The case for—and challenges of—faith-sensitive psychosocial programming

The case for faith-sensitive psychosocial programming 

This review of the then recent literature argues that faith is relevant for psychosocial programming because it is indicated in the IASC Guidelines, is implied in humanitarian law and principles, is an active and effective source of coping, local actors have a ‘comparative advantage’ in humanitarian settings and is consistent with emerging policy and practice.  

Challenges  

The authors also identify key challenges for implementing faith-sensitive programming, creating barriers for faith-sensitive psychosocial programming. These include religion being used as a basis for maladaptive coping, concerns that faith engagement may threaten impartiality, and poorly documented, disseminated and developed practices for engaging with faith and faith actors.  

Guidance

This article calls for more guidance on faith-sensitive psychosocial programming, consistent with existing IASC MHPSS Guidelines.  

Comment:

This article provides a useful summary of the cases for – and challenges of – faith-sensitive psychosocial programming. The authors of this article also produced ‘A Faith-Sensitive Approach in Humanitarian Response: Guidance on Mental Health and Psychosocial Programming.’ While this article was published after the guidance, the arguments in this article appear to form part of the basis for the development of the guidance.  

How to cite

Ager, W., French, M., Fitzgibbon, A., & Ager, A. (2019). The case for—And challenges of—Faith-sensitive psychosocial programming. Intervention, 17(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.4103/INTV.INTV_20_18
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