Reflections of the Faith Community at AIDS2010. 8/10

Rights Here, Right Now – What’s faith got to do with it?

Multi-Faith Pre-Conference: Rights Here, Right Now – What’s faith got to do with it? The involvement of the faith community at AIDS 2010 began with a one-day Multi-Faith Pre-Conference on July 17 at the Technical University in Vienna which was organized by a global multi-faith working group convened by the Ecumenical AIDS Alliance (EAA, http://www.e-alliance.ch). The pre-conference involved about 250 people from many faiths around the world. It provided the faith community the opportunity to meet together to discuss aspects of faith and HIV&AIDS. As Rev. Dr. Richard Fee, EAA chairperson and General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, remarked, “The world expects people of faith to be working together. We have recognized that and it is time we started doing that.”

The pre-conference began and ended with devotions and prayer. The morning session included a performance by the Zimbabwean Betseranai Choir, a group of about 20 people living with HIV sharing their journey with the virus in song and music to mobilize others. The day was filled with two plenary sessions, seven breakout sessions and a session with breakout session “listener” reports.  The program and most of the presentations can be downloaded here. Take special note of presentations by two CCIH members: Karen Sichinga of the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) and Rev. Dr. Nyambura Njoroge of the World Council of Churches. Videos of parts of the plenaries are available, along with other videos from the IAC.

The major thread running through the day was a reminder and celebration that faith communities are called to serve and respond to all people; to show love and compassion without bias; to provide a place where everyone, particularly those who are suffering, can find strength and support, and where they can feel safe. This is what they have always done, regardless of the type of need. It should be no different for a disease such as HIV&AIDS. As Rev. Dr Olav Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, expressed in his address in the opening plenary, the question of what compels faith traditions to work toward universal access is an “odd” one. “If we changed the …acronym of HIV with any other name of a disease,” he said, “ What would happen?” Would we respond?  Why should the question even be asked?

Also in the opening session, Ms. Jan Beagle, Deputy Director of UNAIDS, encouraged the faith community to continue to be involved and to provide the services that they have been providing but also to partner with others (other faiths, governments, etc) in ways that allow each partner to work in their areas of strength. She also encouraged the faith community to continue to be involved at all levels – as activists, advocates, practitioners, in rural and poorly served areas, saying “Your personal leadership and commitment are vital to making a real difference to move people forward from just talking to action. You can energize social movements.” Ms. Beagle reiterated her call for partnership and collaboration and committed UNAIDS to continue to work with people of faith: “There is so much more that unites us than divides us…. We are all in this together. Success depends on our collective efforts. UNAIDS looks forward to working and partnering with you in this year and beyond to save lives, to fight for social justice and to make progress toward the Millennium Development Goals.”

Other plenary presenters spoke about the challenge facing the faith community to be accepting rather than condemning and to collaborate and build bridges wherever possible. The faith community has the advantage of being proximal to people’s lives but this also brings a responsibility to become involved in their lives, to meet them where they are, to work with them and for them, to go beyond health systems to touch “the very fabric of people’s lives.” The calls for cooperation evoked not only a multi-faith but an interfaith response. Dr. Hany el Banna, founder of Islamic Relief and of the Humanitarian Forum, observed that religion should cross barriers, not make them. He said that all the teachings of the great religious leaders point toward one humanity, one human heart. Religion therefore should lead in humanitarian efforts of all kinds.

AIDS2010: The faith community, again through the leadership of the EAA, was also present at the main AIDS conference. The Multi-Faith Networking Zone was located in the IAC Global Village. The area “provided a space for faith-based participants to share their experience of HIV and AIDS with one another, engage in inter-faith dialogue, exchange best practices and foster collaboration.” CCIH displayed copies of The ABC Approach to Preventing the Sexual Transmission of HIV: Common Questions & Answers which were available free to both IAC attendees and to the general public who visited the Global Village.

The interfaith prayer room, coordinated by the EAA, provided a quiet space to welcome those of any faith tradition for meditation or prayer during AIDS2010. A program of organized devotions was also coordinated in the prayer room by a group of chaplains from a variety of faith traditions and led by Dr Christoph E. Mann. The chaplains remained on-call to provide individual spiritual accompaniment upon request throughout conference. The Ecumenical Media Team provided attendees with daily updates and produced the articles and videos that are now available on the EAA AIDS conference site.

Why is (should) the faith community be involved at such international secular gatherings? Aside from the events organized by the faith community itself, it is hard to discern the wider impact and recognition of the role that people of faith played during AIDS2010. Although faith-based organizations were mentioned at times, even in the scientific sessions, specific details about their work and impact were missing. While one attendee thought it was amazing that the faith community was mentioned and seemingly sought out by some during the main conference, another felt that there was not enough credit given for their work and their impact and not enough discussion about the role that faith-based organizations, Christian Health Associations and faith-founded and operated hospitals and clinics could and should play in the fight against HIV&AIDS and the response to those affected by it. So, while some can feel good about the level of participation and dialogue by and with the faith community, others realize that there is still much more progress to be made with respect to the real impact that people of faith can make in such a diverse environment. (see the video Representatives of churches and Christian organizations reflect on the issues and challenges raised at the 18th International AIDS Conference).

Ultimately, as Peter Prove, EAA’s Executive Director, points out in the video Why are we Here?, the IAC is the place where all of the actors in the fight against HIV come together to challenge each other and learn from each other. If the faith community was not there, not only would it lose out by not having its voice heard, but the wider community would also not benefit from the knowledge, experience and perspective of people of faith. “We have an essential role to play” says Prove, “And we have to be here.”

The EAA has released a special bulletin with summaries of many of the events and important issues discussed at the IAC. Among those issues is the funding crisis which may leave many people without access to care and treatment. See below for a review of an EAA study on the negative effects that reduced and shifting funding is already having on the ability of faith-based organizations in Africa to reach universal access to care and treatment.

What’s Next? The next International AIDS Conference is scheduled to take place in July 2012 in Washington, DC. For those of us who live in the United States, it is time to start planning if and how much we will participate in this global gathering that will take place in our own backyard. Is this our opportunity to truly make an impact and have our voice heard above the crowds?