partnership between Religions for Peace International and UNICEF

The Covid-19 pandemic around the world is now a perfect storm. It challenges our ways of living, working and celebrating. Country by country, the impact has differed depending on geography, border controls, government leadership and decisions, and preparedness of public health systems.

These are testing times for all. In every case the worst affected are those who cannot socially isolate, who do not have water to wash, who have lost their jobs and so have no daily income, who return to their country as unemployed, hungry migrant workers, who do not have a government that looks out for them. For many the priority is to “flatten the curve” of hunger.

What follows is the second regional webinar of member bodies of Religions for Peace Asia and officers from UNICEF in discussing the Ethics of Humanitarian and Social Aspects of the Public Health Emergency held on 26 April 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with an unprecedented global challenge, touching every community in every nation of the world. The pandemic is causing systems of work, education, finance and domestic lives to grind to a halt, affecting nearly every aspect of people’s lives.

Religions for Peace (RfP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are joining forces to launch a global Multi-Religious Faith-in-Action Covid-19 Initiative to raise awareness of the impacts of this pandemic on the world’s youngest citizens.

The Initiative reflects the unique and critical roles played by religious leaders and actor, in influencing values, attitudes, behaviours and actions that affect the development and wellbeing of the world’s children. The Initiative will be coordinated by the global partnership on Faith and Positive Change for Children, Families and Communities , which involves Religions for Peace’s Interreligious Councils, including senior leaders of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions in South East Asia, known as Religions for Peace Asia.

What follows is the first regional webinar of member bodies of Religions for Peace Asia and officers from UNICEF in discussing the Multi-Religious Faith-in-Action Covid-19 Initiative.