Faith

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About the Faith Subcommittee
In light of the powerful influence of faith, faith leaders and the far reach of faith-based health providers, the faith community must be involved in family planning to achieve universal access. The Faith Subcommittee formed before the 2016 ICFP in Indonesia to bring together representatives from a variety of faith traditions to share best practices in faith-based involvement in FP, lift up the work of FBOs in family planning to dispel harmful myths and misperceptions, and encourage partnership among FBOs and the broader global health community.
Committee's Vision for ICFP2022
There is growing recognition among the global health community at large and the family planning community in particular about the vital role of the faith community in expanding access and uptake of family planning. The Faith Subcommittee plans to continue its earlier momentum and heighten awareness at ICFP 2022 among the broader family planning community that faith-based organizations are ready, willing and effective partners in family planning education, provision and advocacy.

The Subcommittee also seeks to leverage ICFP 2022 as an opportunity to share this message outside the family planning community to reach broad populations, including people of faith, to help dispel myths that family planning goes against faith-based values, and instead, is consistent with beliefs that support protecting mothers and children.

Members, Partners & Supporters

Representatives from Christian Connections for International Health, Catholics for Reproductive Health and the Faith To Action Network (F2A) are co-chairing the Subcommittee. A number of representatives from other organizations are serving on the Subcommittee, including:

Act Church of Sweden
Al Azhar University
Cadre des Religieux pour La Santé et Le Développement (CRSD)
Catholics for Reproductive Health (C4RH)
Christian Connections for International Health
Christian Health Association of Kenya
Faith to Action Network
Gates Institute 
Institute for Social and Youth Development (ISYD)
Jhpiego
JSI
Muhammadiyah
Muslim Family Counselling Services MFCS
Pathfinder International 
RICH – Rwanda Interfaith Council on Health
The Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, Subcommittee Continuing Professional Development
USAID Office of Population and Reproductive Health 
World Vision – EU
World Vision US 
World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD)
World Relief
Y Coalition
Get In Touch

If you are interested in knowing more about the ICFP Faith Subcommittee, please get in touch.

Contact:
Mona at mona.bormet@ccih.org

Faith Community Overview

 

The Faith Community Is Key to Universal Access

Faith is a fundamental part of life for people across the globe. Research shows that worldwide, more than eight in ten people identify with a religion. More importantly for improving family planning access in underserved areas, over 90 percent of people in countries with an unmet need for family planning consider religion a very important part of who they are. Therefore, it’s absolutely necessary that these communities are able to see that family planning is consistent with their faith values and supports healthy families.

Faith Leaders as Influential Advocates

Religious leaders are well respected and influential with their communities and policymakers, making them ideal advocates for sensitive issues such as family planning and reproductive health.

Faith-based Health Providers Reach Far and Wide

Faith-based health providers are major health care providers around the world. In 2015, The Lancet explored the reach and quality of faith-based health providers, which provide 20 to 70 percent of medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Lancet series, evidence indicates that the faith-based providers give care without prejudice to people of all faiths and the populations they serve have a high opinion of the care they receive.

The Faith Community at ICFP2022

Faith Community Commitment Statement at ICFP 2022

The faith community read a commitment statement at the closing plenary session of the 2022 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP).  The faith community expressed commitment to family planning in a statement read by Sheikh Saliou Mbacke of Cadre des Religieux pour la Santé et le Développement in Senegal. Faith actors committed to interfaith action and collaboration with the global health and family planning community in order to increase understanding, and build bridges between different stakeholders to ensure a greater and more significant impact, leading to healthier mothers, babies and families.

Déclaration des leaders religieux participants à l’ICFP 2022

La communauté confessionnelle a lu une déclaration d’engagement lors de la séance plénière de clôture de la Conférence internationale sur la planification familiale (ICFP) de 2022. La communauté confessionnelle a exprimé son engagement envers la planification familiale dans une déclaration lue par Cheikh Saliou Mbacke du Cadre des Religieux pour la Santé et le Développement au Sénégal. Les acteurs religieux se sont engagés dans l’action et la collaboration interconfessionnelles avec la communauté mondiale de la santé et de la planification familiale afin d’accroître la compréhension et de jeter des ponts entre les différentes parties prenantes pour assurer un impact plus important et plus significatif, conduisant à des mères, des bébés et des familles en meilleure santé.

View all faith-related events from ICFP2022 below:

Watch the faith track sessions recorded at ICFP2022:

1. Power of key influencers to influence social norms about family planning

View speakers, session descriptions, and additional materials from this session here.

2. Faith & FP: Examples from Kenya, Tchad, Niger and Somalia

View speakers, session descriptions, and additional materials from this session here.

Faith Community Webinar
En Français

Faith & #NotWithoutFP Forum

Community Events & Resources

Strengthening Partnership with Faith Actors in Family Planning: A Strategic Planning Guide

This guide is intended to lead program planners and decision-makers through a strategic process to engage and strengthen partnership with faith actors in family planning. The guide was developed through consultation with technical experts* and builds on guidance from key resources noted in the guide. The key actions in this SPG will enable a variety of stakeholders to engage in a joint effort to identify and develop approaches to collaborate more effectively, openly, and transparently on family planning, as best fits each partnership’s context. 

Lessons from Partnering with Faith-based Organizations in Very Young Adolescent Programming

This brief, released by USAID MOMENTUM on 1 June 2023, explores the potential of faith-based organizations to meaningfully address harmful gender and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) attitudes, behaviors, and norms among very young adolescents (VYAs), their families, and communities in Bangladesh. 

Strengthening very young adolescents in gender equality in Bangladesh

This field report was published in Christian Journal for Global Health (CJGH) on 29 May 29 2023.

Family Planning & Faith Critical Dialogues Series

FP2030’s Family Planning & Faith Critical Dialogues Series starts on Thursday, 18 May with a webinar sharing best practices on interfaith policy and advocacy approaches among faith actors in Eastern and Southern Africa, with the goal of fostering meaningful engagement towards driving family planning progress.

Family Planning Sermon and Messaging Guide for Faith Communities

via Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH)

This guide is designed to support faith communities, congregations and religious leaders who want to improve family planning (FP) literacy and acceptance through sermons and other messaging opportunities.

Promoting Vaccination: A Toolkit for Collaborating with Faith Communities

via MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership

This toolkit is designed to equip faith actors and related stakeholders—such as Ministries of Health, medical and scientific bodies, and non-profit organizations that partner with or work alongside faith actors—with the information and tools needed to raise awareness, reduce misinformation, and address barriers that prevent faith communities in particular from engaging in vaccination.

Additional Tools & Resources:

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