Displaying 1 - 20 of 37
Sort by relevance Sort by date
Publication
The book cover shows the face of a child in the outline of the map of Africa

Compendium of Promising Practices of African Faith Community Interventions against Paediatric and Adolescent HIV

Executive Summary

UNAIDS and PEPFAR developed this compendium in 2023. WCC collaborated on translating the Executive Summary into French and Portuguese.

This vital report brings together essential lessons from faith communities’ exceptional leadership in addressing the challenge of HIV in children. It documents evidence from the core roles that faith communities have played in identifying undiagnosed children living with HIV, improving the continuity of treatment, and supporting adherence to care and treatment. It also documents lessons from how faith leaders have driven advocacy to tackle stigma and discrimination and push for targets to be achieved. It will help faith communities and those who support and partner with them to advance a step change in progress towards the goal of ending AIDS in children by 2030.

23 March 2024
Publication
Book cover - red background, people lighting candles among HIV ribbons

Recommended Practices to Combat HIV-Related Stigma

A Guidebook for Local Faith Communities
David Barstow
Gracia Violeta Ross
Manoj Kurian

In Recommended Practices to Combat HIV-Related Stigma, the World Council of Churches presents experiences of local congregations responding to HIV stigma. HIV stigma remains a significant barrier to universal access to care and prevention services and continues to be a challenge for the world, demanding our engagement and action. The faith community, with its large networks, influence and leadership, is well-placed to end HIV stigma and discrimination. It is our responsibility to participate in the HIV response; it is our calling to care for the most vulnerable.

05 October 2023
Publication
Red book cover with people of faith lighting HIV memorial candles

Faith Sector Implementation of the Global AIDS Strategy

David Barstow
Gracia Violeta Ross
Manoj Kurian

The HIV epidemic continues to present a challenge for today’s world. The engagement and action of faith communities, in coordination with other actors, are crucial if we want to realize the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. How can the faith communities have sound and relevant responses to the current challenges of HIV? In Faith Sector Implementation of the Global AIDS Strategy, the authors summarize three global strategies on HIV and provide examples of interventions and actions for faith communities.

05 October 2023
Blog post
Eileen Peralta and her 12-year old daughter Erin, who has autism, sit on the step of their home in the Malate neighborhood of Manila. They're being visited by other members of Kaisahan ng Magulang at Anak na Maykapansanan (Kaisaka), a mothers' group that carries out community based rehabilitation with families which have members with disabilities.

Recognizing autism as a disability

As a parent of an autistic child, it is important for me not only to embrace and accept that my child has autism but also to raise awareness on autism. We are all called upon to champion acceptance, embrace, appreciate, and accept autistic people as valued members of the community. 

25 July 2023
Blog post
WorldAIDSDayPrayer_20221201GregoiredeFombelle-11.jpg

HIV stigma still not eradicated—but we can change our mindset

The HIV response has more than forty years now; timely and accessible medications are effective and ensure long healthy lives for people living with HIV. We have more prevention tools and strategies, we know much more about the virus, there are many organizations and websites with dedicated information; yet, HIV stigma persists in deep thinking, having serious consequences for the 38 million people living with HIV across the world.

24 February 2023
Publication
Black and orange booklet cover with an AIDS ribbon

HIV and AIDS Civil Society Networks and the Faith Sector

Lessons Learnt from Strategic Engagement in India, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and Jamaica

This booklet highlights the lessons learnt in a project, Strategic Engagement of Civil Society Networks and Faith Actors in the HIV Response in Four Countries,  implemented by the World Council of Churches (WCC), with the support of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), from July to December 2022 

This initiative facilitated dialogue between civil society networks, faith actors, and key national HIV stakeholders in the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, and Jamaica.

31 January 2023
Blog post
Bangladesh hospital patient

No more women living with HIV dying with cervical cancer

As we come closer to the 16 Days of Activism, which begins on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), includes 1 December (International Day dedicated to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died), and runs through 10 December (International Human Rights Day), I write this open letter to policymakers, faith leaders, and all stakeholders interested in the lives of women and girls.

06 January 2023
Interview
Benjamin Simon

Pandemic and pedagogy: what are the valuable lessons?

Rev. Prof. Dr Benjamin Simon, World Council of Churches programme executive for Ecumenical Theological Education, offered reflections after a December hybrid conference entitled “Theological Education: Pandemic and Pedagogy,” held at the Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra, Ghana. The conference was co-organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), World Communion of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, and Evangelische Mission Weltweit. The conference drew more than 80 participants from all over the world.

21 December 2022
Blog post
hands together

Women suffering from fistula need urgent help

Rose Mantey qualified as a state registered nurse in Ghana in 1996, and completed training in midwifery in 2002. In 2005 she started working in a maternal and child health community clinic, attached to the Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital in Mankessin, Ghana. 

09 December 2022
Blog post
Bible in the Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, sun shining on the page open with Isaiah 42

New Year’s resolutions: a biblical reflection

The year often begins with making firm resolutions, taken with earnestness and commitment. The following weeks and months are familiarly littered with broken promises and failures. Successful and consistent adherence to new years’ resolutions is, from my experience, rare. To change this pattern of failure, I look to the holy scripture for help.

05 January 2022
Blog post
woman wearing face mask and gloves offers a portion of food

Let the food systems nourish people and the planet rather than feed the profits of the privileged

The food system is a complex web of activities involving production, processing, transport, and consumption. Key issues concerning the food system include how food production affects the natural environment, the impact of food on individual and population health, the governance and economics of food production, its sustainability, and the degree to which we waste food.

22 September 2021
Interview
Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu, president of the Methodist Church of Togo, Photo: Methodist Church of Togo

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu: “God heals, but people must also be treated”

Pastor Godson Lawson Kpavuvu, president of the Methodist Church of Togo, is also chair of the International Reference Group of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme (WCC-EHAIA). Involved with WCC-EHAIA from the beginning, he reflects below on what it’s like to be, as he describes, “one of the veterans of the struggle.”

02 September 2021