Upcoming CHAA Meetings:
Prayer Day -14 March 2009 at Johnson House, 6-8 Marshalsea Road, London SE1 1HL from 10:30 - 14:30 - this will be a day of facilitated prayer for all CHAA member bodies, and we encourage all CHAA members organisations to send news, items for prayer and wherever possible representatives.
CHAA Members Meeting - 30 April 2009 also at Johnson House, 6-8 Marshalsea Road, London SE1 1HL - more details to be sent round
Further information will also be published on the CHAA Website
1. Second Draft of UNAIDS Framework for Working With Faith Based Organisations & Communities
After eight months of consultation with faith based organisations and faith communities, and re-drafting, the second draft of the UNAIDS framework for working with FBOs, churches, faith communities and religious leaders. This has arisen out of many months of discussions by FBOs and religious leaders and organisations about how they think UNAIDS can best work with the "faith sector" in HIV & AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Sally Smith of UNAIDS has spearheaded the consultation, but the text is largely the work of many faith organisations over the course of 2008.
The next steps in finishing this document are:
1: send feedback to Sally [ SmithS@unaids.org ] by February 25th
2: Final edits 3-7 March
3: Further discussions with UN Cosponsors, FBO Cosponsors & UNAIDS Global Coordinators for final approval
4: Publish & distribute in April/May
If you are interested in seeing this document and contributing to the consultation process, please email CHAA for a copy
Please feed comments directly to Sally Smith by 25 February
2. Call for evidence on access to HIV medicines from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS
The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS is aware that as progress is made on HIV testing around the world and as mortality rates of those with HIV improve and resistant strains develop, the availability of appropriate, affordable medication will be a long-term and ever-growing issue.
It is aware of the huge task ahead if we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals on treatment and also of the need to sustain those achievements in the years beyond.
We are therefore asking for evidence from NGOs, companies and individuals with special knowledge or experience around access to or the supply of HIV medicines. This evidence will form part of a longer project to raise Parliamentary and Government awareness of the issue and may contribute to a report later in the year. It will also help inform our interactions with external agencies such as UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation.
If you would like to respond to this call for evidence, please contact the APPGA:
Email: oakeshottv@parliament.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7219 3809
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7219 4126
The deadline for submissions is 9am on Monday 23rd February 2009.
3. Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS Calls for New Directions for Aids Policy in Severely Affected Countries
The Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA) launched its report “Home Truths: Facing the Facts on Children, AIDS, and Poverty” on 10 Feb. The report summarizes two years of research and analysis of AIDS-related policies, programmes and funding and their effectiveness in addressing the needs of children. It calls for change in global, regional and national responses to the epidemic, including greater emphasis on strengthening families and communities to enable them to give children the care and support they are uniquely suited to provide. The report also recommends new approaches to address the simultaneous impacts of HIV, poverty, food insecurity and social inequality that many countries confront today.
The report can be downloaded in full from here. -
4. Theologians open conversation on HIV prevention
A "groundbreaking book that wrestles with the complex and sometimes controversial intersection of belief and HIV prevention" is now available from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. HIV Prevention: A Global Theological Conversation comes out of a remarkable consultation held in early 2008 of 35 leading Christian theologians and practitioners, including people living with HIV, from five continents and many church traditions. The book is an essential resource for church leaders, theologians, teachers and strategists who are committed to a positive, informed and compassionate engagement with HIV prevention.
“This ‘conversation’ explored in a loving and enlightening way one of the most difficult challenges of the AIDS pandemic, that of prevention,” states Enda McDonagh, Emeritus Professor of Moral Theology, St. Patrick’s College, Ireland.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in recommending the publication, emphasizes, “Every church leader, pastor, preacher, theologian, should take the first step towards joining A global Theological Conversation by reading this groundbreaking new volume on HIV prevention. Then take the second step…begin your own theological reflection and engage others in the discourse of life.”
As Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS states, “The more religious communities can openly and respectfully discuss the faith and realities that effective HIV prevention has to address, the more progress we can make in reducing the spread of HIV and envisioning a world without AIDS.”
HIV Prevention: A Global Theological Conversation, edited by Gillian Paterson, 168 pp., is available in English, French and Spanish. The book can be downloaded or single print copies can be ordered for free from the EAA
For more information contact Sara Speicher, sspeicher@e-alliance.ch, +44 7821 860 723.
5. "Where is the Good Samaritan today" - United Bible Society HIV Resource
The booklet "Where is the Good Samaritan today" combines basic information of HIV and AIDS appropriate biblical passages. This resource booklet, which is written by Konstanse Raen from Norwegian Bible Society, has been received by enthusiasm by the national Bible Societies and the churches everywhere it has been presented in Africa. It was first published in 2004 in English and French together with Kinyarwanda. However, the national Bible Societies took quickly up translation into other national languages. In 2008 the booklet is available in ca 30 languages, like Swahili (two versions), Kirundi, Luanda, Amharic, Tigray, Oromo, Fulfulde, Pidgin, SiSwati, Lingala, Tchiluba, Kituba, Kikongo, Ewe, Kabye, Dioula, Tagbana, Baoulé, Yacouba, and more are being translated.
For more information, contact the United Bible Society's HIV/AIDS desk at the Area Service Centre in Nairobi: info@ubs-afrsc.org & online at http://www.ubs-goodsamaritan.org/1043
Further Resources:
- AIDSLink Newsletters
- AIDS Intercessors Prayer Diary
- Covenant to Care (Practical Christian Engagement with HIV & AIDS)
- Creed for the AIDS Pandemic (statement of values)
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