PACANet Reflection Statement - Churches and HIV and AIDS: Challenged or Changed? 01/12/08
Pan-African Christian AIDS Network (PACANet) Pre-ICASA Conference, 29 November – 1 December 2008, Dakar
1.0 Background
Out of a desire to strengthen the churches’ response to HIV and AIDS in Africa, pre-conference participants started from a point of reflection, examining a summary document of various existing church declarations of commitment. The overview clearly demonstrated that many of the declarations support an ecumenical response that is characterised by a commitment to holistic approaches.
Many declarations stated that much progress had been made in responding to HIV and AIDS by churches and church-based organisations, and identified a number of key challenges that remained, such as: addressing broader global injustices that fuel the pandemic, engaging church leadership in advocacy for just policies and government accountability, reducing stigma and discrimination, promoting the meaningful involvement of people living with AIDS (MIPA), addressing gender and age biases, mainstreaming church responses, deepening theological and ethical reflection, examining socio-cultural issues, developing a new culture of interfaith co-operation, promoting closer partnerships with other stakeholders, and strengthening the technical and management capacity of church programs.
2.0 Outcomes
Participants reflected on the churches’ continued response to the challenge of HIV and AIDS, and felt it important to emphasize the churches’ key strengths as well as the challenges that remain, relating to both specific church interventions and cross-cutting issues.
2.1 Key Strengths In the Churches’ Response
• Theological Mandate and Spiritual Inspiration
The core principles of love, care, support and justice have engendered a compassionate response, that promotes the churches value for life and full well being. Furthermore, their messages offer a strong pillar of hope, and have the potential to help people make significant life-style changes that reduce their risk of HIV infection.
The core principles of love, care, support and justice have engendered a compassionate response, that promotes the churches value for life and full well being. Furthermore, their messages offer a strong pillar of hope, and have the potential to help people make significant life-style changes that reduce their risk of HIV infection.
• Holistic Approach
Ecumenical responses characterise churches’ commitment to holistic approaches embracing the need for global access to prevention, care, treatment, support and social ministry.
Ecumenical responses characterise churches’ commitment to holistic approaches embracing the need for global access to prevention, care, treatment, support and social ministry.
• Extensive Reach and Networks
Churches have extensive reach and are broadly represented and deeply rooted in local communities. Ecumenical and interfaith networking further strengthens their reach and accountability.
Churches have extensive reach and are broadly represented and deeply rooted in local communities. Ecumenical and interfaith networking further strengthens their reach and accountability.
• Leadership and Public Credibility
Church leaders are often seen as people of integrity and credibility in their communities. Through developing the capacity of church leaders in HIV, much needed guidance is provided to build compassionate, engaging and competent church responses.
Church leaders are often seen as people of integrity and credibility in their communities. Through developing the capacity of church leaders in HIV, much needed guidance is provided to build compassionate, engaging and competent church responses.
• Experience and Capacity
Churches have traditionally defended the promotion of health for all, in particular for the poorest and most vulnerable. The same is true in meeting the needs of individuals, families and communities infected and affected by HIV since beginning of the pandemic, through skilled human resources, many volunteers, and extensive infrastructure. Church antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs demonstrate high levels of adherence, thus preventing viral resistance.
Churches have traditionally defended the promotion of health for all, in particular for the poorest and most vulnerable. The same is true in meeting the needs of individuals, families and communities infected and affected by HIV since beginning of the pandemic, through skilled human resources, many volunteers, and extensive infrastructure. Church antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs demonstrate high levels of adherence, thus preventing viral resistance.
• Growing Advocacy
Churches are praised for ecumenical initiatives and advocacy work (including support of movements led by Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV), where churches exercise their role as advocates for just policies. Churches enjoy a growing number of partnerships and alliances with diverse stakeholders working on HIV advocacy issues.
Churches are praised for ecumenical initiatives and advocacy work (including support of movements led by Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV), where churches exercise their role as advocates for just policies. Churches enjoy a growing number of partnerships and alliances with diverse stakeholders working on HIV advocacy issues.
2.2 Challenges That Remain
2.2.1 HIV and AIDS interventions
Prevention
• There is a need for training and teaching to better inform messages suitable for different audiences.
• Churches need to develop practical tools on Positive Parenting that will help parents and children to establish mutual communication on issues of family life, sex and human sexuality.
• Existing emphasis is on individual morality, and often overlooks addressing underlying issues of gender inequality, poverty, social stability, etc.
• There is insufficient promotion of various Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) approaches as a tool for prevention.
• Prevention messages often focus on sexual transmission, omitting transmission by blood and vertical transmission.
• Churches need to create a safe and welcoming environment for PLHIV and sero-discordant couples.
• Churches need to engage and understand traditional cultural practices, so as to develop and deliver messages that take advantage of traditional protective practices and avoid those practices that facilitate HIV transmission;
• Churches need to engage and understand post-modernism—the predominant world-view of many people around the world—so as to develop and deliver messages that can positively impact life styles that will prevent HIV transmission.
• Many members of churches have not made life style changes consistent with current knowledge of HIV transmission.
Treatment
• There are not enough facilities or personnel qualified/accredited to provide ART, per respective government standards.
• Churches need more training in VCT in order to reinforce respect for confidentiality and promote treatment adherence.
• As a result of growing resistance to some ARVs and the challenge to deliver a wider range of ARVs, churches need more training to promote continued high-level treatment adherence.
• HBC services are provided through church institutions, but often the community is not engaged.
• Churches are often marginalized from the planning of national HIV and AIDS programs.
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
• Churches do not have clear strategies to respond to the holistic long and short term needs of OVC—protection of child rights, parenting, psychosocial, economic, and spiritual support.
• Children are seldom included in identifying their needs or in designing programs to respond to their needs.
2.2.2 Cross-cutting issues
• Lack of clarity in advocacy messages – Churches need to look both inside and outside of the congregation in order to be more actively engaged in global social responsibility on HIV and AIDS issues.
• Perpetuation of stigma and discrimination – Churches need to strengthen the message that HIV is not a “punishment from God.” Further training is required, particularly on expanding and challenging knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of HIV and transmission.
• Inconsistent involvement of PLHIV – Churches need to advocate for their meaningful involvement, and provide a welcoming environment that offers hope and help for positive living.
• Unaddressed gender issues – There is a general ambivalence and silence regarding women’s roles in some churches, where dialogue and openness could enhance understanding. In addition, men need to be more proactively involved in HIV and AIDS interventions.
• Some churches do not yet provide a safe environment making many girls and women vulnerable, especially young single women, divorced, and widowed.
• Limited involvement of Children and youth-centered HIV and AIDS initiatives in planning projects targeted to meet their needs.
• Limited mainstreaming of the issue of HIV and AIDS – Churches often see HIV and AIDS as something other than an integral part of its ministry. Churches could better integrate HIV and health activities across other community and development activities in which they are involved.
• Continued internal theological politics exist between churches that result in different and often confusing messages. There is a need to overcome conflicts and come to common understandings, while recognizing and allowing for diversity.
• Limited sensitivity to socio-cultural diversities – Many taboos and misperceptions remain. Churches need to more deeply unpack the socio-cultural context within which they work and bring harmony between culture, science and faith.
• Zeal and passion without competence – There is often limited or poor project management oversight and a lack of commitment to monitoring and evaluation, research, and documentation of results. Further capacity-building is required among church leaders and program workers in these critical areas.
• Limited resource mobilisation to support churches’ HIV and AIDS interventions and increase their effectiveness.
• Fragmentation and lack of coordination of church responses – Lessons learned and best practices could be more broadly shared among stakeholders, and networking strengthened.
• Perpetuation of stigma and discrimination – Churches need to strengthen the message that HIV is not a “punishment from God.” Further training is required, particularly on expanding and challenging knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of HIV and transmission.
• Inconsistent involvement of PLHIV – Churches need to advocate for their meaningful involvement, and provide a welcoming environment that offers hope and help for positive living.
• Unaddressed gender issues – There is a general ambivalence and silence regarding women’s roles in some churches, where dialogue and openness could enhance understanding. In addition, men need to be more proactively involved in HIV and AIDS interventions.
• Some churches do not yet provide a safe environment making many girls and women vulnerable, especially young single women, divorced, and widowed.
• Limited involvement of Children and youth-centered HIV and AIDS initiatives in planning projects targeted to meet their needs.
• Limited mainstreaming of the issue of HIV and AIDS – Churches often see HIV and AIDS as something other than an integral part of its ministry. Churches could better integrate HIV and health activities across other community and development activities in which they are involved.
• Continued internal theological politics exist between churches that result in different and often confusing messages. There is a need to overcome conflicts and come to common understandings, while recognizing and allowing for diversity.
• Limited sensitivity to socio-cultural diversities – Many taboos and misperceptions remain. Churches need to more deeply unpack the socio-cultural context within which they work and bring harmony between culture, science and faith.
• Zeal and passion without competence – There is often limited or poor project management oversight and a lack of commitment to monitoring and evaluation, research, and documentation of results. Further capacity-building is required among church leaders and program workers in these critical areas.
• Limited resource mobilisation to support churches’ HIV and AIDS interventions and increase their effectiveness.
• Fragmentation and lack of coordination of church responses – Lessons learned and best practices could be more broadly shared among stakeholders, and networking strengthened.
3.0 CONCLUSION
The churches’ spiritual mandate provides their core motivation for the delivery of a holistic response to HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, churches’ key strengths including extensive reach, credible leadership, experience, capacity, and growing advocacy, place them in a strong position to take a lead in addressing the pandemic, at both a local and global level.As churches intensify their efforts, it is imperative that they respond to identified key challenges related to specific intervention areas, such as in Prevention, OVC, and Treatment and Care, as well as cross-cutting challenges, in particular, gender and the meaningful involvement of PLHIV, to further strengthen the impact of their response. In summary, churches have improved and/or changed their approach, teaching and practices in many areas related to HIV and AIDS. In addressing the challenges that remain, it is essential that churches engage in deeper dialogue and collaboration in and amongst themselves, strengthen partnerships with other stakeholders, and strongly advocate for a broader compassionate, engaging and competent response.