Originally published on Devex under the title The coronavirus response needs local communities and faith leaders. Written in co-authorship with experts from ACT Alliance EU, EU-CORD and Islamic Relief Worldwide.
With 84% of the world population identifying with a religious group, faith communities and agencies are essential stakeholders during a pandemic crisis like the one we are facing today affecting all communities and traditions globally. In such a context, if we are serious about leaving no one behind, we cannot neglect local response and community engagement to reach and empower the most vulnerable.
We know from lessons learned out of the response to the Ebola crisis in West and Central Africa that faith leaders played a crucial role in the local response and were on the frontline of multilateral cooperation. As trusted sources of information, they have persuaded and supported communities in embracing the life-saving advice of health practitioners against perceived stigma, discrimination, and fear. To do so, reports explain, many Christian and Muslim leaders have engaged in education campaigns and gone door to door, village to village to give messages on behaviour change.
Therefore, to be effective in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and international aid agencies need urgently to further existing efforts to develop their “faith literacy” by prioritizing training staff in the religious and cultural context of the communities in which they work and encouraging the inclusion of faith leaders in program design and delivery. This will allow for straightforward, informed, and comprehensive health interventions — especially in those settings where neither the local government nor international institutions are perceived as present or trustworthy by the local communities.
In fragile contexts where complex political realities and tensions between state and non-state actors can quickly escalate, this pandemic will most certainly have catastrophic consequences. Whilst government leadership is essential, the response to public health and humanitarian crises needs to adopt a wider “national health systems strengthening” approach; building on government, private sector and civil society capacities, including those of faith-based organizations and leaders. As trusted authorities in their communities, they are a lasting presence even when the pressing phase of the emergency is believed to be over. This presence ensures continuity and community preparedness for the next crisis.
It would be a mistake not to consult them when designing the humanitarian response to COVID-19 and the development of a shared agenda for preparedness and recovery.
Dr Denis Mukwege — founder of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate — has witnessed encouraging reports from the DRC, of pastors and elders helping to play a key role, and the potential to use church influence to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus and support people through the transmission of public health messages to contain the virus and practical support to households that need to isolate.
From his own experience he has seen that in many Africa countries, religion is a key part of stability and a driver for development. In some countries, it could represent the only viable and legitimate authorities when people lose trust in politicians.
In the early stages of the Ebola responses, we saw mistakes when the approach taken was purely medical. It was reported that when Ebola struck, many thought it needed a purely medical response. But in fact, the social response was vital for reducing transmissions. To combat COVID-19, we again need to teach people how to protect themselves.
We know that beyond the medical response, strategies to contain the Ebola and current coronavirus rely on social mobilization and behavioural change through a careful balance of self-isolation and hygiene measures as well as safeguarding well-being, from physical and economic, to psychological and spiritual. Many of the good hygiene and safe bereavement and burial practices central to the health response are informed by belief systems and therefore require the engagement of communities and their leaders — of faith and secular — to reinforce or encourage behavioural change.
The UN, EU, and donors have recognized the needs of the most vulnerable groups and hardest to reach in this crisis and UNICEF has led the way with a global multi-religious COVID-19 response.
This recognition has so far not been matched with a strong partnership with local civil society, including faith-based agencies and leaders. The UN-led global COVID-19 response allocates 95% of funding to nine UN entities, while local and national civil society organisations struggle to gain access to the decision-making tables that guide the response. It is myopic to exclude those who, according to the World Health Organisation,
Pandemics affect everyone and everyone has a stake in flattening the curve of contagion. This is a critical moment in our response to COVID-19. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned: “This virus will be with us for a long time”. But there is still time to build and strengthen the resilience of communities worldwide. We must act swiftly and develop locally-led, holistic approaches able to connect the global to the local level. Who better placed than faith-based organizations and local leaders; they are already there.
