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Religious leaders in Tanzania, after attending a workshop on HIV, stigma, treatment adherence and faith healing, released a communique that urges further empowering of religious leaders with skills and information to combat HIV.

A UNAIDS-PEPFAR faith-based initiative workshop, “Harnessing the Power of Partnerships,” started on 27 September in Tanzania with a focus on HIV stigma, treatment adherence and faith healing.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme, in partnership with the Council of Churches in Zambia, successfully hosted two PEPFAR-UNAIDS workshops on HIV treatment adherence from 18-20 March.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy programme is cohosting a consultation with the Council of Churches in Zambia on 18-20 March with the aim of strengthening HIV treatment adherence.

Frontline actions by African faith communities in mitigating against the novel coronavirus are being welcomed as timely, as groups move to support people left vulnerable by the pandemic.

Africa is of huge concern around the novel coronavirus pandemic for the World Health Organization (WHO), but the continent’s churches have been preparing for the silent and lethal virus for some time.

An interfaith prayer breakfast in New York City on 26 September tackled the involvement of faith leaders and faith communities, in partnerships with non-faith actors, to accelerate optimal HIV services to reach men and children, and to promote action to address issues related to sexual violence against children and HIV.

Moravian women pastors and evangelists have said: “Enough is enough: no more rape and violence against women." Women leaders of the church marched in the streets of Mbeya town in Tanzania wearing black on Thursday to officially launch the Thursdays in Black global campaign to stand against rape and violence.

What if HIV were just a virus, and not also a taboo? This week in Tanzania, religious leaders gathered to address stigma and discrimination related to HIV.

The marketplace - also referred to as a “sokoni" - became an opportunity for faith and community-based institutions to share what they do to improve the lives of people around them.

The huge impacts of businesses on the communities in which they operate often bring benefits, but companies can disregard and even harm people’s rights in pursuit of economic gain. The WCC, ACT Alliance and the Lutheran World Federation hosted a side event at the 6th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva on 28 November, in this context.

”We are here to listen. To learn what others do, so we can contextualize our understanding of HIV issues, and journey together in our work ahead. Because on HIV, we do not compete. We work together.”

“Is there a way we can address stigma and discrimination among faith communities, to set an example, so that those who are there to provide services, to give care, do not themselves stigmatize? Because when it comes to HIV and AIDS, it doesn’t matter if we are Christians or Muslims, women or men. With HIV and AIDS, we need to deal with it as human beings.”

Churches are engaged at the grassroots level throughout the world in the response to HIV and AIDS, but the struggle against the disease and those stigmatized for being HIV positive needs to continue, say church leaders.

A workshop in Tanzania created a “safe space” in which adolescents, church leaders, theologians, development practitioners and others could share their feelings and ideas about HIV response.

Faith-based organizations presented significant input at a 6 April United Nations civil society hearing in New York City, a prelude to a UN High Level Meeting on HIV in New York on 8-10 June.

During the 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the WCC, in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation, organized a side-event on “Faith-based organizations’ contribution to the protection of communities’ land rights: lessons learnt and good practices from Africa, Asia and Latin America” at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

In Africa, where up to 40 percent of the health care facilities are provided by faith based organizations, Dr Mirfin Mpundu, executive director of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network, says that due to their unique position churches can play a special role in eliminating HIV and AIDS and bringing improvements in the lives of people living with the virus.

Women from churches across Africa have gathered in Kenya to focus on the achievements, challenges and opportunities of women's ministry in African churches over the past 30 years, as well as their responses to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Religious beliefs and traditions in Africa continue to influence the way HIV is spread, especially among young women. There is a great need to understand these issues from a faith-based perspective, so that church leaders may engage in a constructive dialogue to help and support women threatened by the pandemic.