To raise awareness among their followers in West Bengal about important social issues like child nutrition, adolescent marriage and pregnancy, and child trafficking, UNICEF has enlisted the help of religious leaders from six different faiths.
According to a UNICEF spokesman on Thursday, religious leaders from Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism have expressed support for the programme.
Through a partnership with the Amanat Foundation Trust and assistance from the West Bengal government, more than 2,500 such leaders have been trained by UNICEF to disseminate essential messages from their respective places of worship—temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras, and monasteries.
“West Bengal has been lagging behind in some areas like child marriage, teenage pregnancy and anaemia among adolescent boys and girls. Religion can help us in a big way achieve awareness against fighting these issues,” UNICEF WB Chief Mohammad Mohiuddin said.
In places where the state is underperforming, he said at a media advocacy programme here, UNICEF is attempting to enlist the assistance of various religious platforms to raise public awareness and advance those causes.
The initiative has been implemented in each of the state's 23 districts. More than two lakh people have already been contacted through social media, tableau, and other forms of community involvement. According to UNICEF, religious leaders are reaching out to the community by collaborating with other platforms like panchayats, Self Help Groups, folk performers, and the media.
According to Mohiuddin, the necessity to involve religious leaders in order to reassure the public and urge them to follow government-mandated measures was felt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A "Faith for Life" handbook, which will contain messages backed up by passages from the scriptures, is being prepared to aid in disseminating scientifically accurate information about children's wellness.
“Nearly half of the state’s population will be reached through community engagement and multiple media platforms,” Mohiuddin said.