HIV and AIDS, Communication and Stigma

The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is pleased to announce that Ms Phumzile Zondi-Mabizela will serve as the leader of daily Bible study and prayers sessions for Congress 2008, the world communication conference scheduled for October 6-10, 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa.The event is expected to attract 350 communicators from faith-based and civil society organizations worldwide.

Zondi- Mabizela, a South African, will lead daily “prayers” sessions, the term currently favoured by many Christian churches to designate inter-denominational prayer, reflection, and music. She will also lead Bible sessions on the conference theme “Communication is peace: Building viable communities”. In accepting the role of Prayers Leader for Congress, Zondi-Mabizela noted she is “passionate about creating space for marginalized groups to articulate their interpretation of the Bible and finding the ‘Good News’ together with them.”

An elder in the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, Zondi-Mabizela was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the KwaZulu Natal Christian Council in Pietermaritzburg in July 2006.Previously, she served at the Institute for the Study of the Bible, now known as the Ujamaa Centre, as the Women and Gender Programme co-ordinator.

Phumzile Zondi-Mabizela was diagnosed as HIV+ in 1999 and has since worked with many local, national and international organizations which are committed to the empowerment of people living with HIV and AIDS.She is member of the African Network of Religious Leaders living with/personally affected with HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+) and is the Chairperson of the South African Chapter which is known as SANERELA+.

Information about Congress 2008 and a pre-registration form are available at www.waccglobal.org/congress.

Contact
Kristine Greenaway
Programme Manager, Congress 2008
Tel. +1-416-691-1999 ext 228
Fax +1-416-691-1997
KG@waccglobal.org
www.waccglobal.org

From the 4th to the 7th of July 2007, The World YWCA, in partnership with the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (ICW) and other international organisations, including WACC, will convene an unprecedented international conference on women’s leadership on HIV and AIDS. Around 1500 women and some men will meet in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

WACC has been part of the planning committee from the beginning. WACC will be sponsoring a workshop for communicators on “How to Report HIV & AIDS”. Experienced facilitators have been chosen from among the WACC members and partners in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Jamaica. In addition, WACC will be sponsoring 4 young women communicators from Kenya and India to attend the workshop and use the skills at the Summit. For a detailed programme of the Summit please visit www.worldwyca.org

Nigerian journalist Fred Adegboye addresses WACC seminar on Communication and AIDS

by Philip Lee

Toronto, 2 April (WACC) -- Speaking to participants at a seminar on ‘Trends on HIV and AIDS and Communication in Nigeria’, Fred Adegboye has called for people living with HIV/AIDS to become educators.

Discriminated against for being HIV positive, Fred is an example of what successful media advocacy can do to change a person’s life. Local media campaigning gained him a place at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism where he studied for a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Some 25 church-related communicators attended the two-day seminar, which took place 20-21 March 2006 in Lagos, Nigeria. The seminar preceded a meeting of the Executive Committee of WACC’s Africa Region.

A leading organization in the media struggle is Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria (JAAIDS), founded by Omololu Falobi. Tragically he was killed in October 2006 during an armed robbery while returning home after a speaking engagement.

Falobi founded JAAIDS in 1997 to increase and improve national coverage of HIV/AIDS by working directly with journalists to better their training and access to information. Fred Adegboye wants to continue that work.

‘I intend to work for social justice in Nigeria,’ he told seminar participants. ‘The media can be used to set agendas and to put moral pressure on the government, especially in regard to people living with AIDS.’

In 2005 it was estimated there were 220,000 deaths from AIDS, and 930,000 AIDS orphans living in Nigeria. There has been an alarming increase in the number of HIV positive children in recent years, 90% of whom contract the virus from their mothers.

Currently very few Nigerians have access to basic HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support, or treatment services.

Stigmatisation is still the problem of the day. But there is general recognition that the media can play a central role in creating awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS, as well as in sensitizing and mobilizing people against the epidemic.

February 2007
by Julienne Munyaneza

Each year in February or March and again in September, the HIV/AIDS Strategy Group of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance meets at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. At the February 2007 meeting, all members of the Strategy Group were present with the exception of Canon Gideon Byamugisha, a Ugandan clergyman and founder of the “African Network of Religious leaders living with HIV and affected by AIDS” and Birgita Robinson, an activist for children’s issues from Sweden. At every meeting, group members give updates on their activities and review the EAA coordinating office report. The group also reviews the five goals developed in 2001 which are the guiding principles of the work of the EAA on HIV and AIDS. Goal I: Fighting Stigma and Discrimination. Goal II: Promoting Prevention. Goal III: Resource Mobilisation. Goal IV: Access to Treatment. Goal V: Promoting Accountability. In addition, the group reviews the objectives and strategies for each goal in light of the current campaign “Keep the Promise”. For more information on the members of the Strategy Group, the different goals, objectives and strategies, please see www.e-alliance.ch.

Due to the central role of these goals in the work of the EAA, guests representing leading groups working on HIV and AIDS, most of which are based in Geneva, are invited to interact with group members for their input on each goal in relation to their work. Ms Sally Smith replacing Calle Almedal as the UNAIDS Partnerships Adviser, participated throughout the meeting. On the 19 February, Craig McClure, Executive Director of the International AIDS Society www.iasociety.org and Ms. Sophia Dilmitis, World YWCA AIDS Coordinator www.worldywca.org and a member of the IAC (International AIDS Conference 2008 in Mexico) Coordinating Committee, were invited. Discussion focused on how to campaign on visa issues in order to change visa restrictions for HIV+ people in order to ensure their full participation at the IAC in 2008.

On 20 February, the Strategy Group met with Dr. Kevin M. de Cock, Director of the WHO Department of HIV/AIDS, and discussed ethical perspectives on HIV testing. He also touched on following-up on the document recently produced by WHO recognising the role of faith-based organizations in responding to HIV and AIDS issues www.who.org. Marcel van Soest, Executive Director of the World AIDS Campaign based in Amsterdam, was also present www.worldaidscampaign.info. With him, the group reviewed the theme of the current campaign “Keep the Promise” and started brainstorming on some strategic planning for civil society organizations’ participation at the UNGASS 2008 (United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS).

Dr. Christoph Benn, a former member of the Strategy Group, now Director of External Relations at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculoses and Malaria (GFTFATM), joined the group on 21 February. It is his habit to attend Strategy Group meetings to discuss EAA Goal III on Resource Mobilisation. He updated members on issues related to the GFTATM Replenishment event that was scheduled for Oslo, Norway on March 3-4, 2007. Benn reported that the GFATM had revised its current funding mechanisms by creating a second track in order to facilitate the access to funds for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs). GFTATM has now a dual track, one for governments and the other for civil society organisations, including FBOs. The existing Country Coordinating Mechanisms are so complicated and government-driven that NGOs, including FBOs, were often unable to access funds. For more information, please visit www.Globalfund.org

The Stategy Group welcomed the WACC idea of compiling case studies of FBOs using communication tools or involved in communication activities to address HIV and AIDS- related issues. These would be published in a guide based on the model of the recent EAA-initiated guide for secular organizations wanting to work with faith-based organisations in response to HIV and AIDS.