Women, faith and humanitarian interventions

The network addressed situations of crisis where there is an urgent need for humanitarian strategies to address religious needs, particularly those of women and girls. Key areas for consideration are rights to water and hygiene, as well as resources for mental and emotional well-being.

group photo from Jordan event 23 April 2019  Group photo from Jordan event 23 April 2019.

About the project

The network began in response to project partner Global One’s ‘More than Half’ report, detailing their on the ground experience of the needs of Syrian refugee women.

The report starts by saying: “‘One in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum’; women make up more than half of this population. This number is ever increasing, and if we consider that the average refugee will spend 17 years away from their home, it is imperative we look towards long-term, sustainable interventions.’ (‘More than Half’, 5). With the UN 2030 mission to leave no one behind, it is imperative to address women’s needs in situations of humanitarian intervention. In Syria and Lebanon, Global One have identified the needs of refugee women for access to clean water, support for menstrual hygiene and religious support for emotional and psychological well-being. For religion in particular, the report notes that ‘humanitarian strategies are currently failing these religious needs’ (‘More than Half’, 6) The network addresses these issues in an informed way in order to generate future collaborations and propose concrete recommendations for the empowerment of women in situations of humanitarian crisis.

Without the stimulation of research into women’s experiences of displacement, their religious needs in refugee contexts, and the resources (texts, theologies, spokespersons, ritual practice, etc.) that might promote empowerment, the distinctive role of faith – protected in human rights discourse – is in danger of being sidelined and given a low priority. This constitutes a neglected opportunity at the very least, and particularly in the case of conservative religious traditions, may mean groups of women are de facto excluded from the support they need. A new approach to humanitarian intervention which incorporates faith aspects rather than separating them out may benefit women by considering their needs from a more wholistic perspective.

A key conceptual framework running through all of the activities of the network is the idea of women’s spaces. The network will focus its discussions on women’s spaces on the ground, from the personal space of a lockable toilet, to the spaces of activation where women become resources for change.

The workshops were organised around four spaces relating to key issues for women and faith in a humanitarian context:

  1. Spaces of activation and motivation
  2. Spaces of communication and theologies
  3. Spaces on the ground/spaces of need
  4. Spaces of empowerment, working across all the themes to produce concrete recommendations.

The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and ran from February 2018 for eighteen months.

Project goals

The network focussed on women’s spaces and the ways that practical and religious needs can be met for women in situations of humanitarian crisis.

Through a series of workshops and publications, the network brought together scholars and stakeholders to produce a set of strategic initiatives for future action and recommendations for gender and faith responsive humanitarian programming. The network’s goals and objectives are:

  1. To initiate and extend an international network of scholars, activists, faith leaders and policy stakeholders who will establish dialogue and form collaborative links in order to support the prioritisation of women’s faith needs in situations of humanitarian crisis.
  2. To identify the religious resources (texts, theologies, rituals) which are most meaningful to the empowerment of women in developing countries and situations of humanitarian crisis and explore ways in which these texts might be effectively deployed in different settings.
  3. To develop strategies for confronting areas where insufficient public attention is paid to the particular needs of women for religious practice and faith.
  4. To ascertain future initiatives which will be able to address the needs on the ground and prioritise the role of faith in providing support.
  5. To make recommendations to international humanitarian organisations for humanitarian programming which is responsive to both gender and faith in the protection of rights.
  6. To draw on expertise across disciplines and to identify where issues involving women and faith have been addressed in the integration of refugees and training of NGO workers and cultural mediators at various points in experience of refugee women, from their home countries to various camps and places of settlement, especially Jordan as the network case study location, though including in the EU and UK.
  7. To develop ways to empower groups of women and girls cross the spaces identified in the network: women in grassroots environments and refugee camps in terms of their practical and religious needs; women and girls as change agents and leaders in humanitarian action, drawing on religious resources and connecting to key spokespersons; women as scholar-advocates; protecting the rights of women and girls globally as human beings, and ensuring that humanitarian policy is effective in protecting women’s rights to equality and the practice of religion.

People

Workshops

Workshop 1: Spaces of Activation and Motivation
University of Birmingham, 25-26 April 2018

The theme of this workshop is the relationship between religion and rights-based approaches, which are sometimes seen to be in conflict with each other. Both commonalities and divergences will be considered, with a view to identifying religious resources which have common ethical impulses to rights values, locating key areas where synergies are existing and potentially built upon in relation to women and rights. The workshop will look at questions surrounding how groups of religious women themselves can be activated and motivated as agents and resources for change.

Workshop 2: Spaces of Communication and Faith Discourse

Recognising that human rights abuses may be both supported and combatted on religious grounds, this workshop will identify areas where a silence and lack of awareness raising on faith matters may be a significant barrier to potential change with the result that women are not afforded equal rights to the practice of religion in situations of humanitarian crisis. Equally, consideration will be given to areas where positive moves are being made to highlight key issues in faith communities and develop religious concepts and theologies which prioritise the needs of women and engender support through leadership. Asking critical questions about the theologies and spokespersons that may be activated to support and improve women’s lives, the workshop will explore the contribution of influential religious leaders and of faith-based motivations for development work. What/where are the religious resources that are crucial to bringing about positive change?

Workshop 3: Spaces on the Ground/Spaces of Need

If religion is under-represented in humanitarian policy, programming and literature, there is a need to address the specific issues faced by women of faith on the ground and how to effectively communicate in relation to needs. This workshop takes place in Jordan, where more than 20% of the overall population are refugees, and of those, 80% of refugees are currently placed outside official refugee camps. The research aim of this network is to develop a participatory approach which recognises the significance of faith at the grassroots level and its potential role in shaping policy which will enhance women’s rights.

Workshop 4: Spaces of Empowerment

The final workshop brings together the insights of the previous workshops under the major theme of empowerment of women and the role of faith in humanitarian intervention. Across the various – heterogeneous – spaces, there are opportunities for empowerment, though different voices are needed and different terms of reference in different settings to approach issues of faith in a sensitive and informed manner. The focus will be on concrete recommendations which will form the core content of the network working paper.

Resources

Contact us

For more information on the project as it develops, please contact the project lead Dr Karen Wenell (k.j.wenell@bham.ac.uk) or The Cadbury Centre (cadburycentre@contacts.bham.ac.uk) or write to us at:

Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion
School of Philosophy, Theology & Religion
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham, UK
B15 2TT