Religious leaders play an important role in communities and they are well positioned to support families to adapt to parenting skills that enrich the health and development of the child, not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Through Religious contexts, the religious leaders are able to promote good ethics, values, and strengthen community bonds and encourage community responsibility towards protecting and caring for the wellbeing of all children within the community.
Sarvodaya Movement and End Child Poverty- Arigatou International will hold a consultative session on the 9 October 2017, at the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning (SIHL) Bandaragama, with religious leaders and faith based organizations in Sri lanka in an effort to build a Sri Lankan Network of Religious Leaders and Faith Based Organizations to work on a community level to ensure that children are provided with a safe environment that ensures their growth and development.
The objectives of this consultation will be to:
- Follow up on the roundtable meeting held on 23rd August 2017, on “Ethics Education to Strengthen Families and Nurturing Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence Against Children, with a special focus on the discussions and commitments made.
- Form a national level Network of Religious Leaders and Faith Based Organization that will actively work at a community level to foster spirituality, ethics and positive parenting/care giving skills that will ensure the development and protection of children.
- Form a framework and implementation action plan to work towards preventing violence against children such as sexual abuse, corporal punishment and emotional abuse.