Search results

The shock expressed by members of a rural congregation when offered an opportunity for voluntary HIV testing and counselling, and other similar experiences have taught Pauline Wanjiru Njiru that it is not the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that kills people, but fear, stigma and ignorance.

Whether facilitating training, translating information, or distributing printed materials, Deolinda Dorcas Teca is determined to help craft the tools people in the Portuguese language region of Africa will use to face the challenges of HIV and AIDS.

“The speed with which you run depends on what is chasing you.” One of Ezra Chitando's favorite African proverbs also captures his beliefs regarding the church's long-term commitment to meeting HIV-related challenges.

In a new book titled Parenting: a Journey of Love author Dr Fulata Lusungu Moyo of the World Council of Churches (WCC) offers profound perspectives on parenting, especially in context of HIV/AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa.

Thirteen West African countries. Thousands of youth and women. The numbers are daunting. But Ayoko Bahun-Wilson, West Africa regional coordinator of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), is determined to help West African youth become conscious, committed and prepared to fight to reduce the rate of HIV infections.

For churches in Africa, the Old Testament has historically occupied a prominent place in theological thinking. “Our theology is constructed with the image of God in the Old Testament,” reflects Charles Klagba, theological consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).

Hendrew Lusey has never forgotten the words he first heard at a World Council of Churches (WCC) workshop on human sexuality in 2002. At that time, he had recently been appointed the regional coordinator for central Africa with the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).

The HIV pandemic has been on the world stage for three decades now.  For most of that time the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its member churches have been deeply involved in making churches and theological institutions HIV-competent, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Susan Parry has turned her vision of the “AIDS-competent church” into a reality that has helped thousands of people across southern Africa and the rest of the world whose lives are affected by HIV.

Three decades into the AIDS pandemic it has become clear that churches, non-governmental agencies and governments need to redouble their efforts to combat the disease and its effects, said the central governing body of the World Council of Churches (WCC) during its meeting in February 2011.

By Nyambura Njoroge (*)

By Stephen Brown (*)

With a new sense of urgency in view of a pandemic that grows exponentially, high level figures from many of the world's faiths have committed to exercise "stronger, more visible and practical leadership" in response to HIV, with an emphasis on eradicating the stigma and discrimination towards those affected.

The first-ever Summit of High Level Religious Leaders on HIV and AIDS will be held in Den Dolder, Netherlands, from 22-23 March 2010. It aims to generate greater involvement from religious leaders of many of the world’s faiths in the global response to the pandemic.

The WCC general secretary, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, wrote a letter to Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, saying that the WCC was "saddened and distressed to receive the news from Uganda regarding a proposed law against homosexual individuals [...], which also proposes the death penalty to be meted to homosexual individuals who are HIV positive".

Roughly one in ten women attending the 53rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women is part of Ecumenical Women, an international coalition of churches and ecumenical organizations.

By Peter Kenny (*)

Representatives of ecumenical organizations meeting in advance of the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City vowed to launch a global campaign to help churches become competent in dealing with the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Can religions do more in response to the AIDS pandemic? To address this question over 450 representatives of faith-based organizations currently responding to HIV and AIDS will gather in Mexico City, 31 July - 2 August, in advance of the XVII International AIDS Conference.

"Evil, injustice, oppression, all of those awful things, they are not going to have the last word. Goodness, laughter, joy, caring, compassion, the things that you do and you help others do, those are going to prevail," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Geneva today.