While Namibia is used as an example here, faith-based organizations in many other countries have equal potential to combat HIV/AIDS.

1. Spirituality is very important in most developing countries. Prayer and church affiliation is publicly acknowledged and openly practiced, even in so-called secular settings such as conferences or other mass gatherings. Thus, faith-based institutions provide a good entry point for issues that contain a life-and-death consequence.

2. Faith-based organizations provide some HIV-related leadership, education and outreach. In Namibia, several church organizations have already developed extensive HIV-related services, from which other churches can pick and choose (or develop their own). Some have begun focusing on AIDS orphans. A new ecumenical organization, CAFO (the Church Alliance for Orphans) was launched in 2002.

3. Churches reach farther than any other institution in Namibia. Namibia is more than 90 percent Christian, mostly affiliated with mainline churches. This facilitates educational and organizational outreach, as it is possible to reach 70 percent of Namibia's population through only four denominations – Lutheran (two branches), Catholic, and Anglican. To date, the HIV-leadership of all four of these denominations have been trained in home-based family care and counseling by Catholic AIDS Action and, to varying degrees, are implementing the lessons learned from that training.

4. Faith-based institutions are sustainable and ideally suited for long-term community outreach, education, and support. One mass mailing from the national office of a church denomination can reach hundreds of churches (including small outposts) and literally tens of thousands of people. In Namibia, churches are present and have high attendance rates in every village, larger farming community, and urban neighborhood, making regular contact with large numbers of people. Moreover, churches will not easily go out of business; thus, the programmatic and philosophical interventions they undertake have the potential for long-term continuity.

5. Churches maintain moral authority and espouse values of compassion, care, and youth outreach. People listen to their church leaders, even if they do not always follow the advice of their deacon or pastor. This platform and authority can be used constructively, based on Biblical principles, to motivate responses of prevention, acceptance, and care. Most churches in Namibia do not dwell on a condemnation of condoms, but instead emphasize the A and B prevention messages of the ABC slogan (Abstinence and Being faithful, before and during marriage respectively). Within this context, they will refer to the government and other NGOs for C (Condom distribution), which allows for strong partnerships. This approach also worked well in Uganda.

6. Churches possess a reservoir of volunteers, local leadership, existing groups, and youth activities on which local efforts can draw for their community-based interventions. With relative ease in many churches, these groups can then be oriented to incorporate activities related to HIV care, poverty alleviation, youth education (including issues of human sexuality, to some degree), advocacy, and orphan support. This is also a source of in-kind assistance, which should be understood as form of community ownership and support (e.g., the donation of physical space for workshops, meetings, and office work; the recruitment of church-based volunteers, etc). For example, in the four years since its formation, Catholic AIDS Action has trained — and has active in the field — over 1,200 home-based care and counseling volunteers of various denominations, who serve orphans and the community’s sick and needy.

7. Namibia has excellent ecumenical relations that already include several national inter-church AIDS initiatives. The Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) is a significant force in Namibian society and is comprised of many denominations, including the Roman Catholic church, unlike many other countries. It includes sections focusing on women and HIV/AIDS, and recently approved the formation of CAFO, the Church Alliance for Orphans. CAFO is designed to build capacity among local churches to initiate community-based projects for orphans and vulnerable children. A first-ever for Africa, it has received wide acclaim for its vision and the way in which it drew upon existing church structures to develop its objectives and gain acceptance. CAFO is also open to churches and faith-based programs that are not affiliated with CCN.

8. Faith-based organizations fill a critical gap. Other than the faith-based organizations, Namibia has very few AIDS-focused NGOs, and even fewer in the AIDS-ravaged northern sections. The churches have pioneered many HIV-related initiatives related to breaking-the-silence, home-based family care, orphan care, and peer education. Other faith-based organizations have followed suit.

9. Churches are important partners with government. Historically, the Namibian government has worked well with churches, both in the health care sector and during the country's liberation struggle. Both the Council of Churches and Catholic AIDS Action are members of the national intersectoral AIDS committee, known as NAMACOC. As in Uganda, both government and churches now preach the ABC approach to prevention.

10. Churches are there for the long haul, which helps the sustainability of the services they provide. Not only can churches implement programs relatively quickly, but once established, they can become part of the volunteer ethos of the church — and thereby are maintained over a long period of time, even when there is not a large infusion of funding.

Lucy Y. Steinitz, Ph.D.
Options Consulting — Windhoek Namibia