Exploring the Evidence Behind Preventing Violence Against Children by Nurturing Their Spiritual Development

On 25 November 2025, educators, religious leaders, researchers, and child-protection practitioners came together online to explore powerful evidence: intentionally nurturing children’s spiritual development can help protect them from violence.

The webinar, Faith Communities Working Together to End Violence Against Children in the Early Years, convened 130 participants from 81 countries. Hosted by the International Consortium on Nurturing Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence, the event argued that spiritual development, understood as a child’s natural capacity to connect with themselves, others, nature and the transcendent, is a practical pathway to holistic well-being and safeguarding.

Dr. Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Regional Vice Chair from the Early Childhood Peace Consortium, set the tone in her opening remarks, underscoring the urgency of the topic. She noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right to spiritual development as equal to cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development, yet it has been a «much neglected and sometimes contentious field of interest in early childhood development».

She emphasized that the Toolkit: Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children in the Early Years is a significant contribution to making these spiritual rights visible.

The initial dialogue, moderated by Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe, Executive Director of Arigatou International Geneva, featured three experts who laid the theoretical and practical groundwork.

Mr. James Cairns, Senior Director, Strategic Engagements and Organizational Learning, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, opened the floor, emphasizing the key role of the child’s ecosystem. «Parenting does not happen in a vacuum,» he stated. He explained that the environment surrounding parents, including their faith community, either «enhances or restricts the parents’ capacity to be nurturing caregivers.»

Following the same vein, Dr. Selina Palm, Chair of the Faith and Violence against Children Working Group – SVRI, stressed that a key to disrupting intergenerational violence is to help parents reflect on and heal from their own childhood experiences, moving away from normalizing harmful practices.

She concluded, stressing that viewing children as spiritual actors with a direct connection to the divine raises the child’s status and consequently lowers the risk of violence. “One of the things that really comes up when we discuss spiritual development and we look at the Toolkit, is the radical social shift in faith leaders’ minds when they think about the idea that children inherently have a connection to God,” she explained.

Adding a public health perspective, Ms. Sabine Rakotomalala, Senior Technical Advisor at the World Health Organization, anchored the discussion in evidence-based practice. She highlighted that spirituality acts as a powerful preventative factor, with evidence showing that greater religiosity correlates with a lower likelihood of physical and sexual aggression.

To ensure programs are effective and measurable, she advocated for intentionally integrating five core, science-aligned capacities found within spiritual development: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills. She finished saying that we need to make sure that “parents themselves understand these five components, so that they can then model them and transmit them to their children.”

Mr. Francisco Vila, Head of Programs at Arigatou International Geneva, outlined how the Toolkit on Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children in the Early Years supports the protection of violence against children by supporting faith leaders, parents, caregivers and educators in nurturing their own and their children’s spiritual development. He was followed by representatives of organizations that have implemented the Spiritual Development Toolkit in Brazil and Pakistan.

Mr. Nelson Arns Neumann from Pastoral da Criança Internacional recounted the challenges of working in vulnerable communities where poverty and fear of legal repercussions often silence parents. The Toolkit’s success lay in its ability to transform parent groups into «espaços seguros» (safe spaces) where trust was built and families could openly discuss their struggles. He shared that many parents realized they had been raised in violent environments, which was a «very important step to see that it is possible to do things differently with their own children.»

A key finding from the evaluation process, conducted by the Center for the Development of the Whole Child from the University of Notre Dame, was that participants began to recognize everyday actions, such as good communication, playing, connecting with nature, and good example, as integral components of spirituality, not just religious practice.

Ms. Shahnaz Kausar, Child Care Coordinator for the Orphan Sponsorship Program at Islamic Relief Pakistan, described how the Toolkit was successfully rolled out across 23 communities, reaching 2,300 children. She said the initiative rested on a faith-based model grounded in Islamic values, participatory learning, and strong community ownership.

Although no impact evaluation was conducted, implementation teams observed improvements in children’s behaviours, a reduction in harsh discipline, and parents becoming more attentive to their children’s needs. A core element of the approach was partnering with faith leaders to weave positive, child-friendly messages into community sermons.

Ms. Kausar closed with a powerful message: “When parents practise positive parenting, teachers show empathy, faith leaders promote nonviolence, and communities stand together, children grow in an environment where their hearts, minds and spirits can flourish.”

The consensus among all speakers was clear: By intentionally nurturing the spiritual development of children and their caregivers, faith communities can activate a profound, positive, and sustainable change that is essential for both child protection and societal transformation.

A video was shared during the meeting, providing an overview of the impact of the Toolkit across several countries, including Brazil and Pakistan, but also Sri Lanka, Mexico, Tanzania, and India: Nurturing Hope: Stories of Healing and Empowerment.

We thank the speakers for generously sharing such insightful evidence and reflections. We also thank all participants for their active engagement and their ongoing commitment to promoting the well-being of children.