Religious Institutions

This article discusses formative research conducted in coastal Ghana to inform the development of a culturally relevant multi-component intervention that combines parenting support with parental mental health strategies. The findings highlight facilitators and barriers to positive parenting and mental health, emphasizing the need for community-based programs to improve child and family well-being.

In Tajikistan, Imam Sharifzoda Azalshoh partnered with FHI 360 to reduce tuberculosis through mosque-based interventions. The imam uses Friday sermons to discuss TB prevention, treatment, and challenge patient stigma. The program provides material support (monthly food stipends) and psychosocial counseling funded by mosque charity boxes (zakat/sadaqah). This model demonstrates sustainable community-based funding for health interventions through religious charitable giving.

The Mosque-Based Health Education and Research Tools (M-HEaRT) initiative equips Muslim chaplains, community health workers, and mosque leaders to deliver research-informed health education. Studies show mosque-based campaigns achieve significant reductions in cardiovascular risk unawareness and blood pressure. Imams have successfully promoted TB screening in Bangladesh, HIV prevention in Uganda, malaria control in Tanzania, and family planning in Jordan. Peer educators and Friday sermons serve as primary delivery channels.

PEPFAR Faith and Community Initiative (FCI), launched in 2018 with 100 million USD, leverages the trusted community presence of faith-based organizations to find undiagnosed men, youth, and children with HIV and prevent sexual violence against children. FBOs deliver an estimated 20-70% of healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zambia, faith-engaged community posts achieved a 12-fold increase in HIV case-finding with 95% linkage to care. In Kenya, faith leader-led HIV self-testing doubled case ascertainment.

The Khalil Center developed the Muslim Mental Health First Responder Training (FRT), an 8-hour workshop for imams and community leaders in North America. The Islamically-integrated approach teaches identification of mental health issues, empathetic listening, referral systems, and collaboration with mental health professionals. 80% of participants valued the Islamic integration, and 92% would recommend it to colleagues. The program addresses the reality that imams are often the first contact for Muslims in psychological distress but lack formal mental health training.

Average Mohamed is a counter-extremism cartoon series created by Mohamed Ahmed, a Somali-American gas station manager in Minneapolis. The cartoons target youth aged 8-16 with messages of peace, democracy, and anti-extremism, using Islamic theology to rebut extremist interpretations. Ahmed voices the cheerful Average Mohamed character himself, producing low-budget videos (USD 1,000-3,000 each) that directly respond to ISIS and al-Shabaab propaganda. The series includes videos like Flames of Hell (rebutting ISISs Flames of War) and has reached hundreds of thousands via YouTube. Ahmed conducts outreach in schools, mosques, and madrasas across Minneapolis - a city that has seen more Americans attempt to join ISIS than any other US location.

After a 2003 boycott by religious and political leaders in Northern Nigeria (citing fears of vaccine contamination and Western agendas), a strategic engagement campaign transformed Muslim clerics from rejectors to advocates. The Northern Traditional Leaders Committee, supported by the Sultan of Sokoto, trained Jumua imams (Friday prayer leaders) using fatwas on vaccination and prepared sermons. Wild poliovirus cases dropped 95% from 2009-2010. Kano State, once the epicenter of vaccine rejection, became Nigerias best-performing state.

Channels of Hope is World Vision's flagship faith-leader engagement model that transforms community attitudes toward HIV. The program trains faith leaders (Christian and other religions) to replace messages of fear and guilt with hope, reduce stigma, and promote testing, treatment, and care. In the Dominican Republic, training 50+ church leaders identified 262 adults and children living with HIV, providing spiritual support, antiretroviral referrals, and home reconstruction. The methodology addresses misconceptions rooted in religious interpretations.