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Faith-based organizations help shape young people's values and attitudes. Many organized religions are still searching for an effective approach to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to educate their faithful about reproductive health issues.
AIDS has caused many faith-based groups to go beyond traditional children's religious education to address sexual behaviors explicitly. At the same time, reproductive health organizations are beginning to target interventions to faith-based groups because of their influence in communities, and because many provide health services. As attention to abstinence and fidelity gains more attention as a key intervention in mitigating the impact of AIDS, so does the realization that faith-based organizations play a key role in promoting these and other values.
Recommended Resources
Curricula
Curricula Review of Emergency Plan Centrally-Funded HIV Prevention Programs for Youth (PDF, 34 pages, 226 KB)
The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports HIV prevention programs for youth that emphasize abstinence and being faithful (ABY) among a broader array of prevention interventions. The focus of this report is an evaluation of multi-country, multi-year PEPFAR ABY programs implemented by 14 nongovernmental and faith-based organizations that were awarded a total of $100 million. Most of these programs are curriculum-based programs; however, the curricula have not been evaluated for quality, and few published standards and guidelines exist for HIV prevention curricula, especially for developing countries. Recommendations are made for strengthening the curricula reviewed. (MEASURE Evaluation, 2009)
Faith-Based Family Life Education Curricula
These curricula, including a participant handbook, are designed to work with adults; one curriculum is for a Christian audience and the other for a Muslim one. No other manuals like these exist. They provide a training curriculum for adults and faith-based professionals to learn how to communicate with youth about sexuality and reproductive health/HIV issues. In addition, a curriculum is available for working with youth directly, from a Christian perspective. The manuals encourage open discussion about sexuality, reproductive health, and HIV in the context of faith communities, using Bible and Quran verses. They are not designed to promote religion. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2007)
Case Studies
Christian Family Life Education Program in Namibia
Churches in Namibia are now approaching taboo subjects about sexuality using a new family life education curriculum in workshops, parent-youth activities, pastor forums, and other activities. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2006)
Working from Within: Culturally Sensitive Approaches in UNFPA Programming
The nine case studies presented in this summary are drawn from the longer UNFPA report summarized above. It highlights the necessity of mainstreaming cultural analysis and sensitivity in development efforts addressing issues such as gender equality and equity, HIV/AIDS, female genital cutting, gender-based violence, and reproductive health. (UNFPA, 2004)
Culture Matters: Working with Communities and Faith-based Organizations - Case Studies from Country Programmes
This report uses nine case studies to describe how to work within cultures to foster stronger progress toward achieving international development goals and advancing human rights. It explains how to integrate cultural analysis into development programs, especially in the critical areas of gender equity and equality and reproductive health and rights. The case studies are from Brazil, Cambodia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iran, Malawi, Uganda, and Yemen. (UNFPA, 2004)
Web Sites
Communities Responding to HIV/AIDS Epidemic (CORE) Initiative
This initiative is a USAID-funded global program, whose mission is to address the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS by strengthening the capacity of community- and faith-based groups worldwide. The main approach of the CORE Initiative is to leverage existing efforts, while encouraging new efforts through diverse and innovative partnerships in the areas of community-based prevention, stigma reduction, and care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and their families. Links are available to many faith-based groups that have received grants through the CORE Initiative.
The Impact of Religious Organizations in Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention
This site discusses examples of faith-based initiatives in which involvement of religious leaders and organizations in HIV/AIDS prevention has had major impact. (Synergy Project and the Harvard School of Public Health, 2002)
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