July 24, 2008

Can religions do more in response to the AIDS pandemic? To address this question over 450 representatives of faith-based organizations responding to HIV and AIDS will gather in Mexico City, 31 July – 2 August, in advance of the XVII International AIDS Conference.

Leading church, civil society, and government speakers will address the Ecumenical Pre-Conference including:

• Dutch AIDS Ambassador Paul Bekker

• Rev. Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

• Kay Warren, Saddleback Church (USA) Msgr. Gustavo Rodriguez, President of the National Social Commission in Mexico of the Catholic CHurch

• Mtro. Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria, President of the Commission on Human Rights of Mexico City

• Dr. Jacob Gayle, Ford Foundation

• Rev. Patricia Sawo, African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+)

• Dr Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director, UNFPA

• Sra. Beatríz Rebeca Jarero, Méson de la Misericordia Divina (Mexico)

"Faith groups have taken a leadership role in many areas in the response to AIDS," states Linda Hartke, coordinator of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, which has led the planning for the conference. "We hope that everyone participating here will be inspired, re-energized, and challenged to expand and strengthen our efforts."

Plenary sessions over the three days focus on key obstacles and opportunities to reaching the goal of universal access to prevention, care and treatment. They include leadership, prevention, violence, vulnerability of children and stigma and discrimination.

The XVII International AIDS Conference, probably the largest conference on a single health issue, is the first to be held in Latin America. AIDS 2008 will bring thousands of participants from the academic, scientific, medical communities, business, government, faith and civil society communities together with positive people's networks. Over 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV. The 2008 conference theme is Universal Action Now.

Churches and church-related organizations in Mexico have formed a Christian Host Committee to support and facilitate the faith-based presence at AIDS 2008. The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance provides overall coordination and support for faith-based participation through its secretariat and several international planning committees.

Webcast: All Ecumenical Pre-conference plenary sessions will be webcast by Kaiser Network at: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/ecumenical/31jul08.

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad international network of churches and Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy on global trade and HIV and AIDS. The Alliance is based in Geneva, Switzerland. For more information, see http://www.e-alliance.ch/.

Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance