Berkley Center

Published in Development in Practice as part of the Religious Responses to COVID-19 project, this review co-authored by Susanna Trotta, Olivia Wilkinson, and Katherine Marshall aims to understand how academics working in the fields of global health and international development are reacting to the current pandemic in their research work. This review also seeks to distill the takeaways for humanitarian and development policy makers and practitioners interested in religious engagement. Examining academic articles published between March 2020 and October 2021, the authors chart trends regarding religions and the COVID-19 pandemic as well as additional focuses on mental health and gender-based violence. According to the literature, religion and spiritual support as coping mechanisms for mental health issues and/or exposure to gender-based violence are key topics for religions and COVID-19 research. However, neither topic is always appropriately considered when planning and implementing public health interventions.