Arigatou International has launched a new global campaign – Faith in Action for Children – to mobilise religious leaders to protect children during COVID-19.

“This campaign aims to promote the well-being of children and protect them from all forms of violence and harm in these challenging times,” said Rev. Keishi Miyamoto, the President of Arigatou International. “It is built on the important role that faith plays in emergency situations to strengthen the resilience of families and children, and the crucial contributions of religious leaders to positively influence the behaviour of their millions of followers.”

Faith in Action for Children is led by Arigatou and the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), among other partners. The collective effort has resulted in a support booklet for religious leaders, which includes information on raising awareness about violence against children, supporting children through social distancing, and creating safe, healthy environments for children to participate in spiritual activities. They have also featured the voices of children, youth and religious leaders themselves in a series of videos, including those below.

In addition, the campaign has created 12 “messages and actions" to ensure children’s well-being during the outbreak, along with resources for parents and caregivers. As part of the campaign, these organisations also aim to:

• Promote virtual activities to strengthen connections among religious leaders, communities and child protection agencies to end violence in this unique environment
• Organise webinars that address the needs of children
• Encourage religious leaders to prepare messages of encouragement from their own faith traditions
• And more.

Learn more about the Faith in Action for Children campaign, and share it widely with your networks by using the hashtag #FaithInActionForChildren in your social media. You can also tell Arigatou what you are doing to help children in your community by emailing geneva@arigatouinternational.org.