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Religious leaders commit to visible and active leadership on HIV

Religious leaders commit to visible and active leadership on HIV

Den Dolder, The Netherlands, 23 March 2010 (Cordaid). High level religious and spiritual leaders from many of the world’s major religions pledged “stronger, more visible and practical leadership in the response to HIV” as the first global High Level Summit of Religious Leaders on HIV concluded today in The Netherlands.

The Summit was organized by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and Cordaid, with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNAIDS, International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV or AIDS (INERELA+), the World AIDS Campaign and the European Council of Religious Leaders (Religions for Peace).

Some 40 Baha'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders met together, 22-23 March, with the Executive Directors of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the AIDS Ambassadors of The Netherlands and Sweden, leaders and representatives of networks of people living with HIV and other organisations active in the response to HIV.

Participants affirmed in their concluding statement the “renewed sense of urgency” to prioritize and strengthen the response to HIV. Such response includes “holistic prevention” in addition to reaching universal access to treatment, care and support. The statement called for the “Universal respect for the human rights of all people living with and affected by and at risk of HIV infection” and the “respect for the dignity of every human being”. Leaders also called for “a massive social mobilization” to support services for women to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

In addition religious leaders drafted and personally signed a pledge to commit themselves to strengthened efforts to respond to HIV. The pledge includes “deepening meaningful engagement with people living with HIV” and “acting decisively to protect human rights within my faith community; through collaboration among other religious leaders of different faiths; and by influencing local, national, regional and global decision-making processes on HIV.“

Religious leaders speaking at the Summit emphasised that AIDS is an illness, and not a sin and underlined that God is for everybody and that everybody is equally important to God. The summit also stressed the importance of examining cultural and religious traditions and texts in order to bridge the gap between the religious message and the life people in the communities live.

Source: Cordaid/e-alliance press release

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