Looking back to look forward: COVID-19 and Faith Reflections on 2020-2021 Webinar Series

The Berkley Center, the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI), and the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) have been tracking religious responses to COVID-19 since this date two years ago – 11 March 2020. At the two year mark of this ongoing documentation and analysis process, we take stock of the initiative, its results so far, and announced our newly re-designed repository of religions and COVID-19 resources.

Part two of a webinar series on the theme of “Looking Back to Look Forward,” this webinar takes stock of the Religious Responses to COVID-19 project, which has involved continuous monitoring of media, research analysis and commentary, and regular publications and webinars to distill this information. This event launched a website platform for the project’s resource repository, which includes over 1,000 resources to date on how different faith actors have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and broader emergencies. We also reflected on what an analysis of the resources collected so far can tell us about the major global themes in religious responses to COVID-19 and what research is needed next.

Speakers:

Katherine Marshall, World Faiths Development Dialogue & Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs

Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, where she leads the center’s work on religion and global development, and a professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. She helped to create and now serves as the executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue. She is also vice president of the G20 Interfaith Association. Marshall, who worked at the World Bank from 1971 to 2006, has nearly five decades of experience on a wide range of development issues in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East, particularly those facing the world’s poorest countries. She led the World Bank’s faith and ethics initiative between 2000 and 2006.

Olivia Wilkinson, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities

Dr. Olivia Wilkinson is the director of research at the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities. Her research focuses on secular and religious influences in humanitarian action, and she is the author of Secular and Religious Dynamics in Humanitarian Response (2020).

Ruth Gopin, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs

Ruth Gopin is the Berkley Center’s events and projects manager. Before joining the Berkley Center in August 2019, Ruth worked as an independent contractor for the World Faiths Development Dialogue. She holds a B.A. in international development studies from McGill University.

Sarah Thompson, World Faiths Development Dialogue

Sarah Thompson is a Project Manager for Bangladesh at WFDD. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Gender Studies from Roanoke College and a master’s degree in International Development with Migration from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies. Prior to joining the WFDD team, Sarah worked in the education and NGO space in both China and Cambodia and recently at Georgetown’s Institute for Reproductive Health focusing on family planning interventions in Nepal. Sarah has a strong interest in the intersection of religion, development, and gender equity in South Asia.

Peter Yeboah, Christian Health Association of Ghana

Peter Kwame Yeboah is the executive director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), which is the second largest provider of health services in Ghana. His areas of expertise, interest, and experience include: health systems strengthening/development, social policy, health sector policy planning, health care financing, and community-based PHC.

Accompanying Publications:

• New website: Faith and COVID-19 Resource Repository
• Working Paper: “Two Years and Counting: COVID-19 Through a Religious Lens“

Watch the first webinar of the series: Faith Engagement & COVID-19: What really works? and the third one: Two-year updates from National and Regional Faith Actor COVID-19 Responses.

Looking back to look forward: COVID-19 and Faith Reflections on 2020-2021 Webinar Series

JLI’s year-long collaborative learning process culminated on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, with a webinar that brought representatives of the faith actors who had participated in the research into dialogue with key external partners, discussing where they have seen growth and where problems remain with faith engagement.

Three representatives of the collaborating faith actors began by sharing what they felt was the most important message from the report. Nkatha Njeru, from African Christian Health Associations Platform, began by highlighting the importance of building relationships with local faith actors before a crisis so there is already a foundational mutual understanding in an emergency. Dear Sinandang, from Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, encouraged everyone to be more courageous in forming more diverse partnerships. She spoke about the complementary role that faith actors can play to government responses and the value of diverse, interfaith partnerships. Dr Mwai Makoka, from World Council of Churches, echoed this point, using the image of each actor having their own ‘toolbox’ – unique capabilities, approaches and assets to respond to global challenges – to emphasise the need for actors to value one another’s differences and contribution when building trusted partnerships. In his experience, problems come when stakeholders only want to work with others who share all their values and ways of working – for example, donor agencies being suspicious of faith groups’ methodologies, or faith groups distrusting government. Yet in the diversity of methodologies, principles, and convictions, holistic solutions can be found when each actor proactively seeks and harnesses areas of convergence.

Three representatives of key external partners, nominated by participants, then commented on the research findings from their experience. Robert Kanwagi, currently working with GAVI, spoke about the significant harmonisation during COVID in this area, as governments and secular development agencies saw the vital role of faith actors with increasing clarity. He also confirmed from his experience that faith actors were still often engaged in times of crisis, not seen as long-term strategic partners, for example on climate change. He saw a united interfaith voice about the unique value that faith brings to the table as a vital step to ensuring their inclusion in global partnerships on every issue. Dr Takeo Fujiwara, a Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, affirmed the value of faith actors’ contribution, especially in bringing unity, cultivating empathy and tackling misinformation. Finally, Muhammad Alhassan from the Da’wah Institute of Nigeria shared his experience. He had seen significant growth through COVID-19 in proactive local partnerships between faith actors and with secular agencies, with new collaborations and networks formed. He emphasised the influence of faith actors in many communities, and the danger where they are not equipped to differentiate misinformation, emphasising the necessity of capacity development. He too concluded with the need to sustain long-term, healthy relationships with local faith actors in times of peace that can be drawn on in a crisis.

Each panelist then reflected on one key learning they would take forward in their own organisation, from breaking silos and focusing on diverse, long-term partnerships to strengthening internal learning processes to developing the capacity of grassroots faith groups to respond themselves and connect to their communities.

Read the Lessons Learned: Faith-Based COVID-19 Response Report

Watch the second webinar of the series: Faith and the COVID-19 Pandemic at Two Years: A Retrospective and the third one: Two-year updates from National and Regional Faith Actor COVID-19 Responses.