ABSTRACT

This chapter explores how the secular NGO Save the Children engaged with religious leaders in implementing the Children of Uruzgan programme (CoU). This programme was in operation between 2011 and 2015 in the highly Islamic and culturally conservative context of southern Afghanistan. The focus of this chapter is the Capacity Building of Religious Leaders Project (CBRL) as an illustration of the approaches used in community capacity building in Islamic and Afghan (specifically Uruzgan) contexts. This chapter examines the objectives of CoU and analyses some of the lessons learnt from operating as a secular NGO across faith boundaries. A key lesson of the CBRL was that genuine consideration must be shown for existing frameworks and systems when introducing controversial interventions that require changes to social and religious norms. The project attempted to build trust in communities by establishing meaningful shared goals with key stakeholders. This community engagement enabled CoU to recognise and respond to local circumstances by harnessing the influence and status of religious leaders to mobilise individuals. Essentially, CBRL demonstrates the need for CoU to maintain a level of flexibility in the volatile and turbulent context of Uruzgan, where ongoing insecurity issues required a more acute level of operational sensitivity. The experiences gained during CBRL and CoU were extremely useful and lend themselves to a variety of operating contexts: from emergency response scenarios in conflict settings prone to natural disaster, to capacity-building programmes aimed at bolstering ongoing stability and implementing sustainable long-term initiatives. Religious leaders play an enormous role in family and personal matters in Afghanistan, including in decisions about religion, health, education, the role of women in society and other cultural standards. In this way, they hold the potential to promote and sustain behavioural changes in social customs and attitudes that are integral to development outcomes. Religious leaders are also arbiters of morality and ethics, defining what is prescribed or proscribed by the faith. They play an important role in shaping health-seeking behaviours and decisions regarding children’s education. Therefore it is imperative that religious leaders have accurate and appropriate information and skills to help their followers

make sound decisions on matters related to the health, education and wellbeing of families. In the case of CoU, the main objectives of the CBRL were to ensure that religious leaders had the necessary knowledge and skills to mobilise their communities to pursue valuable goals. These included increasing the use of maternal, child health and nutrition services, increasing school enrolment (especially of girls) and ensuring child protection. In addition to presenting the complex context of Uruzgan as an operating environment, this chapter explores the scope of the CoU programme as a whole to demonstrate how the CBRL project fits within the larger programme framework. This includes an examination of community needs demonstrated by analysing the initial situation and existing frameworks and structures established to deal with ongoing issues faced by Afghan society. Although CBRL could be seen as a standalone project, it is in fact essential to other aspects of Save the Children programming in Uruzgan, at both a micro and a macro level. It is best conceptualised as part of a broader approach supporting the execution of the core goals of CoU.