Evidence for Religious Groups’ Contributions to Humanitarian Response

1. Evidence for Religious Groups’ Contributions to Humanitarian Response Based on Evidence Briefs produced by and launched at www.jliflc.com

2. Overwhelming Humanitarian Need Requires Engagement of All Actors—including Religious Groups • Over 60 million displaced persons worldwide by 2015 • Total international humanitarian in 2015: $28bn, yet funding requested by the United Nations via coordinated appeals experienced an unprecedented shortfall of 45% “Change and progress will require the engagement of all the actorsmaking vital contributions to humanitarian action everyday” – From the report “Restoring Humanity: Global Voices Calling for Action”, a synthesis of the WHS consultation process For more figures on humanitarian need, please see: http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/

3. Compiling the Evidence for Local Faith Communities’ Contributions to Humanitarian Response • Five Evidence Briefs prepared by JLIF&LC, grounded in key evidence on faith, religion, and humanitarian action published within past 5 years, including 65+ resources available in annotated bibliography • Evidence briefs authored and reviewed by 22+ experts, led by Alastair Ager, Director of the Institute for Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Evidence Briefs, Key Messages, and Supporting Resources located at www.jliflc.com/whs

4. Local Faith Communities have sustainable capacity for prevention and response to humanitarian crises The Evidence Base shows: • LFCs are frequently core to local systems of humanitarian response and resilience to crisis • LFCs add value to preparedness and risk reduction strategies by encouraging community action, framing religious narratives to build preparedness and risk reduction, and harnessing their material assets • LFCs invest significant resources in risk reduction and crisis response • Opportunities for partnership with LFCs in the humanitarian system are often missed, but best practices for more effective engagement are now emerging • New financing mechanisms are required to support these crucial local capacities provided by LFCs

5. Local Faith Communities have sustainable capacity for prevention and response to humanitarian crises The Evidence Base shows: • Exemplar Policy Actions: • Ensure that WHS commitments towards localisation of humanitarian aid include FBOs and LFCs as part of local and national CSOs and NGOs • Recogniseand support existing LFC investments by improving channels between Zakat – and other mechanisms of financing from religious groups and networks – and the international humanitarian system • Encourage donors and UN agencies to increase their support and improve early engagement with international, national and local FBOs and LFCs, better utilizing their unique networks and abilities to improve humanitarian response, promote good governance and reduce vulnerability. For more policy recommendations, please visit Evidence Brief 4 & 5

6. Local Faith Communities have sustainable capacity for prevention and response to humanitarian crises CASE STUDY Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC) • Tearfund partners with MBC, a network of nearly 5,000 churches responding to small and large-scale humanitarian crises in disaster-prone regions of Myanmar every year • The 2015 monsoon floods hit 12 out of 14 states, displacing 1.7 million people. Within the first few hours of the floods, the MBC network reached over 100 affected communities to conduct emergency needs assessments, identify needs and distribute emergency food and non-food items. • As a widespread network, MBC is able to rapidly mobilise resources, trained staff and volunteers as emergencies occur • The strength of MBC’s connections extends to other faith groups, local NGOs and the Government • At the village level, established committees involving churches and other civil society actors help to ensure effective coordination

7. Faith-based humanitarian actors generally adhere to Core Humanitarian Standards The Evidence Base shows: • Norms codified in human rights and humanitarian law are identifiable and upheld within multiple religious traditions • Religious resources and discourse provide mechanisms to monitor and hold persons accountable for human rights violations • In a context of calls for greater localization, actors – both international and local – must show greater awareness of barriers to neutrality and impartially • Exemplar Policy Action: • Integrate LFCs into a global watchdog to systematically track and make transparent trends of serious violations in the interests of identifying persistent perpetrators and fighting impunity For more policy recommendations, please visit Evidence Brief 2

8. Norms codified in human rights and humanitarian law are identifiable and upheld within multiple religious traditions CASE STUDY The Language of the Qu’ran and of CEDAW Regarding the Rights of Women • Workers with local faith groups in Jordan noted the alternative strategies that they were able to draw upon to reinforce the rights of women. • “When women suffering from gender-based violence come to me, I tell them you have rights in Shari’ah law. Islam clearly says that your men should not abuse you. I do not use CEDAWto convince these women they have rights. I use something incontestable for them: the Qu’ran. I tell them a hadith that commands men to take care of their wives and ‘do good unto them.’ I tell them that in the age of the prophet, women were judges and business people and they had the freedom to ask for divorce. Does that make us an Islamic organisation or a secular one? Neither. All the people I am helping are Muslims who believe in the same thing I do.” The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly and described as “an international bill of rights for women”.

9. Gender-based violence (GBV) increases during times of conflict and crisis and can reduce the participation of women and girls in society, which is vital for humanitarian response. The Evidence Base shows: Faith Communities are key actors in empowering and protecting girls and addressing gender based violence • In spite of complex interrelationships between faith, culture and gender, faith actors are making positive differences in prevention of GBV and care of survivors • Given their authority and influence in local communities, it is vital to engage with religious leaders for GBV prevention • Faith communities can provide practical support to GBV survivors, including counseling, shelter, medical referral, and mobilising and advocating for other key institutions to do the same • Exemplar Policy Action: • Increase religious literacy amongst actors involved in humanitarian action and use lessons from multi-faith and interfaith approaches to support engagement across religious and community divisions For more policy recommendations, please visit Evidence Brief 3

10. Faith communities can provide practical support to GBV survivors, including counseling, shelter, medical referral, and mobilising and advocating for other key institutions to do the same CASE STUDY Faith-based GBV Support in DRC • By engaging with faith leaders and groups, a Community Action Group was established in 2014 in Kibumba, DRC to: advocate against sexual violence, mobilisefaith and community leaders to speak out against sexual violence, support victims and survivors of sexual violence, and work with men and boys to promote the idea of positive masculinity • The project has worked with 100+ local faith leaders to help them better understand sexual violence and survivors’ needs, including the basic principles of psycho-social care support, the local legal framework and how to access justice. • Between January 2014 and February 2015, 142 survivors of sexual violence were helped to access medical services, 43 were referred to the local police or for judicial follow-up, and 12 benefited from family mediation.

11. Faith Communities can be key actors for meeting the needs of people living in conflict The Evidence Base shows: • Analysis highlights resisting over-simplification of the relationship between religion and conflict and indicates opportunities for political and religious leaders, as well as for interfaith action • Through their bonding, bridging, and linking capacities, LFCs act early and effectively for conflict prevention and sustain their engagement for the long term • Faith actors develop responses and solutions both with and for the people affected • Exemplar Policy Action: • Increase religious literacy amongst actors involved in humanitarian action and use lessons from multi-faith and interfaith approaches to support engagement across religious and community divisions For more policy recommendations, please visit Evidence Brief 1

12. Next Steps after the WHS • The new JLIF&LC Learning Hub on Religion, Refugees, and Forced Migration • A Special Session on Religious & Faith-based contributions to Refugees and Forced Migration convening in New York on September 2016, alongside the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants • The Global Religious Forum, a follow-up convening in mid-2017 to the WHS and focusing on mechanisms, methodologies, and case studies of effective partnership between local faith networks and humanitarian response agencies. Sign up for next steps at www.jliflc.com/whs if you are interested in being involved

13. Investing in Humanity Means Supporting Faith Communities’ Work in Reducing the Impact of Crises CASE STUDY The Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSSS) • During the current crisis in South Sudan, ECSSS has worked to bring relief to affected communities, often reaching areas that others have not reached. • They have also worked with schools and communities on trauma healing and peace-building, enabling parents to send their children back to school and them to resume income-generating activities. • The messages from grassroots peace-building and reconciliation were shared with political, intellectual and other leaders urging them to build trust and overcome differences.