Church as NGO? Leveraging Religious Networks to Promote Health Rights for Urban-Displaced Refugees—Lessons from Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract Human rights practice is of particular importance to addressing health disparities among forcibly displaced groups. Older refugees in low- and middle-income countries may be socially and structurally vulnerable to poor health related to human rights abuses, xenophobia, and inadequate resources compounded with ageism and isolation. In this policy and practice note, we use findings from a phenomenological study with 23 older Congolese refugees in urban Tanzania to explore the role of religious institutions to improve the health and wellbeing of older urban-displaced adults. Older refugees described how religious networks fostered spiritual support and guidance, enhanced social support and friendship, and provided opportunities to receive material and informational support. We consider how these narratives of support embedded within religious networks can reconfigure the role(s) of third sector/civil society (that is nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], nonprofit agencies) in urban humanitarian settings. We address possible strengths and challenges of including faith communities and actors in humanitarianism, outlining how such collaborative efforts could adhere to human rights tenets. Finally, we note how qualitative inquiry such as phenomenology is aligned with human rights in seeking to uphold human dignity and that these data, therefore, have special relevance in informing human rights praxis.