, Pope Francis made a 24-hour visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), where a civil war has been raging since March 2013. Visiting a country where sexual violence has become endemic, he declared himself a "pilgrim of peace and an apostle of hope" (Pollitt 2015, para 1). The importance of the visit to the United Nations (UN) and the CAR government was highlighted by the number of armed UN peacekeepers accompanying him, UN tanks patrolling the streets, and CAR President Catherine Samba-Panza welcoming him by stating that she hoped his visit would lead to the country finally finding peace. The perceived power of the Catholic Pope was encapsulated by a young man from CAR: "Bandits don't listen to politicians, but they will listen to him" (Sherwood and Benn 2015, para 15). While Pope Francis's visit could not solve the violence in the CAR, it serves to illustrate the power and influence of faith leaders, even within arenas not normally associated with faith. The importance of religion or faith 1 in development work is increasingly being recognised in the literature, as well as by funding agencies and governments, now indicating a greater willingness to partner with faith-based initiatives (see Deneulin and Rakodi 2011). For example, the United Kingdom (UK), Swedish, and Dutch governments have all allocated funds for the exploration of the role of religion in relation to development (James 2011). The UK Department for International Development (DFID), committed to a budgetary increase allocated specifically for faith based groups, from 10 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2015 (Mitchell 2012; DFID 2009). One area that many faith entities, and specifically faith-based organisations (FBOs), have increasingly been focusing on is gender-based violence (GBV). 2 A recent report mapping faith-based responses to violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Asia-Pacific Region, identified 58 FBOs responding to VAWG, and noted this represents only a small proportion of the FBOs addressing GBV in the region (Kaybryn and Nidadavolu 2012). In this scope of work, engagement with faith leaders is of critical importance as they are understood to be gate-keepers to local communities, with considerable influence on their communities' beliefs and behaviours (Haddad 2002; Solarsh and Frankel 2004; Tomkins et al. 2015). Faith leaders are said to be embedded in, and respected and trusted by, the local community, with a thorough understanding of local dynamics that affect developmental concerns, and often have considerable leverage with state and non-state powers due to the size of their constituencies (Thomson 2014). In terms of GBV, faith leaders are widely understood to be key to recognising and promoting the rights of women (Tomkins et al 2015). However, the recognition of the importance of faith leaders to reducing GBV is also based on the understanding that faith traditions and, by extension, faith leaders can act as barriers to effective development and GBV responses. For example, faith communities and leaders can be apathetic, ...

Background: Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Effective humanitarian assistance requires understanding the social capital that shapes patterns of help-seeking in these circumstances-especially with stigmatised issues such as violence against women (VAW) and intimate partner violence (IPV). Methods: A novel social mapping methodology was adopted amongst a Yezidi population displaced by ISIS (ISIS: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, locally known as Da'esh) occupation and a neighbouring settled Yezidi population in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq in late 2016. Six participatory workshops were conducted to identify available resources with respect to: meeting basic needs, dispute resolution and VAW. Subsequently, 51 individual interviews were conducted (segmented by gender and settlement status) to identify connectedness to, and trust in, the resources identified, with a focus on IPV against women. Results: 90% of participants reported God as a key source of help in the previous 6 months, representing the most widely cited resource. Following God, the most accessed and trusted resources were family and community, with NGO (non-governmental organisation) provision being the least. Women drew more strongly upon familial resources than men (Χ 2 = 5.73, df = 1, p = 0.017). There was reduced trust in resources in relation to seeking help with IPV. A distinction between trust to provide emotional support and trust to resolve issues was identified. Settled women were 1.6 times more likely to trust community members and government services and 3.7 times more likely to trust NGOs than displaced women.

Background An evaluation was conducted of a three-year intervention focused on violence against women and girls (VAWG) and implemented in the conflict-affected north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country with high rates of VAWG. The intervention addressed VAWG, and especially sexual violence, by specifically engaging with communities of faith and their leaders. Methods Two community surveys were conducted, one before and one after the intervention, in three health areas in Ituri Province in the DRC. At both baseline and endline, data was collected from male and female members of randomly selected households in 15 villages (five per health area) in which the intervention was being implemented. At baseline the sample comprised 751 respondents (387 women, 364 men) and at endline 1198 respondents (601 women, 597 men). Questionnaires were interviewer-administered, with sensitive questions related to experience or perpetration of violence self-completed by participants. Results The study showed significantly more equitable gender attitudes and less tolerance for IPV at endline. Positive attitude change was not limited to those actively engaged within faith communities, with a positive shift across the entire community in terms of gender attitudes, rape myths and rape stigma scores, regardless of level of faith engagement. There was a significant decline in all aspects of IPV in the communities who experienced the intervention. While the experience and perpetration of IPV reported at endline did not track with exposure to the intervention, it is plausible that in a context where social norm change was sought, the impact of the intervention on those exposed could have had an impact on the behaviour of the unexposed. Conclusion This intervention was premised on the assumption that faith leaders and faith communities are a key entry point into an entire community, able to influence an entire community. Research has affirmed this assumption and engaging with faith leaders and faith communities can thus be a strategic intervention strategy. While we are confident of the link between the social norms change and faith engagement and project exposure, the link between IPV reduction and faith engagement and project exposure needs more research.

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Background Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through both the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Targeted humanitarian assistance requires understanding the continuing forms of social capital that shape patterns of help seeking in these circumstances. This is especially pertinent with issues such as gender-based violence (GBV) where trust and knowledge of support are major influences on accessing assistance. Methods A novel social mapping methodology was adopted amongst a Yezidi population displaced by ISIS 1 occupation and a neighbouring settled Yezidi population in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq in late 2016. Six participatory workshops were conducted to identify available resources. Subsequently, 51 individual interviews were conducted (segmented by gender and settlement status) to identify connectedness to, and trust in, the resources identified with respect to particular issues, including GBV. Results 90% of participants independently reported God as a key source of help in the previous six months, representing the most widely cited resource. Otherwise, familial and community resources were reported for all groups as the most accessed and trusted, with NGO (non-governmental organisation) provision being the least. Women drew more strongly upon familial resources than men ( Χ 2 =5.73, df=1, p=.017). There was an overall trend for reduced trust in resources in relation to the issue of gender-based violence. However, settled Yezidi women were 1.6 times more likely to trust community members and government services and 3.7 times more likely to trust NGOs on this issue than displaced women. Conclusions Mapping of social connections and trust provides valuable insight into the social capital available to support help seeking in populations of humanitarian concern. For these Yezidi populations, family, religious and community resources were the most widely utilised and trusted, although trust predominantly focused in the former two domains with respect to gender-based violence. Lack of trust appeared to be a major barrier to stronger engagement with available NGO provision, particularly amongst displaced women. The role of faith and religious resources for this population is clearly significant, and warrants an explicitly faith-sensitive approach to humanitarian assistance.