Faith-based Organizations Research Articles

Revitalizing community empowerment: harnessing the synergy of faith-based NGOs and Laverack’s domain approach

Abstract This research investigated the community empowerment initiatives of Islamic Relief (IR) Bangladesh, a faith-based non-governmental organization (NGO), using Laverack’s domain approach. The study employed a quantitative approach, where data were collected from the beneficiaries of the Action for Peoples Rights and Livelihoods (APRIL) project of IRB in the Kalikagaon village in Thakurgaon District, Bangladesh. Findings revealed that IR Bangladesh primarily empowered women and shared similarities with conventional NGOs in the country. However, unique aspects included non-interest-based loans, revolving funds, and community-led group operations. The organization’s services were inclusive, irrespective of religious affiliation. The study confirmed that IR’s activities contribute to community empowerment across Laverack’s nine domains. Policy implications include establishing an Apex Body (Apex Body refers to the highest decision-making and coordinating authority within the community, often responsible for overseeing and managing the overall implementation of various development initiatives.) at project inception, forming a national alliance with IR, providing ongoing training for collective responsibility, and emphasizing publications and research to counter misconceptions. The study findings hold relevance beyond rural Bangladesh, offering insights for development interventions in similar socio-cultural contexts, and contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals in various developing countries.

Epidemiology of Substance Abuse Among the Youths in Makueni County, Kenya

Introduction: Majority of youths all over the world ignorantly rely on one or more types of drugs for their everyday activities, including Mandrax, Cocaine, Tobacco, Heroine, Khat, Morphine, Alcohol, Amphetamines, Ephedrine, and Glue among others. This study’s purpose was to evaluate the epidemiology of substance abuse among the youths in Makueni County, Kenya. The broad objectives that guided the study was; to determine the epidemiology of substance abuse among the youths in Makueni County, Kenya. Methodology: -A Cross-sectional mixed-method study design was undertaken, with the target population consisting of all youths from Makueni County's eight main marketplaces. Purposive sampling was employed to obtain the 8 Major urban centres while simple random selection approach was employed to obtain respondents in each market. Qualitative data was collected using 8 key informants to supplement the quantitative data collected from the youths. A self-administered questionnaire was employed. Quantitative data was analysed using Descriptive as well as inferential statistics while qualitative narrative data was grouped into themes and was presented inform of texts with verbatim quotes used to amplify the voice of the informants. Results: The study sampled 384 respondents from Makueni County. Prevalence of Drug/Substance abuse stood at 62.3 % with alcohol (58.3%) being the most commonly abused drug/Substance. Hard Drugs were the least abused with 96.9% reporting they had never abused. Pearson correlation between gender, age and education level on prevalence of drug abuse in Makueni showed a weak positive relationship(r=0.032), weak negative relationship (r=-0.064) and a significant negative relationship (r=-0.212) respectively. High unemployment rates 62.3%, easy availability of drugs 34.3%, Peer pressure 72.3%, cheap cost of drugs 28.3% and poverty level 15.1% are main contributory factors to drug abuse. A chi-square run on the factors contributing to drug abuse also indicated a significant positive relationship between the local music, TV programs, friends, and social media with prevalence of drug abuse in Makueni County. The chi-square results also revealed a weak positive relationship between parents and prevalence of drug abuse in Makueni County. Faith-based organizations, local leaders, religious leaders, and non-governmental organizations had a strong negative relationship with prevalence of drug abuse in Makueni County. Conclusion & Recommendations: There is high prevalence of Drug/Substance abuse among the youths in Makueni County and both the County Government, national Government and the community in general must put stringent measures to curb the easy availability, sale and buying of abusive Drugs and other substances in the county.

It is Who You Know: The Influence of Faith-Based Donor Networks on the Antitrafficking Work of Faith-Based Organizations

Abstract Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are prevalent actors in antitrafficking work, in part due to the substantial resources existing within faith-based donor networks. FBOs are often funded by churches, other FBOs, and individual donors, which make up donor networks partly secluded from mainstream development funding. Drawing on research practices and concepts from institutional ethnography, I explore the specific composition of the donor networks of three antitrafficking FBOs in Thailand and Cambodia. I demonstrate how the character of donor networks shapes the antitrafficking work of the FBOs. The analysis shows that the three different donor networks contribute to distinctly different approaches to faith in antitrafficking. This article thus contributes to understanding the varied ways in which faith shapes the work of FBOs and sheds light on how the intertwinement of religious ideas and material resources influences the particular antitrafficking work of FBOs.

Religion, healthcare, and social media use in urban Tanzania: an ethnographic study of faith-based organizations

ABSTRACT The relationship between religion and social media has been critically discussed on potential benefits and opportunities the work of faith-based organizations (FBOs) enjoys in relation to the growing social media technology. Using ethnographic approaches, this study focuses on the use of social media by the new generation of FBOs in their healthcare interventions in urban Tanzania. In particular, the study examines the types of social media used and the messages they carry and explores why FBOs prioritize the use of social media in their healthcare interventions. The findings show that FBOs use Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, local social media platforms and YouTube to broadcast and share recorded videos, testimonies, and messages of their healthcare interventions. FBOs select social media platforms for their healthcare interventions based on the targeted audience and desired outcomes, while simultaneously addressing both religious and non-religious needs and obligations. This in turn may have an impact on the public recognition of their work and strengthening their influence in society in terms of attracting more beneficiaries to their religious ideologies, inspiring, and motivating followers in meeting their religious and social obligations and attracting government support and recognition.

Volunteering and Catholicism in Europe. The Inside Perspective Part 2: Empirical

In the paper we analyse the social activity practices of Catholic persons, as a set of individual and collective action emerging from the Catholic identity and – to more or less extent – structuralised under the Church-related formal non-profit initiatives. The purpose of the study is to clarify: (1) to what extent the Catholic unpaid social activities of different kinds could be classified as forms of volunteering and (2) to what extent the third sector definitions of volunteering are included in specific Catholic activities. Three tendencies have been observed with respect to not including religion-oriented volunteering in voluntary studies. Firstly, while using tools for collecting data adequate for the secular world, researchers face methodological difficulties to successfully cover social activities organized in parishes and congregations. Secondly, a reductionist approach reflects the ideological-rooted tendency to treat religion as a matter of private life. Thirdly, some religious-based entities tend to keep social activities of the believers within the Church-related circle. From the Catholic perspective, volunteer engagement represents an important aspect of faith-based every day activities, the so-called lived religion. At the same time, social engagement of believers provided within the Church-related entities, as well as outside them, usually fulfils all main features of volunteering. The relation between volunteering and religion is to be referred not only to the general position of faith-based and religious organizations in the public sphere, but also to the embeddedness of religious life in the society, as in fact both religion and volunteering are categories social per se. We illustrate our reflection on volunteering and Catholicism by presenting empirical evidence from the 2018 panel expert research among representatives of 29 Catholic Bishops Conferences across Europe.

“Prison Life Can Make You Go Crazy”: Insights Into the Situation for People With a Mental Illness in the Malawi Prison System

Little is known with regard to due process and forensic assessment capacities in Africa, where over one million are deprived of their liberty on any given day. A rapid situation assessment explored multi-stakeholder perspectives regarding the situation of people with a mental illness in the Malawi prison system. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 regional professional stakeholders, 18 former prisoners, and five prison staff from two maximum-security prisons. Reflexive thematic analysis yielded five themes; occurrence of mental illness among people living in prison; prison environment exacerbating harm and levels of mental illness; security responses to the presence of psychiatric disorders; availability and coverage of specialist psychiatric and psychological care; and diversion, other non-custodial measures and continuity of care on release. Narratives highlight the substantial causal impact of the prison environment in amplifying existing and new mental illness, vulnerability and exploitation of people with a mental disorder. Malawi prisons are hampered by lack of specialist forensic capacity nationally; centralized mental health surveillance system; and insufficient skilled staff to conduct evidence-based screening and care. Security operations implement the use of pharmacological and physical restraint measures at times. Faith-based organizations play an important role in providing psychological and spiritual support. Release and reintegration require family involvement. A cross departmental intersectoral partnership response spanning government ministries, key civil society organizations, the Malawi Prison Inspectorate and Malawi Human Rights Commission is warranted. Recommendations include alleviation of prison congestion, prison staff capacity building and investment in forensic mental health services with adequate geographic coverage.

Science-based Targets for Faith: Technical Guidance Document

This guide aims to provide a global standard for Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) to measure, manage, and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement, and to advance FBOs as prominent environmental leaders that operate their physical assets in a climate positive manner.

Explaining the longitudinal dynamics of international collaboration in disaster recovery: Friends, partners, or foes?

AbstractDespite a concerted scholarly focus on collaborative management, there is scant research on the evolution of collaboration in international assistance networks. Questions remain on what explains the evolution of collaborative relationships in international assistance collaborative networks, and on the importance of trust, faith‐based status, and geographical homophily in predicting the development of international assistance collaborative networks over time. Similarly, how do organizations from different sectors collaborate over time in international assistance collaborative networks? To address these questions, we analyze the nature and evolution of collaboration between international and local non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), faith‐based organizations (FBOs), and other organizations providing disaster recovery assistance before and after the 2010 Haiti earthquake in three time periods: before 2010, 2010–2012, and 2012–2015. Employing descriptive and inferential network methods, we find that knowledge‐based trust, geographical homophily, and the faith‐based status of organizations predict the development of collaborative relations in different periods of time.

Faith-based organisations and disaster management in informal urban Accra

ABSTRACT Disaster risks in African cities are compounding due to the triple convergence of climate change impacts, unplanned urbanisation, and entrenched socio-spatial inequities. Disaster events are, therefore, common with disproportionate impacts on informal residents yet resting within reactive and extremely limited disaster management regime that leaves behind many voids in disaster risk reduction. Drawing on a qualitative approach and situated in a disaster-vulnerable community of Dome, Greater Accra, this paper unpacks the activities of Faith-based Organisations (FBOs) in filling the voids in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This research is timely because elevating and integrating FBOs activities in disaster management could concretise multi-actor frameworks for disaster risk reduction that are culturally sensitive, locally situated, and socially engaged. The paper documents that experimenting with formal-informal collaborations in community-based risk reduction and leveraging the practices and experiences of FBOs in disaster risk reduction holds the potential for building disaster prevention and resilient capacities in informal urban riskscapes. The study recommends that active collaboration between FBOs and government organisations can assist in bridging crisis management gaps and improving community disaster resilience.

Abstract 808: iCCaRE engagement of faith-based organizations to co-create and co-disseminate infographics addressing disparities in prostate cancer literacy and clinical and biospecimen studies

Abstract Black men hold the highest prostate cancer burden among all ethnicities; thus, there is an urgent need for research to inform the development and implementation of a culturally tailored intervention to reduce disparities and improve outcomes. In response, the Inclusive Cancer Care Research Equity (iCCaRE) Consortium was created to advance health equity and reduce disparities in prostate cancer. Addressing the unique needs of Black men require a genuine bidirectional relationship between scientist and the community. In the Black community, faith-based organizations are respected institutions advocating for health equity and justice. Given their vital role as community health gatekeepers, the iCCaRE Consortium partners with faith-based organizations. Rooted in community engaged research (CER), we conducted an environmental scan through stakeholder meetings to discuss the prevailing challenges and opportunities to meet the needs of the Black community along the prostate cancer care continuum. iCCaRE investigators including Partnership Engagement Services (PES) core partnered with faith-based organizations to ensure and advance community responsive cancer prevention. Together, with our faith-based leaders (N=18), we identified gaps including issues associated with the care continuum from screening to diagnosis and from treatment to survivorship; disparities according to health coverage and social determinants of health, and best practices to assist patients including care coordination, patient navigation, digital innovations, and programs offered by patient advocacy organizations. In response to the needs of the community and the strengths of faith-based organization, we prioritized our initial focus on increasing community prostate cancer literacy and activation using co-design educational infographics for both traditional and technology-based communication platforms. The infographics provided evidence-based facts about prostate cancer burden in the Black community; and using a call to action approach, we emphasized the importance of taking action for life saving screening, prevention and healthy lifestyle. Taking action in prostate cancer symptom recognition, survivorship care, and quality care. Also, co-designed infographics were created for clinical studies and biospecimen awareness and participation and the importance of advocacy and equitable care. Another component incorporated face to face trainings and presentations to enhance their knowledge of cancer screening tools, epidemiology of prostate cancer, and pathways to care. This presentation highlighted the first step towards community based intervention development, implementation and dissemination towards equity and justice for prostate cancer prevention and patient/survivor improvements for Black men. Citation Format: James C. Morrison, Kimlin T. Ashing, Gaole Song, Timethia J. Bonner, Che Ngufor, Getachew Dagne, Arnold Merriweather, John McCall, Ewan Cobran, Cassandra N. Moore, Fornati Bedell, Rotimi Oladapo, Floyd B. Willis, Runcie Chidebe Chidebe, Noreen A. Stephenson, JoAnne S. Oliver, Vinessa Gordon, Folakemi Odedina. iCCaRE engagement of faith-based organizations to co-create and co-disseminate infographics addressing disparities in prostate cancer literacy and clinical and biospecimen studies [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 808.

Abstract 4840: Creating a culturally sensitive manual to increase clinical trial participation among African Americans and African Nationals

Abstract Background: Racial and ethnic minorities are immensely underrepresented in clinical trial studies in the United States. Black/African Americans, Latinos/as, Asians, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders make up roughly 30% of all clinical trials (CT) participation across all race groups. Being inclusive of all populations in CT ensures that everyone has access to modern medicines and treatments, but also, that these latest treatments work and react well to all people. Methods: We developed a manual on clinical trials with a target focus to African Americans and African Nationals. We hosted two focus groups with Blacks/African Americans in which we found they are more comfortable getting cancer related information through trusted community services, such as coming from churches. We have connected with over 80 Pastors who agreed to collaborate in clinical trials education. Results: Through outreach and engagement to African American churches in Los Angeles County, we have distributed a copy of this clinical trials educational manual to 90 churches to be disseminated during their services. Our office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) regularly attend community health and resource events and provide hard copies of the clinical trials manual at tables/booths designated for our participation. We have attended 50 community events and have disseminated about 1,900 copies of the CT manual so far this year 2023. This manual is also available for free download on our cancer center’s website, in which over 100 toolkits have been downloaded within the last year. Conclusions: By creating a culturally sensitive and adapted educational manual and partnering with trusted services in the community such as faith-based organizations, we can begin to break down barriers to clinical trials participation among all race and ethnic minority groups. Citation Format: Carolina Aristizabal, Eduardo Ibarra, Lourdes A. Baezconde-Garbanati. Creating a culturally sensitive manual to increase clinical trial participation among African Americans and African Nationals [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4840.

Abstract P446: Community-Engaged Strategies for Recruitment of Black Men at Risk for Hypertension: The CLIP Study

Background: Recruitment of Black participants in research studies is challenging. Mistrust of academic and medical institutions due to historic mistreatment, medical racism, and lack of culturally tailored strategies to engage Black communities as partners, has led to under-representation of Black participants in studies. Black men have higher prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and worse outcomes than other groups. Yet, Black men are underrepresented in HTN clinical trials. The Community-to-Clinic Linkage Program to Prevent Hypertension (CLIP) is a community-engaged cluster randomized trial to test barbershop facilitation to prevent HTN among Black men residing in Staten Island (SI), New York City. Objective: To describe recruitment strategies to engage Black men in CLIP via an academic-community partnership. Methods and Results: Approximately 10% of SI residents identify as Black, of which ~ 90% live in 3 census tracts with the highest prevalence of HTN in the borough. The study team collaborates with Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI), a grassroots health organization with > 30 years of community focus on addressing the root causes of health disparities on SI, the Director of Health in SI, a community advisory council (CAC) comprised of local leaders and residents, and the New York American Heart Association providing HTN education materials in an academic-community partnership to implement CLIP. Our recruitment goal is to enroll 84 men across 4-5 Black-owned barbershops over 5 cycles (12 weeks each), total N=418. We did not meet recruitment goals for cycles 1 and 2, (~60% enrolled). In consultation with CHASI and the CAC we adjusted our recruitment strategies to: 1) host bi-monthly community events in or around participating barbershops; 2) offer study incentives at the time of enrollment; 3) leverage existing relationships with faith-based organizations and other stakeholders to promote CLIP; and 4) distribute co-branded promotional flyers with CHASI and other stakeholders to publicize events. Subsequently we exceeded recruitment goals in our last cycle (113% enrolled); current cycle recruitment is ongoing. Several strategies have been successful in improving recruitment of Black men for CLIP: 1) deep community ties of our community health partner; 2) enlisting local community health workers representative of the study population; 3) flexibility and open communication between academic and community staff; 4) trust in the competence of each partner; 5) mutual commitment to the mission of the study. Conclusion: Partnering with engaged and trusted community partners, stakeholders, and local leaders positively impacts recruitment of Black men participants in HTN research studies. Organizations with deep community ties are crucial for establishing trust and identifying flexible solutions to recruitment challenges.

Transnational Private Actors Shaping the Policy and Practice of Child Institutionalisation

We provide an overview of transnational non-state actors and their agency that shape today’s out-of-home childcare around the world, specifically institutional residential childcare. Based on existing studies and desktop research, we reveal a broad range of complexly inter-related for-profit and non-profit actors promoting diverse, often conflicting policies and practices – with ambiguous implications for children in care. We focus on secular and faith-based international non-governmental organisations, transnational companies, private regulators, and individuals. Many of them promote family- and community-based care, yet many others support orphanages and other forms of institutional care. The growing number of transnational actors in residential childcare, the emergence of private regulatory frameworks, the advance of market-based, for-profit players, and the involvement of well-resourced religious communities make the future of child institutionalisation uncertain. We discuss how this transnational agency compares with other policy fields and propose directions for future investigations of how transnationalism impacts children in care.

Inverting the deficit model in global mental health: An examination of strengths and assets of community mental health care in Ghana, India, Occupied Palestinian territories, and South Africa.

Global mental health [GMH] scholarship and practice has typically focused on the unmet needs and barriers to mental health in communities, developing biomedical and psychosocial interventions for integration into formal health care platforms in response. In this article, we analyse four diverse settings to disrupt the emphasises on health system weaknesses, treatment gaps and barriers which can perpetuate harmful hierarchies and colonial and medical assumptions, or a 'deficit model'. We draw on the experiential knowledge of community mental health practitioners and researchers working in Ghana, India, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and South Africa to describe key assets existing in 'informal' community mental health care systems and how these are shaped by socio-political contexts. These qualitative case studies emerged from an online mutual learning process convened between 39 academic and community-based collaborators working in 24 countries who interrogated key tenets to inform a social paradigm for global mental health. Bringing together diverse expertise gained from professional practice and research, our sub-group explored the role of Community Mental Health Systems in GMH through comparative country case studies describing the features of community care beyond the health and social care system. We found that the socio-political health determinants of global economic structures in all four countries exert significant influence on local community health systems. We identified that key assets across sites included: family and community care, and support from non-profit organisations and religious and faith-based organisations. Strengthening community assets may promote reciprocal relationships between the formal and informal sectors, providing resources for support and training for communities while communities collaborate in the design and delivery of interventions rooted in localised expertise. This paper highlights the value of informal care, the unique social structures of each local context, and resources within local communities as key existing assets for mental health.

COVID-19 and Christian Faith-Based Organizations in Great Britain: A Research and Resource Review of Organizational, Financial and Human Contributions and Impacts in the Context of a Wider “Christian Ecology”

The COVID-19 pandemic presented what, on both global and national levels, has arguably so far been the most extensive health, economic and social challenge of the 21st century. Responding to this challenge, it soon became clear that, while having a vital role in the contextual provision of necessary services, public authorities also needed to engage with organizations in the voluntary, community sector, including Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs). This article presents and discusses and analyzes a digest of research and resource evidence from the beginning of 2020–to the end of 2023 concerning the organizational, financial and human contributions of and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on, in particular, Christian FBOs in Great Britain. It goes on to analyze these contributions and impacts within the analytical framework of what it calls a wider “Christian ecology” as the context within which such FBOs live, to which they contribute, and, as argued by this review, apart from which they cannot be properly understood. Finally, in exploring some of the lessons to be learned from the evidence and analysis presented, the article identifies and considers some key opportunities and issues that arise at the interface between the work of (especially, but not only, Christian) FBOs and the structures and processes of the governmental powers-that-be.

Strengthening partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals: engaging faith-based organizations and scientists in youth climate change learning and action

Collaborations with and among faith-based organizations (FBOs), natural scientists, development organizations, and youth offer untapped potential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). FBOs are important cultural partners for achieving the SDGs globally in numbers of adherents (80% of humanity) and resources, owning 8% of habitable land, half the world’s schools, and many health and community development services; they provide assets for formal and informal education, forming youth leaders, and social justice action. Natural scientists are also critical to SDG achievement because the environmental components in many goals require specialized skills and background. We focus on Climate Action (SDG 13) as it links to other SDGs and because climate justice directly connects to human development - a major area of FBO work, and engages scientist outreach and youth action. We surveyed The UN Environmental Program (UNEP) Faith for Action and other major FBO networking initiatives that were formed to address the SDGs as well as literature covering other interfaces and partnerships between religion, sustainability, youth, SDGs, science, climate change, and education. We examined curriculum and guidebooks to identify best practices and identified gaps in partnership development. The Faith Pavilion and multifaith statements at COP28 and the international Catholic movements emerging from the SDGs-concurrent 2015 Laudato Si' encyclical and its follow-up 2023 Laudate Deum are exemplary in mobilizing educators, institutions, and organizations to integrate SDGs into activities through a faith and particular mission lens. International development FBOs and diverse religious groups worldwide support climate adaptation and mitigation by connecting their central mission to environmental care. Today’s youth are unprecedented in number, sense of urgency, experience of climate anxiety and grief, and engaged sustainability actions. Yet, youth, FBOs and scientists are often not included in SDGs work. We recommend developing partnership skills, cultural and religious literacy materials, programs, and toolkits for secular groups and scientists partnering with FBOs, and networking opportunities to form partnerships. Connecting FBOs, including youth organizations, to larger youth climate movements and other collaborative climate networks, and creating climate action materials connecting to faith backgrounds of particular youth, will better equip potential partners for achieving the SDGs.

Giving and Receiving: Faith and the Sustainability of Institutions Providing Microfinance Services for Development

Topic: This review explores the important issue of the ‘institutional sustainability’ (IS) of faith-based development organizations (FBDOs) providing microfinance services to the poor in the developing world. IS has often been equated with the financial self-reliance of microfinance service providers, with income from credit charged on loans as well as other fees being used to pay for the service. While the approaches and tensions inherent in the attainment of IS by microfinance providers seeking to help the poorest in society have been well explored in the literature, there has been no specific analysis of FBDO providers and the special challenges they may face. Methodology: This paper is based on a review of the literature using a combination of search terms such as ‘microfinance’, ‘development’, ‘institutional sustainability’, ‘financial self-reliance’ and ‘faith’, with a special emphasis on the literature published between the 1990s and 2023. Results: One of the main findings is that Christian and Hindu FBDOs providing microfinance largely follow the financial self-reliance conceptualization of IS applied by secular providers and apply much the same set of responses regarding the setting of interest rates and other charges and the management of repayment amongst their client base. However, FBDOs of the Islamic faith take a broader perspective on IS and include the need for spirituality and religious development amongst their clients. Future directions: This paper makes a number of suggestions for future research, including (1) the reasons why religious development and spirituality do not appear to be strong issues for Christian and Hindu FBDOs relative to their Islamic counterparts; (2) the potential for inter-faith collaboration between FBDOs and secular providers, between FBDOs of different faiths as well as FBDOs from versions of the same faith (e.g., Protestant and Catholic); and (3) whether FBDOs are more naturally predisposed and able to engage and collaborate with the informal microfinance sector than secular microfinance providers.

Faith-based pharmaceutical supply chains and their role in African pharmaceutical systems: a qualitative systematic review

For the health system to function well, the population must have equitable access to quality, affordable pharmaceutical supplies; however, pharmaceutical systems in Africa are challenged by inadequate funding, drug stock outs and irregular supplies, a shortage of trained pharmacy personnel, and a lack of systems for drug regulation and quality. Faith-based health providers, as private, not-for-profit actors, have long complemented public sector efforts in the supply of pharmaceuticals in Africa. However, the contribution of faith-based health providers in pharmaceutical systems has not been formally studied. This study examines the nature and function of faith-based healthcare providers in improving access to pharmaceutical supplies in Africa. To do so, we conducted an exploratory qualitative systematic review to identify documents that contain information on faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical supply in Africa. The review identified 20 articles for inclusion. These articles were analyzed using thematic, narrative analysis. The analysis revealed a significant evidence gap relating to the contribution of private-not-for-profit, faith-based providers to African pharmaceutical systems. The review suggests that while faith-based drug supply organizations have existed for a long time and contribute significantly to national pharmaceutical systems, there is very little known about the nature of faith-based pharmaceutical providers and how they complement public sector pharmaceutical systems. In many contexts, faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical systems improved access for the general population and increased the supply of pharmaceuticals in national systems. Faith-based drug supply organizations also often provide pharmaceutical supplies to both rural and urban areas, often targeting rural and remote areas particularly. The review also indicates that faith-based drug supply organizations improved access to medicines and related commodities and, despite a lack of regulation in many contexts, have the potential to make a positive contribution to quality assurance of pharmaceuticals. In summary, the analysis confirmed that faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical supply chains contributes to strengthening the national health system by complementing the public pharmaceutical system through improved access to medicines and related commodities in Africa. These conclusions corroborate the need to continually document and acknowledge faith-based healthcare providers’ efforts which could guide the formulation of stringent, evidence-based strategies.

Effective localization: case study of a faith-based health partnership in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) and faith-based service providers play a critical role in public health prevention, promotion, treatment, and community development. Effective capacity strengthening efforts through FBO partnerships can make a vital contribution toward effective localization. This case study details the efforts and results of a writing and publishing workshop provided in partnership with Corus International (IMA World Health) and the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP) in March of 2023. This case study also reports on workshop participantsʼ perceptions of the partnershipʼs approach to capacity strengthening. Three major and related themes emerged from the workshopʼs informal Focus Group Discussion transcription: 1) a safe and nurturing environment, 2) openness and shared decision-making, and 3) organizational humility.

Strengthening organizational capacity in Kenya, Malawi, and South Sudan

This reports on a US-AID-funded project which engages faith-based organizations to strengthen their organizational capacity as they implement reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health grant activities. Implementing partners in Kenya, Malawi, and South Sudan completed the self-administered Organization Capacity Assessment and created corresponding action plans based on the assessment results. Each organization completed the priority activities that they identified in their action plans; strengthening staff capacity, sharpening monitoring and evaluation systems; and improving information systems. We conclude that grantmakers’ investment in strengthening the organizational capacity of their implementing partners results in the grantees having improved internal systems and being better positioned to obtain and execute future grant opportunities.