Religion has been considered a taboo subject for some humanitarians, viewing religious dynamics as irrelevant at best and a hindrance or blockage at worst. Some humanitarians may be reluctant to engage with religious dynamics, out of a fear that engagement with religion may contradict humanitarian principles (such as neutrality and impartiality) or that it may exacerbate existing tensions in a humanitarian context.
This paper comes from a review of tools and guidance materials applicable to humanitarian response with regard to their inclusion or exclusion of questions on religious minorities and religious diversity.
The authors find that there are a lack of questions tailored for humanitarians to use throughout the programme cycle that will help them analyse when and how to pay specific attention to religious diversity in their response.
This paper suggests some recommended questions emerging from the reviews of guidance documents and tools.
The paper was jointly published by the Joint Learning Initiative and the IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID).