N.W.A.N.Y. Wijesekara https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0391-6220
Abstract
Community resilience is the ability of communities to face and recover from challenges using their own resources. Religious leaders are active stakeholders in the social systems and they play a critical role in promoting community resilience. During challenges faced by communities such as disasters, emergencies, conflict and crisis, religious leaders, religious communities, and religious organizations, not only help communities to cope with them, but also to bounce back to normalcy. Further, religious leaders could shape the way communities perceive challenges and change. This case study describes the Pillars of Resilience Project which was aimed at building the capacity of religious leaders on Community Resilience. It was possible to train 207 religious leaders from all major faiths of Sri Lanka at six locations through one-day workshops. The project culminated in the Interreligious Symposium on Community Resilience which brought together the religious leaders for a day of discussions and sharing. This project shows us that the capacity building of religious leaders could be used as a strategy in promoting community resilience.
Keywords: Community Resilience, Religious Leadership, Disaster Preparedness