The Faith and Positive Change for Children, Families and Communities (FPCC) Initiative held its first Regional Forum with Faith Actors of Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate immunization in the region between the 27 and 29 of February 2024 in Panama City.
UNICEF, JLI, Religions for Peace and Arigatou International, as partners in the FPCC initiative, convened religious leaders and FBOs to develop a shared understanding of the initiative as a platform for participation and for the generation of alliances with faith actors, focused on improving the lives of children, their families and communities. Part of the purpose of this process is to “accelerate children’s immunization” as a way to explore the possibilities of the FPCC Initiative, through the methodology of the Mind-Heart Dialogue and the Journey of Change, integrating Social and Behavioural Change’s approaches to the engagement of faith actors.
The conference sought to address the following thematic areas:
- Contribution of faith actors (religious leaders and communities, faith-based organizations) in the acceptance and increase of demand for vaccines.
- Develop evidence-based SBC strategies to strengthen collaboration between faith actors and other stakeholders to encourage routine childhood immunization.
- Establish coordination mechanisms to promote networking and encourage joint action by faith actors at the regional and national levels for the promotion of immunization.
The event brought together about 40 people, representatives of faith-based organizations and religious groups from the Latin American and Caribbean region. This group of participants was selected from the mapping exercises and national consultations conducted in December 2022 and January 2023 by JLI and Religions for Peace.
