What Religious Leaders Can do about HIV/AIDS: Action for Children and Young People

The African Religious Leaders’ Assembly on Children and HIV/AIDS was held in June 2002. The event led to the development of this 60 page workbook which was a result of religious leaders seeking resources and tools for responding to HIV/AIDS. UNICEF, the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) collaborated in putting together this workbook which draws from a variety of different faiths. The workbook has been tested by religious leaders in Africa and Asia as well as by others representing faith-based organisations worldwide.

How to Use this Workbook

This book is a resource that religious leaders can use to explore ways of responding to HIV/AIDS.

It explains what HIV/AIDS is, how it can be prevented and how it affects particular groups, especially children and young people. It also explains how parents who are infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) can avoid passing it on to their infants.

In addition to these basic facts, each chapter includes suggestions on what religious leaders can do to stop the spread of this deadly epidemic and the human suffering that goes along with it.

This information can serve as a starting point for meditation, dialogue and action. It can be adapted as necessary to specific spiritual teachings or religious texts, to the cultural practices and beliefs of particular communities, to local issues that contribute to the spread of HIV, and to ongoing programmes.

The last section of the workbook is devoted to ways in which religious leaders can generate action against AIDS within their community. This is followed by a list of faith-based organizations and other institutions to contact for ideas and inspiration or for more technical information about HIV/AIDS.

An important point to remember when taking action is that there are many organisations and individuals also responding to HIV/AIDS who want to be of service. Find ways to team up with local non-governmental organisations or others who may be specialists in various fields. If addressing certain aspects of the disease, or its prevention, is difficult, make use of these groups for assistance and concentrate on more familiar areas. In many cases, this will mean providing the compassion and moral support that can break through the judgement, shame and fear so often associated with HIV/AIDS.

Religious leaders can also foster the process of reconciliation that is so urgently needed to bring families and communities divided by HIV/AIDS back together.