Interfaith Pre-Conference

Opening Session

Following several opening welcomes, two keynote presentations will outline the ‘big picture’ in terms of the faith community’s work on health, dignity and justice in the context of HIV, with particular focus on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Participants will be introduced to some of the key issues that they will explore further during the pre-conference, and they will be inspired to learn how they can take further action to address these issues both during the main IAC and once they return home.

In particular, the two keynote speakers will reflect on the following questions:

• What is the added value of faith communities taking action on health, dignity and justice in the context of HIV?
• What are the challenges? What are the opportunities? What are the key next steps and who are the key partners?

Plenary 1: Dignity

Concepts of dignity are found in the many religious traditions represented at the Interfaith Pre-Conference. These can involve ideas of belonging, recognition, respect, shared responsibility, and honoring, caring for and welcoming others. The premise is that humankind is in some way made in the image of God, or embodies the divine spirit. What’s more, many religious traditions teach respect for those who are somehow disadvantaged or marginalized within society.

These ideas match closely with an approach developed by the Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) and UNAIDS called Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention. This approach highlights the importance of placing the person living with HIV at the centre of managing their health and wellbeing. Among other things, the framework takes us beyond the more limited concept of ’positive prevention’ which focuses only on people living with HIV ’preventing’ the transmission of HIV. In contrast, Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention emphasizes a holistic response to HIV and promotes the leadership roles of people living with HIV in addressing policy and legal barriers within the socio-cultural and legal contexts in which they live, and in driving the agenda forward toward better health and dignity for all affected by HIV.

This plenary will therefore draw out some of these principles and teachings and look for ways to build closer working relationships between people living with HIV, and faith communities in the response to HIV. It will deepen theological reflection on “dignity” in the context of HIV and identify practical actions that have been, or should be, taken. It will  take the form of a lively Q&A interview, with time given to moderated reactions from the floor.

Confirmed speakers:

Swami Advaidananda, INERELA+, Réunion Island

Bishop Yvette Flunder, United Church of Christ City of Refuge, USA

Faghmeda Miller, Positive Muslims, South Africa

Rev. MacDonald Sembereka, INERELA+, Malawi

Workshop Session 1

Eight simultaneous workshops will consider the issues raised in plenary in more depth and from eight distinct but related perspectives: youth; prevention; human rights, advocacy and public policies; care and support; treatment; vulnerable groups; gender relations; and migration.

Workshops are currently being finalized. Those who have submitted proposals that have been accepted will already have been notified via email. The full description of  all workshops will be available online as of 1 June.

Workshop Session 2

Eight simultaneous workshops will consider the issues raised in plenary in more depth and from eight distinct but related perspectives: youth; prevention; human rights, advocacy and public policies; care and support; treatment; vulnerable groups; gender relations; and migration.

Workshops are currently being finalized. Those who have submitted proposals that have been accepted will already have been notified via email. The full description of  all workshops will be available online as of 1 June.

Plenary Two: Health

Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support was supposed to be realized by the end of 2010. Presently though only 50% of those needing anti-retroviral treatment (ART) have access to it. Studies have shown that successful treatment can prevent new HIV infections. In June 2011, the United Nations pledged to end vertical transmission of HIV by 2015.

This plenary will explore reasons why a further scale-up of ART seems to be a challenge in terms of long-term funding, in terms of access to affordable ARVs for adults and children and in terms of patent and trade-related issues. It will also look at possible solutions and hone in on the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) as one concrete way to facilitate long-term treatment in resource-poor settings in the future. The panel will inform participants about treatment issues and close with a practical advocacy action.

Confirmed speakers:

Canon Gideon Byamugisha, INERELA+, Uganda (Moderator)

Esteban Burrone, Medicines Patent Pool, Argentina

Dr Ronald Lalthanmawia, Christian Medical Association of India

Ruth Messinger, American Jewish World Service

Workshop Session 3

Eight simultaneous workshops will consider the issues raised in plenary in more depth and from eight distinct but related perspectives: youth; prevention; human rights, advocacy and public policies; care and support; treatment; vulnerable groups; gender relations; and migration.

Workshops are currently being finalized. Those who have submitted proposals that have been accepted will already have been notified via email. The full description of  all workshops will be available online as of 1 June.

Plenary 3 and Closing Session: Justice

At this juncture in the HIV response, when the disparities between those who remain vulnerable to HIV and those who are less so continue to hamper efforts to end epidemic, it is clear that more needs to be done to address the social injustices exposed by HIV and AIDS, including poverty and gender inequality.

Faith communities and faith-based organizations possess a unique ‘in-reach’ to those most affected by HIV. In addition to spiritual guidance, they also provide community-wide health, education and social services inspired by a philosophy that seeks equality, dignity and justice for all. These communities are therefore in a unique position to influence attitudes and behaviors and address the underlying causes of injustice. As such, they are key contributors to a long-term, sustainable and comprehensive response to HIV.

On the other hand, HIV-related issues framed in legal (and especially human rights) terms have in some contexts been difficult for faith communities to relate to.

This plenary will therefore examine the issue of justice in the context of HIV from each speaker’s religious, community, personal or professional perspectives. It will explore opportunities for the international community to rise above some of the current debates, which can appear to hang in the balance between individualistic claims to rights verses a sense of culture, tradition and community. It will seek to explore how society can move beyond such polarization, and, instead harness faith communities’ capacity to work for justice in a spirit of recognition of the inherent human dignity of every person, whereby every individual and every minority community experiences dignity and their consequent claim to protection, as a matter of justice – both legal and ethical.

Confirmed speakers:

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Centre, USA

Moono Nyambe, Global Network of People Living with HIV, Zambia

Rev. Nyambura Njoroge, World Council of Churches, Kenya

Dr Rosalee Velloso Ewell, World Evangelical Alliance, Brazil