Arab religious leaders launch HIV/AIDS initiative

-22/11/06

More than 300 religious le


Arab religious leaders launch HIV/AIDS initiative

-22/11/06

More than 300 religious leaders have signed up to a new network bringing together diverse Muslim and Christian denominations from 20 Arab countries, as religious leaders responded as a “united force” to a mounting prevalence of HIV in their region ñ writes Linda Hartke.

The First Network of Arab Religious Leaders Responding to AIDS was launched in Cairo earlier this month (November 2006) under the acronym CHAHAMA.

“Now that religious leaders have come together we must not lose the momentum we have created. We have developed a plan of action to urgently respond to what is amounting to a region living on the brink of an epidemic,” said the Rev Hady Aya, an Antonin Maronite religious leader and founder of the Organization for Justice and Mercy in Lebanon.

United Nations figures show that countries in the Arab region have one of the fastest growing HIV infection rates in the world due to heightened risk factors stemming from conflict, gender disparity and poverty in the region. UN data shows that every 10 minutes someone is infected with HIV in Arab states and women now make up half of those infected.

“The motto for CHAHAMA is ‘Religions in the Service of Humanity’,” stated Dr Lina El Hemsy, a lecturer at the Kaftaro Islamic Centre in Damascus.

World Bank projections for infection rates in the region suggest generalised epidemics in Arab countries in the next 10 years if the response is not scaled up immediately.

“We created CHAHAMA understanding the great responsibility that has been placed in our hands to reach out to the communities we serve,” asserted Aya. “We, as women and men religious leaders, not only in the Arab region but in the world, have been the most active in the AIDS response… We will not leave one person behind regardless of the status of their health.”

The CHAHAMA Pact commits religious leaders in the Arab States to expanding their membership, promote chastity and dignity among men and women and plan programme to reach the most vulnerable groups in society.

It will also seek to prove support, spiritual counselling and care for people living with HIV and their families. It will also increase awareness of the links between HIV/AIDS and development, governance, gender and human rights. The group aims also to promote policies addressing the root causes of HIV/AIDS including poverty.

The launching of the network came at the end of the Second Regional Religious Leaders Forum in Response to HIV/AIDS on 6-9 November, organized by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) HIV/AIDS regional programme in Arab states (HARPAS) under the auspices of the League of Arab States.

Linda Hartke is the coordinator of the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, associated with the World Council of Churches. She attended the CHAHAMA forum at the invitation of the Islamic Relief aid agency and the UNDP.

[With grateful acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]


Arab religious leaders launch HIV/AIDS initiative

-22/11/06

More than 300 religious leaders have signed up to a new network bringing together diverse Muslim and Christian denominations from 20 Arab countries, as religious leaders responded as a “united force” to a mounting prevalence of HIV in their region ñ writes Linda Hartke.

The First Network of Arab Religious Leaders Responding to AIDS was launched in Cairo earlier this month (November 2006) under the acronym CHAHAMA.

“Now that religious leaders have come together we must not lose the momentum we have created. We have developed a plan of action to urgently respond to what is amounting to a region living on the brink of an epidemic,” said the Rev Hady Aya, an Antonin Maronite religious leader and founder of the Organization for Justice and Mercy in Lebanon.

United Nations figures show that countries in the Arab region have one of the fastest growing HIV infection rates in the world due to heightened risk factors stemming from conflict, gender disparity and poverty in the region. UN data shows that every 10 minutes someone is infected with HIV in Arab states and women now make up half of those infected.

“The motto for CHAHAMA is ‘Religions in the Service of Humanity’,” stated Dr Lina El Hemsy, a lecturer at the Kaftaro Islamic Centre in Damascus.

World Bank projections for infection rates in the region suggest generalised epidemics in Arab countries in the next 10 years if the response is not scaled up immediately.

“We created CHAHAMA understanding the great responsibility that has been placed in our hands to reach out to the communities we serve,” asserted Aya. “We, as women and men religious leaders, not only in the Arab region but in the world, have been the most active in the AIDS response… We will not leave one person behind regardless of the status of their health.”

The CHAHAMA Pact commits religious leaders in the Arab States to expanding their membership, promote chastity and dignity among men and women and plan programme to reach the most vulnerable groups in society.

It will also seek to prove support, spiritual counselling and care for people living with HIV and their families. It will also increase awareness of the links between HIV/AIDS and development, governance, gender and human rights. The group aims also to promote policies addressing the root causes of HIV/AIDS including poverty.

The launching of the network came at the end of the Second Regional Religious Leaders Forum in Response to HIV/AIDS on 6-9 November, organized by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) HIV/AIDS regional programme in Arab states (HARPAS) under the auspices of the League of Arab States.

Linda Hartke is the coordinator of the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, associated with the World Council of Churches. She attended the CHAHAMA forum at the invitation of the Islamic Relief aid agency and the UNDP.

[With grateful acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]