press releases

U.S. President's Emergency Plan Funds Support an "Open Day" for Care and Compassion

The United States Embassy, the National HIV/AIDS Council and the Zambia Interfaith Networking Group (ZINGO) on Wednesday, October 12, held an “Open Day” for care and compassion at the Mulungushi Conference Center. This initiative supports World AIDS Day on December 1, 2005. The goal of this “Open Day” for care and compassion is to kick-off a campaign to encourage religious leaders of all faiths and their congregations to “Keep Their Promise” by reaching out and supporting members of their congregations and communities who are infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Persistent issues of stigma, shame and silence have become a deeply rooted challenge in curbing the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The care and compassion movement, funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), brings together leading faith organizations to fight HIV/AIDS.

The following organizations contributed to the development and launch of this movement: Zambia Interfaith Networking Group (ZINGO), the National HIV/AIDS Council, Ministry of Health, Health Communication Partnership Zambia, Zambia Counseling Council, CHAMP, and Society for Family Health.

Religious leaders shared a declaration, which will be presented to President Levy Mwanawasa through the Ministry of Health. Key components of this declaration include:

• Demonstrating leadership to protect every human life in the battle
against AIDS.
• Taking responsibility in breaking the deadly silence about AIDS.
• Encouraging members of congregations and communities to go for
testing, counseling, care, and treatment.
• Reaching out to all levels of society to unite in the battle against
AIDS.

In the past five months, more than 200 religious leaders from 21 districts in all nine provinces have received practical and theoretical psychosocial counseling training conducted by the Zambia Counseling Council.

These religious leaders will be provided with the “Care and Compassion Education Kit,” which includes a Questions and Answers about HIV/AIDS manual; sermon guides with messages on anti-stigma; promotion of counseling and testing and positive living; and posters and other print materials reinforcing anti-stigma and positive living messages.

Activities at the community level will include radio and television announcements conveying personal messages from religious leaders and testimony from those living with HIV/AIDS. The signature music for this campaign, “It’s not over until God says so” is performed by a group of young Zambian musicians who have come together as “The Voices of Hope.”

# # # #