AARDO will train religious leaders in two specific areas:
- Maternal and child health and nutrition
- Education and the Child Rights Convention.
The aim is to build the capacity of and to support religious leaders to advocate and educate their communities on the importance of health, nutrition, education and child protection.
Community Mobilization.
AARDO proposes to use its existing community mobilization training tools to train NGO and health facility staff.., reasons for involving communities in health programs, community mobilization its importance and ways, community participation in health programs, building trust in communities, prioritization to health issues, plan development, local resource mobilization, assessment of health council capacities, potential conflicts during community mobilization and their solutions
Religious leaders are also arbiters of morality and ethics, defining what is prescribed or proscribed by the faith and they play an important role in shaping health seeking behaviours and parents’ decisions on their children’s education. Therefore, it is imperative that religious leaders have accurate and appropriate information and skills to help their followers make sound decisions on matters related to the health, education and well-being of their families. The knowledge and skills acquired by religious leaders will be utilized to mobilize the community to increase use and knowledge of maternal and child health and nutrition services as well as the importance of education and child protection. AARDO believes in the need to build and strengthen community institutions, and ensure stronger accountability of the local government towards the poor, especially women, towards their socio-political empowerment. This involves building the capacities of poor rural women to raise their voice and taking collective action, strengthening the local government for pro-poor governance, creating awareness and access to information, and preventing violence, particularly violence against women.
