ACT Alliance EU collaborated with Islamic Relief Worldwide, Caritas Europa and EU-CORD to address a significant gap in the COVID-19 response at EU level: engagement with religious leaders and faith communities. A large proportion of EU assistance is operational in countries and regions where religion and faith play a large part in shaping customs, practices and frameworks of well-being. The EU itself has noted:

“Sometimes religious leaders are the only way to reach out to local communities.

Religion and the EU’s external policies: Increasing Engagement, EPRS, pp.8–9

Evidence and input from ACT Alliance global members and field teams contributed to shaping tools provision of practical considerations for policy makers and civil society on ways of collaboration with religious leaders and faith communities, navigating complex and significant challenges in doing so and developing religious literacy. We also evidence many examples where religious leaders and faith communities play an essential role in helping the broad community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

When faced with a crisis with the urgency of a pandemic, what can staff in EU Delegations or the ECHO field office do to engage with religious leaders and faith communities?

The toolkit aims to answer this question.

Download it here: Toolkit – Engaging with religious leaders and faith communities