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Religious Leaders Tackle HIV, AIDS

Monday: January 21, 2008

(IPS)

A regional conference has heard that people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.

The conference was called  ‘Inter-Faith Consultation on Children and HIV’, and was organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) East Asia and Pacific, and attended by more than 80 religious leaders and participants reports IPS.

In the case of the WCC’s internship programme in Suva, council executive secretary Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi said: "This sends out a strong message that positive people can be good workers and that you don’t have to be afraid of working with them."

Tevi also  voiced his concern about the effectiveness of responses by different religious groups to HIV and AIDS. "My fear is that we have become a ‘band aid organisation’. We recognise the effects of HIV/AIDS, but do not address the root cause of the problem," he said.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40851