The impact of training of the religious leaders on their knowledge and attitude

الملخص EN

Introduction : Al-Azhar University is one of the most prestigious Universities in the whole Islamic world.

Higher education started at Al-Azhar in 975 AD when it changed from being a mosque to a mosque-college.

Al-Azhar's education does not concentrate only on theology, but it, also, includes other subjects.

The International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research was founded at Al-Azhar University in cooperation with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

The objectives are conducting population studies and research in the Muslim World and to add credibility to the population information obtained before its dissemination in Muslim countries.

In addition the Center aims to dispel misconceptions about Islam and certain population policies which can be adopted in the Muslim World.

Furthermore it functions as an inter-regional organization with a view to serve the whole Islamic World.

Among the many activities of the Center is the training of the religious leaders.

Religious leaders from most of the Muslim countries attended workshops, conferences, seminars, and training conferences at the Center premises in Cairo.

In addition expertise from the Center and eminent professors and Islamic scholars from Al-Azhar University contributed to the travelling seminars organized by the Center.

These travelling seminars are outreach program to exchange the ideas and the opinions of Al-Azhar scholars to religious leaders in many of the Islamic Countries, among them Yemen, Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, Nigeria and Somalia.

Methods and Procedures: This paper present an evaluation of an intervention program among religious leaders conducted in two govemorates in Egypt.

Pre test have been conducted including questions regarding the knowledge and attitude of the religious leaders regarding some gender and reproductive health issues.

This followed by an intervention program including a series of seminars addressing reproductive health and gender issues.

This is followed by a post test.

Results: The post test findings show improving of the knowledge indicators regarding the reproductive health as well as more favourable attitude regarding gender issues and reproductive health education compared to the pre-test findings.