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AFRICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS ASSEMBLY ON CHILDREN AND HIV/AIDS
9-12 June 2002, Nairobi Kenya

FINAL DECLARATION

Children in Africa are being crushed by HIV/AIDS. More than 14 million have lost one or both parents. Many are sick, suffering cruel deprivations, and are frightened and alone in a world where no one seems to care. Worse, there is yet another burden. These children are stigmatized, made to feel ashamed by the source of their suffering, HIV/AIDS.

We men and women, senior representatives of Africa's religious communities, have come to Nairobi from 30 countries to confront the terrible impact that HIV/AIDS is having on our children and their families. All of our religious communities are living with HIV/AIDS, and we share the pain of all those who suffer from its effects. Called by and respectful of our different religious traditions, we stand united on two fronts: to protect and care for children impacted by HIV/AIDS, and to denounce and fight the heavy yoke of stigma that our children are forced to carry.

We proclaim the fundamental dignity of every child rooted in the sacred origin of life. Our religious traditions compel us to act on behalf of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Many elements of African culture such as the concepts of UBUNTU and HARAMBEE inspire us to pull together as communities to confront problems that deny a fullness of life for all, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS. We must lead efforts to change attitudes, adopt policies, and devote resources to protect our children, insuring that all vulnerable children, in particular girls, receive their rightful share of all resources - educational, medical and spiritual. We must work to help them build a future free from the scourge of AIDS.

Our religious traditions teach us that human sexuality is a gift from the Creator, and that we must accept the responsibilities of this gift. We recognize that HIV/AIDS is a problem that compels us to re-examine our traditions for guidance. It is our duty as religious leaders to lead the fight against HIV/AIDS basing our actions on these new understandings.

All people have the right to information on how the spread of the disease can be stopped. With conviction, concern and compassion, we commit ourselves and urge our believers to work to stop the spread of this disease in ways respectful of conscience as it is informed by our religious beliefs.

Our capacities for caring for children impacted by HIV/AID are substantial. From the smallest village to the largest city, at district, national, and international levels, religious organizations offer the largest social infrastructure to provide care and support, to share information, and to mobilize community responses. Our communities are already on the front lines in responding to the devastating impact of the pandemic. Fully 90% of HIV/AIDS care workers in Africa are women of faith, and we gratefully recognize and commend their efforts.

We acknowledge that we have not fully unleashed our communities' rich assets for action. Our messages have not always been consistent and our voices have not always been heard. We have been reluctant to speak openly about HIV/AIDS. Too often our own ignorance, fear and denial have held us back as teachers about HIV/AIDS in our communities. Moreover, many of our communities' capacities for positive action to care for our children have not yet been adequately engaged.

We pledge to make the fight against HIV/AIDS and its impact on children, young people and families a priority. We commit to:

• Speak out at every opportunity to defend the dignity of every person, to break the silence and stigma that haunts those affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly children.

• Work harder to educate ourselves and the members of our communities.

• Encourage mutual respect, healthy relationships and sexual integrity among all persons.

• Help make available clear and accurate medical information on how HIV is spread and methods to stop its transmission.

• Advocate with our governments to commit more resources and more energy to combating HIV/AIDS, especially to addressing the needs of children, and to hold adults accountable for the tragedy of child abuse.

• Support stakeholders and affected persons as they systematically review traditional practices to assess their impact on HIV/AIDS.

Religious communities have an essential role to play, but we cannot succeed alone. We commit to working in partnerships with all sectors of our societies in providing the necessary care for our children. In particular, we call on our governmental leaders to fulfill the political, financial and goodwill commitments they made at the Abuja Summit and to give greater attention to the particular needs of children. We urge them to review NEPAD to insure it appropriately addresses HIV/AIDS and its impact on children and families. Finally, we urge our governments to place a priority on funding community based and led efforts. We pledge our readiness to work with them to meet these goals.

14 million orphans is more than an African crisis; it is a disaster for the human family. In practical terms, partnership with the rest of the world is needed, in moral terms it is required. We appeal to the international community, particularly wealthy nations, to provide the external resources that are needed to overcome this scourge. Their capacity to make a life or death difference on so many children impacted by AIDS is their moral responsibility to do so. They must honor their commitments to increase HIV/AIDS funding, in particular meeting the $7-10 billion goal set for the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria. In addition, we call on them to ensure that Africans suffering from HIV/AIDS have access to essential medications.

HIV/AIDS is not just a health issue, but a development issue as well. Nations need to honor their pledges and commitments both for debt relief and for HIV/AIDS funds. We call on them to immediately cancel outstanding debt. We urge the G-8 governments to deliver additional, substantial, tangible resources when they meet next week in Canada.

We value the Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI) because only a dynamic expanding partnership of all stakeholders can address the needs of our children. HACI brings together religious communities, other civil society groups, international development agencies, governments and intergovernmental agencies as partners, each contributing in own essential strengths. Within HACI, we look forward to working with the World Conference on Religion and Peace to expand the work being done in our local communities to care for children.

As people of faith, we share in the suffering of all those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, but we remain filled with hope. AIDS need not be a death sentence. Today, in communities across this continent people are finding ways to meet the needs of children and families through counseling, education, treatment, transition planning, prevention, and many other interventions. We have increased knowledge of what works. Our challenge is to find ways to ensure that every child victimized by this disease receives the needed care. We pledge our energy and resources to achieve this goal. With the help of the Divine, we will see a world free of HIV/AIDS where every child has hope for the future.