COVID-19 is a global crisis that needs all communities across the world, together with governments, UN entities, and broad civil society organizations, to join forces in keeping people safe and well. As an international learning exchange, the JLI aims to facilitate evidence building and creation to support faith and COVID-19 response. We will update this page with JLI collaborations and partner initiatives (as possible)
Quick links: JLI-Berkley Initiative, Webinars, Partner Initiatives
Looking Back to Look Forward
A webinar series 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.
The Multi-religious Faith in Action COVID-19 Initiative as part of the Faith and Positive Change for Children Global Initiative
We affirm the unique roles played by religious leaders and actors, in influencing values, attitudes, behaviours and actions that affect the development and wellbeing of the world’s children. The Initiative is coordinated by Religions for Peace (RFP) and UNICEF with support from Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities ( JLI) as part of the global partnership on Faith and Positive Change for Children, Families and Communities. This initiative just launched global guidance documents for religious leaders and faith communities.
To date the partners held seven regional webinars to increase awareness and strengthen coordinated efforts through the global Faith-in-Action campaign, to mobilize inter-faith commitments of Religious Leaders and Faith representatives including Women of Faith and Interfaith Youth Network Members to support the specific calls to action; to equip these Influencers with a standard set of global guidance with messages and resources that can be customized for local use and to share existing examples of best practices to motivate others
- COVID-19 Initiative Reference Document for Religious Leaders and Faith Communities Guidance, Ed 1, April 2020
- Launch of Global Multi-Religious Faith in Action COVID-19 Initiative: UNICEF and Religions for Peace Initiative
- Faith-In-Action Guidance Documents:
- Series 1: Adapting how we gather together, pray and practise rituals – Adaptation of ceremonies, burial practices, rituals, hygiene and handwashing
- Series 2: Communicating to end misinformation, discrimination and to instill hope – Mental and spiritual health, misinformation and rumours, stigma and discrimination
- Series 3: Helping people who are at risk – Elderly, homeless, migrants, people with disabilities, pregnant women and children
- Series 4: Addressing Violence Against Children and Women
- The FPCC launches first virtual ‘Mind and Heart Dialogue Training‘ series to support faith leaders during COVID-19 in Eastern and Southern Africa
JLI and Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University and the World Faiths Development Dialogue
Religious Responses to COVID-19 Resource Platform: The joint platform aims to organize information so that it can be quickly found and used by development policymakers and practitioners and religious actors who seek to work together in the COVID-19 response. View the resource repository here and sign up to get weekly emails
Resources
- Quick analysis guide on faith, COVID-19 and vaccine rollout. This guide offer a series of questions for different actors to ask, allowing for context-specific analysis and solutions, and acting as a starting place for deeper engagement.
- One page (Part 1) for health and development professionals looking to engage with faith actors on COVID-19 vaccines, and
- One page (Part 2) for faith actors seeking to play a role in COVID-19 vaccines rollout.
Related Articles
- Topics of significance for international development from religions and COVID-19 research. Susanna Trotta, Dr. Olivia Wilkinson, and Prof. Katherine Marshall. Development in Practice. 2022.
- Religion and COVID-19: Four lessons from Ebola experience from co-conveners of the repository Dr Olivia Wilkinson, JLI and Dr Katherine Marshall, WFDD and the Berkley Center and Dave Robinson on Oxfam’s Blog From Poverty to Power
- Blog post on COVID-19 Guidance for Religious Communities and Leaders
- Devex Op-ed: Religious Groups should be engaged for COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery
- Berkley Center: Religion in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A One-Year Retrospective
- JLI mentioned at the Washington National Cathedral vaccine ‘confidence event’
- The Resource Platform above began with a discussion convened by Dr Katherine Marshall, Dr Olivia Wilkinson and Dave Robinson – exploring the faith dimensions– March 2020
- Religious Responses and Engagement on COVID-19 Vaccines Consultation – Dec 2020
Webinar Series
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.
2022 Webinar Series
Looking Back to Look Forward: COVID-19 and Faith Reflections on 2020-2021 webinar series
- Faith Engagement & COVID-19: What Really Works?: Webinar link
- Faith and the COVID-19 Pandemic at Two Years – A Retrospective Webinar: Webinar link
- Two-year updates from National and Regional Faith Actor COVID-19 Responses: Webinar link
- Listening to the Stories of Local Faith Actors on COVID-19 Response: Webinar link
2021 Webinar Series
- COVID Vaccination Challenges: Ethical Imperatives and Local Realities: Webinar link
2020 Webinar Series
- The COVID-19 Crisis: Taking Stock of Religious Responses: Webinar link
- The COVID 19 Crisis: From Past Experiences to Present Realities: Webinar link
- The COVID-19 Crisis: Adaptations and Tensions During the Month of Ramadan: Webinar with guest speakers including JLI Refugees and Forced Migration Co-Chair Atallah Fitzgibbon see here for video
- The COVID-19 Crisis: Faith Engagement Between Peace and Conflict in Asia: Webinar link
- Balancing in the Face of the COVID-19 Crisis: Adapting and Reimagining Faith-Inspired Programs: Webinar link
- The COVID-19 Crisis: Civil Society Responses in Mexico and Along the Border: Webinar link
- Young Women of Faith and Transformative Leadership in COVID-19 Response: Webinar link
- Food and Faith Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis: Directions Ahead: Webinar link
- Discussions will be ongoing, see the Berkley website for more information
Other Webinar Series
Coping with Coronavirus: World Council of Churches Webinar
- JLI Director of Research Olivia Wilkinson participated as part of a panel of Health Experts and Church Leaders Co-Address COVID-19 Pandemic
Children on the Move: KAICIID webinar
- JLI Director of Research Olivia Wilkinson participated as part of a panel
COVID-19 Response among Faith-based Health Organizations Survey
Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) are working together to identify unmet needs for support among faith-based health providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This will be a monthly survey to see how needs change over the course of the response.
Key Findings
- Community-based education, prevention, and public health promotion are the foremost ways in which faith-based organizations are currently responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
- These organizations need increased access to personal protective equipment (PPE) but are also interested in more support around preparedness for outbreaks and surge capacity, as well as their ability to help counter stigma and discrimination.
- Funding is a clear challenge, both for routine programs and covering emergency COVID-19 response.
- Local religious leaders and faith communities remain highly involved in FBO programs, including spreading public health messages through radio, televised prayer, PA systems, phone calls, SMS, and WhatsApp.
Partner Initiatives & Resources
- ACT Alliance: Briefing paper: Gender and faith perspectives on COVID-19
- Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA: Biblical-Theological Guidance during COVID-19
- Anglican Alliance: Faith in a time of Covid-19, 18 March 2020; Resource Page
- Arigatou International: Faith in Action for Children in response to COVID-19 , videos of children’s and religious leaders’ perspectives, includes 12 Messages and Actions to Ensure Children’s Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Accord Network: Resources, Webinars on M&E and WASH
- Cadena International: Go Viral Competition
- Christian Aid: Tipping Point: How the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to push the world’s poorest to the brink of survival
- Christian Connections in International Health: Resources for Christian faith-based organizations and an ongoing call for papers on epidemics and pandemics
- Christian Journal for Global Health: COVID-19 Special Issue
- Emory Interfaith Health platform: COVID-19 Resources for Faith Communities
- Episcopal Relief and Development: Faith-Based Response to Epidemics: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/what-we-do/us-disaster-program/faith-based-response-to-epidemics
- Harper Hill Global:
- International Anti-Human Trafficking Network (IAHTN), the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) and the University of Leeds (UoL): How has the International Anti-Trafficking Response Adapted to COVID-19?
- IMA World Health: Preparing Africa for the coronavirus, https://imaworldhealth.org/covid19
- Islamic Relief USA: Resources
- Islamic Relief Worldwide: Guidance on safe religious practice for Muslim communities during the coronavirus pandemic
- KAICIID – Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation
- Religions for Peace COVID-19 action page and Multi-religious Faith in Action Initiative
- Sarvodaya
- Sarvodaya community awareness videos
- The CORRECT-19 Model: Eight Desired Roles of Religious Leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic in partnership with CORRECT-19, AHA!, European Union, FCA, NRTP, and Sarvodaya
- Role of Religious Leaders in COVID-19 Prevention: A Community-Level Prevention Model in Sri Lanka
- Tearfund:
- Resources on Tearfund Learn Covid-19 webpage
- Faith responses to Covid-19: taking lessons from the Ebola response
- Guidance for churches on how to support older people during the COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 vaccine resource for faith leaders: Vaccines and Vaccination and Questions and Answers
- Wheaton Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI)- Preparing your Church for Coronavirus: HDI in partnership with National Association of Evangelicals Summit Webinar Series
- The website above includes many resources and tip sheets
- New time-limited webinar series on church preparedness and response to COVID-19. HDI will plan to continue to offer a new webinar each week & is holding a Spiritual First Aid Summit on Thursday, April 30 see here to register
- Resource on Caring for Vulnerable People during COVID-19: Understanding the effects of a pandemic response on Child Maltreatment, Human Trafficking, and IPV (Intimate Partner Violence)
- World Council of Churches: Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic with faith-communities: some guidance for churches, 21 March 2020
- World Evangelical Alliance: Resources
- World Vision International:
- COVID-19 Guidance for Faith Communities & Places of Worship
- Child-friendly materials to explain the virus (World Vision, 10 Guidelines)
- COVID-19 Channels of Hope training
- The Impact of COVID-19 on the Peace Building Activities of Local Faith Actors in Sri Lanka
Other Key Resources
- Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action: MHPSS and COVID-19
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/index.htm
- Tony Blair Global Institute – Online advisory materials on government engagement with religious leaders to help address COVID-19
- World Health Organization:
- UN Secretary-General: Statement on the impact of Covid-19 on children
- UN Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children:
- Article from Religion News Service: Religion can be a healing balm for COVID-19’s disruption, if applied judiciously, by Azza Karam, Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall
- Interview with Dr. Selina Palm, Stellenbosch University: Role of Faith-based Organizations during a Pandemic
- Tazkiyah Publications Muslims’ COVID-19 Handbook -A guide on how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic from an Islamic perspective
- A collective of religious actors and faith-based networks issued a Joint Statement on Gender, Faith and COVID-19
- An e-book on The Distanced Church: Reflections on Doing Church Online
- WHO Guidelines on COVID: Practical considerations and recommendations for religious leaders and faith-based communities in the context of COVID-19
- WHO Interim Guidance: Safe Eid al Adha practices in the context of covid-19
- Parenting for Lifelong Health: Parenting Tips: A Guide for Church Leaders
- WHO Interim Guidance: Safe Ramadan Practices in the context of COVID-19
- Raising Voices Series on Preventing Violence against Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Guidance Note 5: How can SASA! / SASA! Faith / SASA! Together adapt?
- Christian Journal for Global Health
- Second 2020 special COVID-19 issue: Responding to Epidemics and Pandemics
- The Faith-Based Advantage: A Case Study on the Adventists Development & Relief Agency’s Response to Humanitarian Impacts of COVID-19 as a Faith-Based Organization.
- Catholic Health Association, CHA Vaccine News and Resources
- Faiths4Vaccines is a #multifaith movement dedicated to advance equitable vaccine distribution and combat vaccine hesitancy in the US
- Vatican COVID-19 Commission: Covid-19 Vaccines – Resources for Church Leaders
- Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen: The Role of Religious Actors in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A theory-based empirical analysis with policy recommendations for action
