Conflict, Child Protection and Religious Communities
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Conflict, Child Protection and Religious Communities A Review and Recommendations on Enhancing Protection through Partnership July 2010 FINAL Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Malia Robinson, a consultant to Religions for Peace and UNICEF. However, the time and effort of many people have contributed to the finalization of this Review. It would not have been conceived of without the generous funding from Rissho-Kosei Kai through Japan Committee for UNICEF, and we express our deep appreciation to Reverend Koichi Matsumoto and Yutaka Kikugawa, respectively, for their ongoing and enthusiastic support for this project. In New York, the oversight team for the program—Stephen Hanmer and Amanda Melville at UNICEF, and Reverend KyoichiSugino and Deepika Singh at Religions for Peace—have discussed, shared literature and reviewed this document many times.Their commitment to the project is evident in their giving of so much time and energy, and they have modeled collaborative engagement at every step. There are countless others who have shared their perspectives and experiences, provided documentation and inspiration, and contributed to this document in ways they may not realize. I trust we will all continue the discussions, debates and plans sparked by this project. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ACRONYMS i Executive Summary 1 Strengths and Resources Religious Communities Bring to Child Protection – What they are doing well 3 Strengths of Child Protection Actors Working with Religious Communities – What they are doing well 3 Challenges 4 Recommendations 6 1. Introduction 9 2. Basic Concepts 10 3. Overview of related work by Religions for Peace and UNICEF 12 4. Religious communities and child protection 15 Partnering for Advocacy 15 Examples of advocacy with Religious Communities 15 Partnering for the Provision of Direct Services 21 5. Partnership: principles, practice and challenges 26 6. Summary of Lessons Learned and Recommendations 29 Strengths and Resources Religious Communities Bring to Child Protection – What they are doing well 29 Strengths of Child Protection Actors Working with Religious Communities – What they are doing well 30 Challenges 30 Recommendations 33 7. Conclusion 36 Annex 1: Background to Religions for Peace and UNICEF Joint Program 37 Annex 2: Commitment of the World’s Religions to Children: A Multi-Religious Declaration 38 Annex 3: Advocacy: Tension Between Rights-based and Religious Perspectives? 40 Selected References and Resources 47 Advocacy 47 Child Rights 49 Conflict 52 HIV/AIDS Contexts 54 Humanitarian Responses 55 Miscellaneous 56 Multi-Religious Cooperation 58 Partnership 59 Peace building and Conflict Resolution Processes 61 Psychosocial Care and Support 63 Religion, Religious Communities and Children 64 Research 65 Social Norm Change Processes 67 Violence Against Children 68 Children, Conflict and Religious Communities: A Review and Recommendations Page ii of 75Page ii of 75 ACRONYMS ARLPI Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative CPA Child Protection Advocates CPC Child Protection Committee CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSO Civil Society Organization FBO(s) Faith-based Organizations FGM/C Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ICC International Criminal Court IDP(s) Internally displace person(s) IFI International Financial Institution IRC Inter-religious Council LRA Lord‘s Resistance Army MA Muslim Aid MDG(s) Millennium Development Goals NGO(s) Non-governmental organization RLP Refugee Law Project UMCOR United Methodist Committee on Relief UN United Nations UNICEF United Nation‘s Children‘ Fund WA IRCCC West Africa Inter-Religious Council Coordinating Committee WCRP Religions for Peace (formerly World Conference of Religions for Peace) i Executive Summary The changing nature of armed conflict over the past century has seen an increasing impact on civilians. It is estimated in most current conflicts that up to 80% of those affected by displacement, injury and death are women and children. Increasing attention to not only the impact of armed conflict on children, but an acknowledgement of their roles in armed groups has garnered great interest on the part of humanitarian actors, child rights activists and scholars, with an emerging consensus on appropriate approaches to protection. The evolution in child protection thinking has also led to an increasing emphasis on more holistic approaches to humanitarian interventions for children in situations of armed conflict. There is increasing recognition of the multi-dimensionality of the individual child and that his/her corresponding needs and rights are located in a variety of equally significant domains. This necessitates an integrated approach to protection, which entails collaboration across disciplines and innovative models of partnership. In situations of conflict, religious communities often have some of the few remaining structures, networks and services in areas ravaged by fighting and inaccessible to outside humanitarian intervention. Their humanitarian efforts are due to more than just presence, however. The world‘s major religions tend to place service within the contexts of broader callings towards peace making and community building. These efforts are so often under-reported, as they are the organic product of deeply held beliefs and worldviews. Humanitarian actors, such as UNICEF and other child protection agencies, recognize the value of and rely on religious and inter-religious structures to promote child protection in situations of conflict. Partnerships have long been underway, often developed spontaneously in emergency situations. The nature, achievements and challenges of such partnerships, however, have not been well documented or analyzed. Seeking to build on established work, as well as learn how to further elaborate successful approaches to collaboration Religions for Peace and UNICEF have come together in a unique partnership to explore the potential for enhanced engagement of religious communities in advancing child protection efforts in situations of conflict. Religions for Peace (formerly the World Conference of Religions for Peace) is the world‘s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition that works to advance peace, and UNICEF is the United Nations agency mandated to promote and protect children‘s rights. The two organizations have worked together since 1990 to strengthen the efforts of religious communities to fulfill the rights of children with advocacy initiatives. The current program recognizes the need to strengthen documentation, and emphasize learning processes at all stages in order to build up this important literature. Feedback to this process has emphasized the important role that religious communities can and do play in child protection. There is much more to learn, however, about the nature of these partnerships to make fuller use of the potential these partnerships offer to improving the well-being of children affected by conflict. Aliterature and desk review was an initial step in the program to examine the experiences and lessons learned to date about the collaborative work of religious communities and child protection actors by summarizingsome of the available literature on the pertinent issues related to the program, much of which is comprised of internal documentation (grey literature). It is acknowledged at the outset that there is not a substantial literature on the subject, and little, if any rigorous evaluation or analysis. Primarily relying on resources produced by UNICEF and Religions for Peace, the review was far from exhaustive in its scope and its representation of the tremendous amount of work carried out. It served as the background paper for an expert Consultation held in New York in March 2010, which delved further in depth on the issues drawn out of this review and further contributed to the issues it highlights and recommendations for action.For the Children, Conflict and Religious Communities: A Review and Recommendations Page 1 of 75Page 1 of 75 program this sets a baseline of documentation that will be built upon through consultations, project monitoring, evaluation and analysis. It is evident from the review that religious communities can play particularly effective roles in strengthening the protective framework for children‘s well being both through advocacy and direct service provision. They have enormous outreach capacities of the religious partners, as well as an authority and ability to translate child rights/protection concepts to members of their communities. For example, religious communities can play a key role in supporting changes in harmful social norms, and supporting and enhancing the protective roles of families and communities. In situations of armed conflict, where existing protective mechanisms may be weakened or no longer exist, religious communities are often in a desirable position to take up immediate efforts in the provision of needed relief supplies, family tracing for separated and unaccompanied children, psychosocial support initiatives and emergency education, among others. In these ways, religious communities are important partners in child protection. The following are some the key themes that have emerged in the course of this review: Language There is recognition that child protection actors and religious communities have their own ―vocabulary‖ and a lack of literacy in each other‘s languages is one of the main barriers to effective partnerships.