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BUREAU FOR DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND INNOVATION
LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB
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Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships |
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 Friends and colleagues,
Please find this month’s message from USAID’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships here.
Peace and every good,
ADAM NICHOLAS PHILLIPS
Director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
USAID
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USAID Deploys Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in response to Sudan Crisis |
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Resources from USAID and the World Food Program are distributed to internally displaced persons in eastern Sudan.
On April 15, 2023, fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, plunging the country into a turbulent conflict. The fighting has claimed hundreds of lives, injured thousands, and displaced more than one million people within Sudan and into neighboring countries. In addition to the violence, civilians remaining in the capital city of Khartoum are facing protracted shortages of power, water, food, and medicine. This conflict only compounds an already dire humanitarian situation: 24.7 million people—more than half of Sudan’s population—will require humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs in 2023.
To coordinate the U.S. Government’s humanitarian response to the crisis, USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the region on April 22, 2023. This team, composed of disaster experts from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, and working with partners to gather information regarding humanitarian needs, engage with key stakeholders in Sudan and across the region, and determine best ways to quickly and safely deliver humanitarian assistance to people in need within and outside Sudan where conditions allow. On May 19, 2023, USAID announced an initial $103 million in humanitarian assistance to support Sudan and neighboring countries impacted by the crisis. In Sudan, the additional funding will support partners providing or replenishing critical relief supplies that respond to the most urgent needs, including food assistance, health care, nutrition support, protection services, shelter and relief supplies, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services. USAID will also support existing efforts countrywide to provide quick and flexible funding to local organizations.
Learn more about how humanitarian relief organizations, including faith-based organizations like World Vision and Catholic Relief Services, are responding to the crisis by clicking the link below.
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USAID Hosts Roundtable Discussion with the Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship Cohort |
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The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship cohort met with Administrator Samantha Power and senior leadership for a wide-ranging conversation on shared development priorities.
On April 27th, the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships hosted a dozen Catholic sisters participating in the “Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship”. The cohort, supported by the Hilton Foundation and Gates Foundation, and implemented by Georgetown University and the Joint Learning Initiative, seeks to amplify the visibility and successes of Catholic Sisters in responding to complex development and humanitarian challenges. The program provides training and mentorship opportunities to strengthen participants' leadership and management skills so they can magnify their development impact in communities around the world.
The cohort met with Agency leadership, including Administrator Samantha Power, to discuss USAID’s localization reform agenda, strategic religious engagement, inclusive development, and gender equality. Representing communities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana, the Sisters spoke about the challenges they face as development practitioners and emphasized the need for more funding to be directed to local organizations.
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Focus on the Field:
Mobilizing Faith Leaders to Protect the Rights of Girls in Their Communities
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 In the Gumla district of Jharkhand state, a faith leader engages in conversation on preventing CEFMU with a community member. Photo credit: Prakhar Rajoria for USAID MOMENTUM
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 Faith leaders attending an orientation on understanding gender and preventing CEFMU in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha state. Photo credit: Centre for Catalyzing Change
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Child, early and forced marriage/union (CEFMU) disproportionately impacts women and girls, impeding their education, threatening their health as well as the health of any children they may have, and preventing them from being free from all forms of violence. India has committed to eliminating CEFMU; yet many women and girls—particularly those living in rural areas—remain vulnerable to the practice.
As a key part of its efforts to meet the health needs of India’s marginalized youth, USAID’s MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership: India-Yash is working to prevent CEFMU in two states, Jharkhand and Odisha. MOMENTUM engages closely with faith leaders in this work, recognizing their important influence over norms and practices in their communities.
Since February 2022, the project has supported 101 faith-based leaders to discuss CEFMU, the legal provisions and support services that help protect girls, and the importance of girls staying in school with their communities. These leaders have now organized more than 200 community dialogues, reaching 50,867 parents, 28,430 adolescents, and 800 other faith leaders. MOMENTUM also partnered with the Interfaith Humanitarian Alliance (IFHA), a national initiative bringing together faith actors and organizations, to host virtual plenary sessions in three states on the empowerment of vulnerable girls.
To complement this work with faith leaders, MOMENTUM has bolstered efforts to link vulnerable adolescent girls with essential support services, such as life skills sessions, employment and academic opportunities, and healthcare. To date, more than 33,400 girls have been linked to such services. The project is also supporting a team of 100 youth champions to advocate with governments and other actors and to raise awareness within their communities on CEFMU.
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USAID Participates at the G20 Interfaith Forum in New Delhi, India |
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Director Phillips (right) joins academics and faith leaders for a plenary panel at the G20 Interfaith Forum in New Delhi, India. Photo Credit: G20 Interfaith Forum
Earlier this month, Director Adam Phillips attended and spoke at the G20 Interfaith Forum in New Delhi, India, hosted this year by the Baha'i International Community and the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities. The G20 Interfaith Forum brings together faith actors, academics, civil society, and government representatives for critical discussions on how to shape and implement the G20 agenda.
On the first day of the Forum, Director Adam Philips joined faith leaders and scholars for the plenary session,"Multipartner Approaches”, to discuss the vital role that religious and interfaith voices play in shaping and implementing the G20 agenda, as well as opportunities for deeper engagement. Director Phillips also highlighted the need for reforms in how the development sector works with local organizations and reiterated USAID’s commitment to partnering with and alongside faith-based organizations as a key part of these localization efforts.
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Partnering with USAID: Do you lead a faith-based or community organization working in development or humanitarian assistance? On June 14 at 9am ET, join USAID’s Industry Liaison Team for the FY 2023 Third Quarter Business Forecast and Partner Update Webinar to hear about upcoming funding opportunities and ask questions about the application process. Check out the USAID Business Forecast before the event to preview funding and partnership opportunities at USAID and submit any questions you may have ahead of the event using this form. |
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ICYMI: This month, USAID released a new report on the role, contributions, challenges, and opportunities of faith-based education in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. USAID’s Office of Regional Sustainable Development in the LAC Bureau and the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships collaborated with the University of Notre Dame to conduct the research for the report. Read the full report here. |
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MUST READ: On May 15, 2023, The U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom released the 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report describes the status of religious freedom in more than 200 countries, calls attention to violations and limitations on the right of freedom of religion or belief, and articulates the U.S. Government’s policies for promoting religious freedom around the world. Watch Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks highlighting the major findings of the report and its policy implications here. |
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DON’T MISS: FBNP will be participating at Christian Connections for International Health’s (CCIH) biennial conference from June 5-7 at Catholic University in Washington, DC. This year’s conference, organized around the theme Hope in Health: Our Labor is Not in Vain, will explore current and future ways religious communities, healthcare workers, and development practitioners can work together to overcome compounding crises in the areas of health, climate, and conflict. We look forward to seeing you there. |
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The Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is part of the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships (LFT) Hub.
The LFT Hub focuses on strengthening USAID’s ability to partner with non-traditional and diverse actors including local, faith-based, and community organizations; schools and hospitals; minority-serving institutions; foundations; diaspora communities; cooperatives; and volunteer organizations. Learn more about how LFT is harnessing the power of partnerships through the following:
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