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Religious leaders commit to visible and active leadership on HIV

24. March 2010

Religious leaders from every continent and many of the world's faiths commit to stronger, more collaborative efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.

Den Dolder, The Netherlands, 23 March 2010 – High level religious and spiritual leaders from many of the world’s major religions pledged “stronger, more visible and practical leadership in the response to HIV” as the first global High Level Summit of Religious Leaders on HIV concluded today in The Netherlands.

Some 40 Baha'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders met together, 22-23 March, with the Executive Directors of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the AIDS Ambassadors of The Netherlands and Sweden, leaders and representatives of networks of people living with HIV and other organisations active in the response to HIV.

Participants affirmed in their concluding statement the “renewed sense of urgency” to prioritize and strengthen the response to HIV. Such response includes “holistic prevention” in addition to reaching universal access to treatment, care and support. The statement called for the “Universal respect for the human rights of all people living with and affected by and at risk of HIV infection” and the “respect for the dignity of every human being”. Leaders also called for “a massive social mobilization” to support services for women to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

In addition religious leaders drafted and personally signed a pledge to commit themselves to strengthened efforts to respond to HIV. The pledge includes “deepening meaningful engagement with people living with HIV” and “acting decisively to protect human rights within my faith community; through collaboration among other religious leaders of different faiths; and by influencing local, national, regional and global decision-making processes on HIV.“

"Religious leaders can play a vital role in the AIDS response," said Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director in his opening address to the Summit. "By promoting community solidarity they can prevent new HIV infections and ensure that people living with HIV are treated with dignity and respect”, he said

He also noted that a meeting such as this where religious leaders engage in discussions with people living with HIV is bridging the gap between religious leaders and people vulnerable to HIV.

“We are here to address important human and spiritual aspects of the epidemic. And we will be doing so with a sense of humility for the harm that people have suffered in the name of religion, but also with the confidence that faith matters and that faith can make us proud”, said Bishop Emeritus of the Church of Norway and Moderator of European Council of Religious Leaders, Dr Gunnar Stålsett.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Abune Paulos, both urged their fellow religious leaders to take responsibility and make a difference for those suffering from HIV.

Religious leaders speaking at the Summit emphasised that AIDS is an illness, and not a sin and underlined that God is for everybody and that everybody is equally important to God. “Due to our silence, people are suffering. We need to speak out”, said Dr Mohamed Gemea from the office of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. He pointed out that every person – ill or healthy – is part of the same human family. 

Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha, the first religious leader in Africa to publicly disclose his HIV positive status said: “It is unacceptable and probably sinful that almost 30 years since the start of the epidemic, over 7400 people are needlessly newly infected with HIV every day and that almost 5500 people die of AIDS-related infections and illnesses that are largely preventable, manageable and controllable.”

The summit also stressed the importance of examining cultural and religious traditions and texts in order to bridge the gap between the religious message and the life people in the communities live.

This global summit aimed to strengthen the vast ongoing efforts by religious leaders and communities in responding to HIV. Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, religious communities, mosques, temples, churches, hospitals and clinics have reached out to provide support to those living with and affected by HIV

The issues of HIV and AIDS are issues for everybody’s concern: “The Church has AIDS”, said Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He said that religious leadership needs to be held accountable also in order to be able to hold the governments accountable.

The Summit was organized by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and Cordaid, with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNAIDS, International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV or AIDS (INERELA+), the World AIDS Campaign and the European Council of Religious Leaders (Religions for Peace).

The text of the Summit statement and Personal Commitment to Action will be available at www.e-alliance.ch or by contacting Sara Speicher (below). 

Contact          
Sara Speicher | Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance | sspeicher@e-alliance.ch | cell. +44 7821 860 723


Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad network of churches and Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy on food and on HIV and AIDS. The Alliance is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
www.e-alliance.ch


Cordaid
Cordaid, the Catholic development organization in The Netherlands, is one of the largest  international organisations working on emergency aid and structural poverty eradication with a network of almost a thousand partner organisations in 36  countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. www.cordaid.nl

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