ESD and Religious Leaders

Addressing RH/FP Issues from a Religious Perspective
The ESD approach to educating Religious Leaders about reproductive health is concerned with more than simply family planning and child spacing. It is about maintaining optimal health in all issues related to women’s and men’s reproductive systems. Christian and Islamic communities, like all communities in the world, are faced with many RH/FP related challenges, such as the illness and death of women during childbirth, health problems associated with pregnancies that are too early in life or too close together, violence against women, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. The ESD approach to mobilizing Religious Leaders addresses RH/FP issues within the values, beliefs, and directives of community members and their respective religions.

ESD, its predecessor project, CATALYST and our partners have developed an array of resources that document work with religious leaders around the world.

Religious Leader Materials

From ESD

Mobilizing Religious Leaders for RH/FP at the Community Level: A Training Manual
Manual
Annexes
Handouts

The Muslim Scholars of North Eastern Province on Islam and Health: Challenges and Opportunities
A report of the conference, “Islam and Health in the Context of North Eastern Province: Opportunities and Challenges”, held April 22-25, 2008 in Garissa, North Eastern Province (NEP), Kenya.
Full Report
4-page Brief

Lessons Learned in Programming and Implementing the Religious Leaders RH/FP Program: A Case for Dadaab Refugee Camp
A review of ESD’s work with religious leaders in the Dadaab Refugee Camp in North Eastern Province (NEP), Kenya. 

Read more about ESD's efforts to mobilize Religious Leaders for RH/FP in Yemen.

From COMPASS

COMPASS Success Story: Unreceptive Muslim Religious Leaders Promote and Practice Family Planning in Nasarawa State, Nigeria
Report on the COMPASS Project’s work with Muslim religious leaders to dispel myths about family planning, improve their perspectives toward contraception, and motivate them to advocate publicly for family planning. 

From CATALYST

Best Practices in Egypt: Mobilizing Religious Leaders
An overview of CATALYST's work with religious leaders in Egypt as part of the TAHSEEN project. 

From Pathfinder International

Building Partnership with Faith-Based Organizations: Integrating Youth-Friendly Services into the Health Delivery System of the Christian Health Association of Ghana African Youth Alliance (AYA)
The Window of Hope Project was a three-year collaborative project between the African Youth Alliance/Pathfinder and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG). This report documents the project's work to integrate Youth-Friendly Services into the mainstream health service delivery of 10 CHAG facilities.

Ethiopia Faith-Based Organizations: The Key to Community Trust
This piece details Pathfinder International and USAID collaboration with faith-based organizations and religious leaders to improve reproductive health in Ethiopia.

Improving Women’s Lives in the Muslim World
An overview of Pathfinder's International's work in several Muslim countries and its impact on the women who live there.

Religious Leaders Become Advocates for Reproductive Health
The government of Yemen established a national center to train religious leaders and educators and prepare them to disseminate messages relevant to development efforts. Such trainings support the project’s goal of improving maternal and child health in Yemen’s most underserved areas regions.

Religious Leader Expands Role throught Training
Kebele Kuttu's story: a Protestant Priest from southern Ethiopia becomes a Community Based Reproductive Health Agent for his congregation.

Reproductive Health Issues in Nigeria: The Islamic Perspective
An overview of reproductive health in Muslim areas in Nigeria.

Partnering with Religious Leaders to Support Behavior Change
A presentation by USAID/Egypt about religious leaders and the TAKAMOL project.

Religious Leaders and Family Planning: A Partnership Experience
Describes the Pathfinder religious leaders program in Northern Nigeria.