AS INERELA+ We Can Focus on Faith and Positive Change for Young People, Children, Women, Families and Communities through Multi-Religious Faith-in-Action COVID- 19 Campaign Through reference materials or guides which focus on the following:
- Role of religious leaders in effective communication, education, preparedness, and Response
- Dispelling stigma, countering false information, and upholding rights through inclusiveness
- Safe religious gatherings and adaptations of rituals
- Promoting spiritual well-being, resilience, empathy, and community service
- Protecting people facing vulnerabilities, including violence against women, girls and key populations
Covid-19 Initiatives call upon all communities across the world, together with governments, UN entities, and broad civil society organisations, to join forces to:
ADAPT – Faith gatherings, rituals, and services in keeping with the Religions for Peace (RfP)- ACT Alliance Statement and WHO Guidance on religious mass gatherings, burials, and rituals, to:
- Honour international and national health authorities’ guidance on public gatherings, physical distancing and other critical matters of public health related to faith community gatherings, services and rituals such as funerals, marriages and births for the health and safety of religious followers while developing alternative pastoral approaches.
PROMOTE – Heightened focus on hygiene and sanitation in keeping with religious teachings and sacred texts that emphasize cleanliness as an element of holiness.
Listening to children and families (Life Skills) through organized spaces for dialogue on-line, through media and where permitted house-to-house, and within small group fora (keeping social and physical distance)
Intergenerational dialogue to give voice to girls, boys together with parents and communities to find solutions to issues surrounding the epidemic – mainstreamed with SRHR.
Voices of faith and wider community engagement to inform local responses as well as national policy-making and programmes.
COUNTER ; All forms of stigma and discrimination associated with transmission of the disease with active promotion of attitudes and behaviours to uphold the dignity and rights of all people.
PROVIDE ; Active engagement of networks of religious communities including faith-based women, and youth, in collaboration with local governance structures, to provide organized voluntary services in:
- Spiritual and emotional care and support for parents, PLHIV, children, women, girls, the elderly and those experiencing disruption and distress in order to provide a source of support, peace, comfort and hope.
- Positive age-specific and gender-responsive parenting guidance and support to families in relation to the health, development, protection and social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people, particularly those in low-income families and those most vulnerable and hardest to reach.
- Youth-friendly communication and engagement (SRHR) including their support with more systematic use of technology and social media as a connective communication platform for communities during periods of physical distancing and beyond.