect, we stand alongside countless people of other faiths in wanting to see justice, freedom and well-being for all. However, despite the strong presence of faith in the world,…

Climate change is a complex subject that many of us struggle to get to grips with. For some, the issue seems so big it’s hard to imagine we can do anything to help. Others might assume the issue is being…

9-13 December 2019 Local faith actors and religious leaders with UNICEF Niger, Religions for Peace and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities convened the Niger WorkRock in Niamey, in the conference room of the Radisson Hotel Blue de…

On February 26th 2020, JLI's Ending Violence Against Children Hub began their webinar series with a discussion on spiritual capital. Dr. Selina Palm from Stellenbosch University led the discussion and presented her findings to the webinar attendees. Dr. Palm presented…

‘The Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities held its first global forum on child dignity in the digital world in Abu Dhabi in November 2018. The forum was attended by 450+ attendees including senior faith leaders and senior representatives from governments,…

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…

The G20 Interfaith Forum offers an annual platform where a network of religiously linked institutions and initiatives engage on global agendas (primarily and including the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs). The annual G20 Summits are a critical time and place…

This manual is designed to help trainers in conducting workshops for religious leaders and women leaders of faith on gender-based violence and HIV. Training is organized into four sessions and includes instruction for various activities to be included as part…

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…

This six-part series of manuals is intended to strengthen the technical capacity of women religious and congregations in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia that are involved in Early Childhood Development (ECD). The curriculum was created within the CRS-led project called “Strengthening the Capacity of Women Religious…

This study analyses the needs, hopes and agency of older people in Rwanda in the context of a planet that will soon have more older people than under 16s and a nation where the number of over 65 year olds…

Mapping of faith actors and faith-based organisations (FBOs) involved in the UK’s anti-modern slavery sphere are mainly Christian.   View the research project page here: http://www.faithantitrafficking.org/  

This report has been prepared to inform discussions at the second meeting of the South Asia Religious Leaders Platform for Children on 28–29 January 2020 in Bhutan. The meeting will bring together delegations of religious leaders and scholars from Afghanistan,…

Important insights expressed by the churches in this study include: the need for partnership; ecumenical unity and creativity in working together for community healing and transformation; establishing peace and long-term peacebuilding; and a focus on the youth to bring hope…

“Faith and Development in Focus: Tanzania” was inspired by the unique social, political, and economic successes and challenges facing the country at present. Religious institutions have long played central roles in peoples’ lives and in efforts to provide basic services…

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…

The special section of this issue of AJPH (pp. 361–386) highlights the wide range of existing and potential partnerships between public health agencies and faith communities across domains of public health practice and religious traditions. The work of religious institutions serves as…

Tremendous progress against AIDS over the past 15 years has inspired a global commitment to end the epidemic by 2030. Of the 37.6 million people living with HIV, 20.9 million are accessing HIV treatment as of July 2017. Through support…

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…

The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), together with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), launched an initiative in 2015 to strengthen collaboration with faith-based partners in response to The Lancet Series on faith-based health care…

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…

Learning Exchange with MEAL Hub member, Sam Verbi at Eido Research January 22 Presentation How Eido started Initial feedback from local faith actors Impact evaluation frameworks Kingdom Impact Framework Impact Evaluation Design: response shift bias   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae4KjSJQVwM&feature=youtu.be   Join the…

EARLY ADOPTERS’ WORKROCK CAMEROON 2-6

DECEMBER 2019

Cameroon’s WorkRock was attended by 50 UNICEF staff, government officials and different actors from the faith community. The Minister for the Promotion of Women and the Family opened the WorkRock, which continued with a variety of speakers representing faith communities and the government. The remaining four days focused on a new way of working with UNICEF and local faith actors and religious leaders. The meeting resulted in the development of a Journey of Change from their experiences and learning, corroborating with the global framework.

EARLY ADOPTERS’ WORKROCK LIBERIA 25-28 NOVEMBER 2019 The ‘Faith for Positive Change for Children’ (FPCC) global initiative aims to build a new form of partnership between UNICEF and faith-based actors, enabling them to work together in a more effective, systemic,…

EARLY ADOPTERS’ WORKROCK MALAWI 11-15 NOVEMBER 2019 The ‘Faith for Positive Change for Children’ (FPCC) global initiative aims to enable UNICEF and faith-based actors to work together in a more sustainable, systemic, integrated and scalable way to impact children’s lives.…

Mponela, Malawi, 11-15 November, 2019 The Faith and Positive Change for Children Initiative conducted a week-long WorkRock in Malawi. This event has brought participants together in joining efforts to tackle issues related to child protection, especially child marriage. The event…

EARLY ADOPTERS’ WORKROCK SOUTH SUDAN 7-11 OCTOBER 2019

UNICEF South Sudan was the first of five early adopter countries in Africa (with Malawi, Liberia, Cameroon and Niger) to host this ‘WorkRock’ – a term that shows that this is not ‘business as usual’ but about figuring out a new way of working together, based on strong foundations in evidence. With the help of the South Sudan Council of Churches and Islamic Council, it brought together 65 faith leaders and organisations, government officers and UNICEF staff.

See below for the most recent version of the TOR as of 1.2020. If you would like to make any comments or revisions please contact stacynam@jliflc.com

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…

Part of ALNAP’s ongoing webinar series on urban crises. This is a joint webinar with ALNAP and JLI on local faith actors in urban response Urban areas are home to a diverse range of stakeholders, from civil society to first…

December 2019 A joint work of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities and the PaRD work-stream on SDG 3: good health and well-being. The PaRD Health Work-stream commissioned this scoping study and the report was prepared under…

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…

Ceci est un mémoire d’une série de deux concernant l’action religieuse dans l’éradication de la violence contre les enfants dans le monde. Ces mémoires sont destinés aux acteurs religieux, aux professionnels du développement, aux décideurs politiques et aux donateurs. Les…

Ceci est un briefing d’une série de deux1 concernant l’action religieuse dans l’éradication de la violence contre les enfants dans le monde. Ils sont destinés aux acteurs religieux, aux professionnels du développement, aux décideurs politiques et aux donateurs. Les deux…

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…

‘Children of the Wood, Children of the Stone’ is the technical report on the faith  journey of survivors of sex trafficking from the Chab Dai Coalition’s Butterfly longitudinal research project . The participants were asked a range of questions both…

Things have changed dramatically for the world’s women since Christian Aid was founded 75 years ago. On the whole, this change has been for the better, with significant progress on women’s rights and working towards gender parity. We have seen…

This paper sets out to explore the connections between Mahayana Buddhism and international humanitarian law (IHL). Based on the Shakyamuni’s Lotus Sutra as interpreted by Zhiyi and Nichiren, it examines how specific Buddhist ethics are related to IHL principles. From…

Though there are over half a billion Buddhists around the world, there has so far been no systematic and focused study of the interface between Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The core of IHL – also known as “the…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, announces 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Such goals promote an action plan based on three main principles of the Agenda: respect for human dignity, sustainability and…

JLI Director of Research, Olivia Wilkinson This book investigates the ways in which the humanitarian system is secular and understands religious beliefs and practices when responding to disasters. The book teases out the reasons why humanitarians are reluctant to engage…

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…

Humanitarian-Development Nexus in South Sudan: Overcoming fragile weakened governance through faith-based institutions to promote sustained community engagement for child wellbeing   Overview UNICEF South Sudan C4D is focused on sustaining community engagement during an L2 emergency with widespread food insecurity,…

On November 20, 2019, the international community will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the United Nations General Assembly. The CRC has been ratified by 196 States, making…

Learning Exchange with MEAL WG member, Michelle Garred Nov 20, 2019   Listen to Michelle Garred's presentation on Outcome Harvesting & Attitude Change for Grassroots Interreligious Peacebuilding looking at two pilot evaluations with Tearfund and Peace Catalyst: [audio m4a="https://jliflc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Michelle-Garred-Outcome-Harvesting4a-AudioTrimmer.com_.m4a.crdownload.m4a"][/audio]  …

Demands for both sustainability and value for money means that traditional NGO approaches to implementing projects may no longer be appropriate. An alternative approach called Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) is gaining traction in many parts of the world.…

Religion plays an important role in many FP2020 priority countries, where faith leaders influence health-seeking behavior and faith based organizations (FBOs) provide a notable share of healthcare information, services and supplies. FBOs are seen as credible and trustworthy through their…

What would a radically interfaith movement against modern slavery look like? What tools, traits, and traditions do each of the world’s religions bring to the table when it comes to this historic work?  https://muse.jhu.edu/article/594067/pdf      

The features of modern-day slavery—global, local, and universal in cause—require an opponent with equally strong global and local ties, as well as a deep presence and longstanding work on the issues that cause human trafficking. Religions, religious leaders, and their…

The participation in this Group has enabled the strengthening of the relationships with Church organizations that fight against human trafficking as well as it has expanded our ties with different civil society organizations. http://santamartagroup.com//www/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Argentina-Reporte-Grupo-Santa-Marta.pdf    

The Salvation Army is an international movement which, for administrative purposes, is divided into territories. A Salvation Army Territory might comprise one country, several countries or conversely in some instances, one country might be divided into two or more territories.…

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…

This scoping study explores the programmes and initiatives of local faith actors (which can include formal and informal religious leaders, worship communities, faith networks, and local and national faith-based organisations) in their response to modern slavery and human trafficking in…

This scoping study explores the programmes and initiatives of local faith actors (which can include formal and informal religious leaders, worship communities, faith networks, and local and national faith-based organisations) in their response to modern slavery and human trafficking in…

The JLI convenes policymakers, academics and professionals to build and communicate evidence of religions’ and faith-based organizations’ roles in development work. Because of growing interest in environment related topics, JLI created a webinar series to discuss faith and climate work,…

A Review of the Literature This report provides an overview of the key themes and existing knowledge on the topics of the Triple Nexus, localization, and local faith actors. The intersection of these topics is particularly important to contemporary aid…

This report presents findings from field research conducted in South Sudan on the intersection of operationalizing the triple nexus (humanitarian-development-peace nexus), localization and, the particular role of local faith actors (LFAs). The report is based on twenty-one interviews with NGO…

Este es el primer documento de una serie de dos sobre la acción de las comunidades de fe para poner fin a la violencia contra los niños y niñas a nivel mundial. Estos resúmenes están dirigidos a actores religiosos, a…

Este es un documento de una serie de dos sobre la acción de las comunidades de fe para poner fin a la violencia contra los niños y niñas. Su objetivo es informar a los actores religiosos, profesionales del desarrollo, formuladores…

The global Anglican Communion has played a significant role in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals and the successor goals, the Sustainable Development Goals. In many parts of the world, provinces, dioceses, parishes, agencies and individuals connected to Anglican communities…

Written Statement from the Anglican Consultative Council, July 2019 The global Anglican Communion is playing a significant role in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals and “leaving no one behind”. Globally, Anglicans and Anglican agencies are delivering health and education…

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…

Lo’u Si’omaga ma le Tusi P a’ia Contextual Bible Studies Tatala le Ta’ui a le Atua1 presents a series of Bible studies rooted in the importance of being relational in the Samoan culture. It embraces the belief that the self…

Research study, July 2019 Demands for both sustainability and value for money means that traditional NGO approaches to implementing projects may no longer be appropriate. An alternative approach called Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) is gaining traction in many…

Integrating Faith for Social and Behaviour Change into Pagoda Structures for a Systems Approach to Capacity Development Overview:  UNICEF Cambodia and the Ministry of Cults and Religion (MoCR) have a strong level of collaboration, which allows for widespread engagement with…

This book gives an in-depth analysis of the role of faith in the work of Tearfund, a leading evangelical relief and development NGO that works in over 50 countries worldwide. The study traces the changing ways that faith has shaped…

Journal of Advanced Research in Humanities and Social Science The Nigerian nation is faced with a lot of social, political, economic and religious problems. One of the social problems facing the country today is human trafficking. This paper examined the…

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…

Violent extremism is a global issue. Whether it has political, ideological, racist or religious roots, the problem of youth radicalisation affects African and European societies in the same way. The common response of using coercive hard power to counter violent…

In this study, we examine the experience of international Christian humanitarian aid workers and who work in South Sudan. From interviews with thirty people in east Africa and north America, we derive a relationship between Christianity as our participants understand…

June 24-28, 2019 Les Pensières Centre for Global Health, Annecy, France 2019’s gathering began with a welcome to the Forum from the President and Founder of the AHIMSA Fund, Jean-François de Lavison. He thanked sponsors and participants from 46 countries,…

This guide provides information on how World Vision offices can integrate child marriage prevention and response into programming, including guidance on working with married children. In addition, the guide intends to support the development of country-specific technical approaches and new…

The Churches' Commitments to Children announced that the English version of a new educational tool for churches and partners has just been launched: The “Théopopettes” special episode - “WCC – We Care About Children”  The video is aimed at children…

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…

This draft theory of change sets out a framework to show how faith-based organisations and groups can contribute effectively to social and behaviour change. It forms part of the ‘Faith and Positive Change for Children’ partnership between UNICEF’s Communications for…

This report documents the first Global Evidence Review and Regional and Country Planning Workshop held in Bangkok from July 10 to 12, 2017, to launch a new Partnership Initiative on Faith and Positive Change for Children: A Global Initiative on…

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…

Ending Violence Against Children Scoping Study Brief 2. This is one brief in a series of two concerning faith-based action to end violence against children. Its purpose is to inform faith actors, development practitioners, policymakers, and donors about the global…

Ending Violence Against Children Scoping Study Brief 1. This is one brief in a series of two on faith-based action to end violence against children globally. These briefs are intended for faith actors, development practitioners, policymakers, and donors. Both briefing…

The Project Integration through Dialogue Toolkit consists of this Handbook, as well as two supplements: Activity Materials and Sample Information Handouts. Toolkits are often defined as a collection of methods, materials and ideas. This Toolkit can be used in its…

The Seminar on Role of Faith Actors in Implementing the Global Compact on Refugees, that took place in Beirut on June 18, 2019, sought not only to bring together leaders and faith-based organisations from the three main sects together, but…

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.

With antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on the rise and becoming a growing global health concern, the WHO released a Global Action Plan in 2015 to address the issue. Although faith-inspired organizations (FIOs) play a critical role in health care globally, the…