Summary of the 2008 high-level meeting on the comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realising the Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS and the Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS (United Nations Headquarters, 10-12 June, 2008)

"World AIDS Day is an opportune time for us, as one community of believers, to reflect on how this epidemic has changed life around us and the challenges it has posed." To read more from Archbishop Bernard Moras on World AIDS Day, please see below.

The following profiles submitted by Alliance participants give snapshots of religious leaders fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS in their community through compassion and prophetic leadership. And they tell the story of how religious leaders themselves learn the facts about the disease, and how they work against stigma and discrimination in communities to bring hope and care to people living with HIV and AIDS and their families.
If you have a story to share - of a religious leader, church or community member - demonstrating compassionate care and working against stigma and discrimination, share it by following this link http://www.e-alliance.ch/bestpractices.jsp

Read the pre-conference statement from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific which took place August 19-23 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is now engaged in its second replenishment process. A first meeting will be held in Oslo, Norway, 6-7 March 2007, in which the Global Fund and its donors should come to an agreement on the target figure for the replenishment process. A second meeting to be held in Berlin, Germany, on 25-26 September, is intended to receive pledges.

NEW YORK, November 30 — In commemoration of World AIDS Day, Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service, has issued a statement about the Jewish imperative to take action in the global battle to fight AIDS. This statement will be included with others from a variety of public figures from around the world featured on the World AIDS Campaign Web site.

A Christian reflection on AIDS and the power of healing from Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson,Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"Churches and faith communities are an essential part of the solution because people of faith play a critical and important role in stopping AIDS in this generation. Religious leaders are "keeping the promise" by making public and specific commitments, promises that reflected not only in our leadership, rhetoric, advocacy, and vulnerability, but also in our budgets and priority decisions."

The HIV Initiative of the International Christian Medical and Dental Association is proud to announce that the winner of its inaugural Dignity and Right to Health Award is Dr Biangtung Langkham, who has been involved in early responses to the twin epidemics of drug use and HIV in his hometown of Churachandpur, Manipur, India since the early 1990s. Starting within the Christian community in Manipur, he has gone on to work across tribal and religious boundaries, facilitating local community based responses to HIV and substance misuse. The SHALOM project, as it came to be known, was tackling issues of harm minimisation and community empowerment in HIV prevention a good decade or more before such approaches became commonplace. SHALOM is also involved in providing care for those living with HIV and AIDS. SHALOM continues as a model faith based organisation (FBO) response to AIDS in the region, and continues to work effectively with all communities.