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United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS

A UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS (HLM) is being held 8-10 June at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Through the HLM, the international community can demonstrate commitment to accelerating the HIV response with the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic. Concerted advocacy by people of faith has been a vital part of efforts to encourage governments to develop and adopt a Political Declaration with new and bold commitments – matched by funding commitments – to scale up prevention, treatment, care and support, eliminate stigma and discrimination, uphold human rights, and ensure the engagement of communities most affected.

Medicines Patent Pool, ViiV Healthcare expand licensing agreement

The World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (WCC-EAA) welcomes the 25 April announcement by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and ViiV Healthcare of the geographic extension of their licensing agreement for dolutegravir (DTG) to cover all remaining lower middle-income countries (LMICs). The amendment to the 2014 licence specifically allows generic medicine distribution in four countries with patents – Armenia, Moldova, Morocco and Ukraine – that were not covered in the initial agreement. Dolutegravir is a promising new treatment that was included in the latest WHO guidelines as first- and third-line treatment.

Faith, food and El Nino in Southern Africa

18 April 2016

In Southern Africa, around 28 million people are facing food insecurity due to drought conditions brought on by the strength of El Niño in 2015/2016. The World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is holding a regional consultation, hosted by World Vision International, to plan coordinated faith-based action in support of sustainable agriculture, agro-ecology and other climate-resilient methods, particularly targeting the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) discussion on the response to El Niño.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Human rights standards must guide global response to HIV, WCC urges

Policymakers, programme managers, and service providers — including faith communities — must use more human rights norms and standards to guide a global response to HIV, said a statement submitted by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, an ecumenical initiative of the WCC, to the Human Rights Council on 11 March in Geneva.

Interfaith Pre-Conference at AIDS 2016

16 - 17 July 2016

The International AIDS Conference (18-22 July) provides extensive opportunities for sharing and networking across all levels of care and response to the epidemic. It draws tens of thousands of people every two years. The WCC-Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is coordinating an Interfaith Pre-Conference to bring faith-based participants together to share good practices, networking, and discussion of the faith-based response to current challenges in responding to HIV.

Durban, South Africa

Tveit on the “Ten Commandments” of food

A 21 January World Economic Forum session on how food choices can become a catalyst for positive change became an opportunity for World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit to present “Ten Commandments” of food to the gathered business and political leaders.

WCC-EAA welcomes agreement that will improve access to HIV medicines

The World Council of Churches-Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance welcomes an agreement between the Medicines Patent Pool, the Government of South Africa and Abbvie, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, to work together to overcome supply challenges relating to second-line HIV and AIDS treatments lopinavir and ritonavir (LPV/r) in South Africa.

Consultation considers right to food in context of climate change

As the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change came to a close in Paris, a consultation organized by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance of the WCC on 11 December in Quezon City, Philippines considered “The Right to Food and Life in the Context of Climate Change.”

Action Alert: AIDS 2016 - Applications open for interfaith chaplains

The Interfaith Chaplains Programme and Interfaith Prayer Room will once again be offered at the 21st International AIDS Conference. Ten religious leaders from around the world will be selected to participate in the chaplains programme. Applications are now being accepted up to 31 January 2016.

COP21: how climate change affects access to our daily bread

Climate change poses serious environmental challenges to meet current and future demands for food. The poorest communities, having the smallest carbon footprint on the planet, are facing the greatest impact of climate change. For many years, the right to food has been a key issue and priority for many parties, churches and ecumenical delegations involved in climate talks.

No place for hunger in a world of abundance

Tackling the tragedy of hunger in a world of abundance, the Churches’ Week of Action on Food (11-18 October) is an opportunity for Christians, communities and all people around the world to act together for food justice.