While I am a passionate follower of Jesus Christ, my life and friendship with many people of other faiths has taught me that while we may not share beliefs, our shared humanity and respect for the way faith shapes our lives allows us to join hands in serving vulnerable children across religious boundaries.
But what does that mean in a time like this, when a pandemic is shaking people’s lives and, for some, their foundations and faith? Do we, as people of faith, have a particular role to play?
The answer is, of course, unequivocally yes. But how, and where?
First, while we are worried about our families and our jobs and our futures, our brothers and sisters in developing countries are on the frontlines. In so many of these places faith-based organisations play a substantial role in providing healthcare, and they need help to continue to provide those services and avoid a secondary catastrophe. We know the secondary health effects of COVID-19, on children in particular, could be devastating; as many as 30 million children’s lives are at risk, as we outline in World Vision’s latest report Aftershocks. People of faith on the health frontlines in developing countries have a key role to play, to prevent this catastrophe becoming a reality.
Second, we need to link behaviour change work with people’s faith. Be it messages around vaccinations, hand-washing, burial practices or distancing, the desired behaviour change will only happen if connects to something of significance within individuals. I know because I have seen this in action, and heard it directly from people. Faith is at the heart of this. It is a critical factor guiding the daily lives of 80% of the world’s population. If we as people of faith can help link technical information to religious values and practices, people are much more likely to embrace the change.
Third, we have an important role to play to stamp out misinformation. To correct damaging mistruths. As with Ebola, in some of the countries where World Vision works there is a lot of stigma associated with COVID-19, especially towards people who are infected or have recovered from the disease. They are being shunned, or – hard to believe – hearing that becoming sick with COVID-19 is a divine punishment for sin. Throughout our faith communities how we speak and behave will either increase the isolation and pain of those suffering or be a balm of healing to their souls.
Faith leaders must be truth tellers, because their influence is invaluable. I’ve learned that when people are faced with conflicting information they often turn to faith leaders to find out ‘the truth’ and the ‘correct’ behaviour to adopt. During the Ebola crisis, we had to somehow stop people shaking hands which conflicted with local and religious custom that placed a high value on the practice. Not shaking hands with your neighbour would be considered offensive. It was only when we worked with pastors, priests and imams, to help them understand how infections were passed on, that we saw people begin to adapt their behaviour. If people believe children don’t get sick with COVID-19, or that it is best for children not to talk to them about the crisis, imagine how this exposes them to physical and mental health risks. So let’s use the trust and shared values we have and motivate people to adopt the correct behaviour to avoid infection with COVID-19, but also to encourage them to continue observing the critical behaviours to protect their children against preventable diseases.
COVID-19 lockdown coincided with Lent and Easter, the most important celebration of the year for me as a Christian. It celebrates Christ’s sacrifice: having being crushed for our sorrow, sin and diseases. It celebrates Christ’s victory: after having been locked down dead in the grave, he has broken forth with unquenchable life for me to enjoy for ever! How could I not be motivated by the amazing grace and hope of the Gospel and reach out to the suffering in solidarity and hope. We have challenges before us, but by the grace of God, our faith and our works motivated by it, will help us overcome them.
By Esther Lehmann-Sow
World Vision International Faith and Development Partnership Leader
Member of Arigatou International Advisory Group
Arigatou International Geneva was invited to a regional workshop for Peace and Global Citizenship in Refugee Hosting Areas in Nairobi, Kenya, to look at the importance of the long term educational needs of children from refugee and host communities beyond the humanitarian and basic educational needs.
Sixty teachers from Baringo and Elgo-Marikwat Counties, Kenya, were reunited in a second facilitator training workshop, as part of a peacebuilding intervention led by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kenya, Kenya National Commission for UNESCO, World Vision Kenya and Arigatou International Geneva.
PRESS RELEASE
Tokyo, 21 April 2020
Arigatou International and its Global Network of Religions for Children, together with several faith-based and interfaith organizations, will host a Live Interfaith Prayer with Children on Wednesday 22 April at 08.00 EST/14.00 CET. The Prayer will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
This Interfaith Prayer will bring together children from different countries who represent diverse faith traditions including the Bahá’í Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and the Sikh Faith.
“Now, more than ever, we must promote the solidarity of the one human community and act together and listen to children: they are part of the solution to promote global solidarity”, recalls Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, President of Arigatou International.
Children will join hands to pray and will offer a message of hope and solidarity with people and children all around the world. Accompanying the children in the Prayer will be senior religious leaders from their respective faith communities.
The Most Reverend Julio Murray, Bishop of Panama and Primate of the Anglican Church in the Central America Region, will open and lead the Interfaith Prayer. Solidarity statements from representatives of partner organizations will also be shared to send a message of unity for the children of the world.
The Interfaith Prayer is part of the “Faith in Action for Children” Global Campaign launched by Arigatou International to call on religious leaders and religious communities to prioritize the well-being of children as they respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign builds on the important role that faith plays in emergency situations to strengthen resilience in children, and the crucial contributions of religious leaders to positively influence their millions of followers to help protect children from violence.
The Campaign supports global and local efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and provides guidance to parents and caregivers, while also focusing on preventing violence against children. We know that children today are among the most vulnerable groups to be negatively affected by the pandemic. Many children and their families are in lock-down in their homes, and around 90% of the world’s school children are not attending school at present. According to numerous recent reports, violence against women and children is increasing as an indirect effect of the pandemic.
The Interfaith Prayer is organized in collaboration with the Bahá'í International Community, the Centre for Sustainable Conflict Resolution, the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities, Islamic Relief worldwide, the International Centre for Interreligious Dialogue (KAICIID), the New York Board of Rabbis, Pastoral da Criança, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Shanti Ashram, and United Religions Initiative.
Please join the Interfaith Prayer through this link:
https://arigatouinternational.org/en/live-interfaith-prayer
or through YouTube and Facebook.
For more about our Global Campaign, Faith in Action for Children, please see: https://arigatouinternational.org/en/response-to-covid19
For further information, contact:
Ms. Eleonora Mura
Program Officer External Relations
Arigatou International Geneva
E-mail: e.mura(at)arigatouinternational.org
Phone: +41 22 734 94 10
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact across the world. Efforts to contain the coronavirus are vital to the health of the world’s population, but they are also exposing children to increased risk of violence – including maltreatment, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.
As leaders of organisations committed to ending violence against children, we come together in solidarity to share our deep concern, call for action and pledge our support to protect children from violence and reduce the impact of COVID-19 on children in every country and community.
A third of the global population is on COVID-19 lockdown, and school closures have impacted more than 1.5 billion children. Movement restrictions, loss of income, isolation, overcrowding and high levels of stress and anxiety are increasing the likelihood that children experience and observe physical, psychological and sexual abuse at home – particularly those children already living in violent or dysfunctional family situations. And while online communities have become central to maintain many children’s learning, support and play, it is also increasing their exposure to cyberbullying, risky online behavior and sexual exploitation.
The situation is aggravated by children’s lack of access to schoolfriends, teachers, social workers and the safe space and services that schools provide. The most vulnerable children – including refugees, migrants, and children who are internally displaced, deprived of liberty, living without parental care, living on the street and in urban slums, with disabilities, and living in conflict-affected areas – are a particular concern. For many, growing economic vulnerability will increase the threat of child labour, child marriage and child trafficking.
We must act now. Together, we call on governments, the international community and leaders in every sector to urgently respond with a united effort to protect children from the heightened risk of violence, exploitation and abuse as part of the broader response to COVID-19.
Governments have a central role to play. They must ensure that COVID-19 prevention and response plans integrate age appropriate and gender sensitive measures to protect all children from violence, neglect and abuse. Child protection services and workers must be designated as essential and resourced accordingly.
Working with and supporting governments, our collective response must include: maintaining essential health and social welfare services, including mental health and psychosocial support; providing child protection case management and emergency alternative care arrangements; ensuring social protection for the most vulnerable children and households; continuing care and protection for children in institutions; and communicating with and engaging parents, caregivers and children themselves with evidence-based information and advice. National helplines, school counsellors and other child-friendly reporting mechanisms enable children in distress to reach out for help, and must be adapted to the challenges of COVID-19.
Given the heightened risks of online harms, technology companies and telecoms providers must do everything they can to keep children safe online. This includes providing access to cost-free child helplines, age-appropriate services and safe e-education platforms - and using their platforms to share child online safety advice. They must also do more to detect and stop harmful activity against children online, including grooming and the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse images and videos.
As global organisations working to end violence against children, we will continue to advocate for and invest in effective child protection solutions. We will collectively develop and share technical resources and guidance for policymakers, practitioners, parents, caregivers and children themselves. And we will support the courageous health, child protection and humanitarian professionals working around the clock to keep children safe during these unprecedented times.
In recent years, the global community has made significant gains in protecting children from violence. We must not allow those gains to be lost during the current turmoil. We must do all we can to keep children safe now. And we must plan ahead together, so that once the immediate health crisis is over, we can get back on track towards the goal of ending all forms of violence, abuse and neglect of children.
Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF;
Board Chair, End Violence Against Children
Najat Maalla M’jid,
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,
Executive Director, UN Women
Dr. Joan Nyanyuki,
Executive Director, African Child Policy Forum
Rev. Keishi Miyamoto,
President, Arigatou International
Meg Gardinier,
Secretary General, ChildFund Alliance
Patrick Krens,
Executive Director, Child Helpline International
Robbert Van Den Berg,
Executive Director, ECPAT International
Dr. Howard Taylor,
Executive Director, End Violence Against Children
Tufail Muhammad,
President, ISPCAN
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen,
CEO, Plan International
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director-General, WHO
Virginia Gamba,
United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
Inger Ashing,
CEO, Save the Children International
Steffen Braasch,
CEO, SOS Children’s Villages International
Delphine Moralis,
CEO, Terre des Hommes
Dr. Daniela Ligiero,
Executive Director and CEO, Together for Girls
Iain Drennan, Executive Director,
WePROTECT Global Alliance
Dr. Joanna Rubinstein,
President and CEO, World Childhood Foundation USA
Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit,
General Secretary, World Council of Churches
Andrew Morley,
President and CEO, World Vision International
