ELCA Links with USAID to Withstand AIDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- In an effort to withstand AIDS worldwide, particularly in Africa, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed a new relationship with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at a news conference Nov. 30, the eve of World AIDS Day. The conference was held here at the National Press Club.
"We are here because 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and almost 17 million deaths on the continent of Africa is a crisis that requires a global response, an extraordinary response," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Chicago-based ELCA, said at the news conference.
"This massive, still-unfolding crisis must motivate individuals, religious communities, government agencies and businesses to join in a response of a magnitude rarely witnessed in human history. This response needs to be carried out in partnership with the people of Africa, recognizing their vitality, wisdom and leadership in addressing HIV/AIDS and its consequences," he said.
Lutheran World Relief, the overseas relief and development agency of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), will receive "resources and technical assistance" from USAID's Communities Responding to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic (CORE) Initiative.
"We are delighted that USAID is looking to Lutheran World Relief as an inaugural partner in the CORE Initiative on HIV/AIDS," said Hanson. "As part of the Initiative, Lutheran World Relief and USAID will identify opportunities to fund projects of particular merit [and partner] with [other] community and faith-based organizations. The supplemental funding Lutheran World Relief will receive from USAID will mean our regional offices in East and West Africa will be able to support a great range of efforts in local communities helping change to happen at 'ground level,'" he said.
Earlier this year, the ELCA's World Hunger Program, LCMS and Lutheran World Relief launched a three-year campaign "of hope" called "Stand With Africa," said Hanson. The campaign focuses on informing U.S. Lutherans about issues significant to Africa, including HIV/AIDS, economic justice, food security, peace and reconciliation.
"For decades, we have worked with churches, other faith groups and community-based organizations in Africa to improve food security, health care, education and sustainable community development. We are committing ourselves to do more. We will work with partners in more than a dozen African countries ... to raise awareness on the threat of and the means for prevention of HIV/AIDS, care for those infected and for the millions of children who have been and will be orphaned, promote behavior changes to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and erase the stigma attached to those who suffer from AIDS," Hanson said.
At the news conference, Hanson was joined by Sheikh Anasi Abdunoor Kaliisa, former Deputy Mufti of Uganda, and lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; the Most Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Province of South Africa, Cape Town, via video conference; and Dr. E. Anne Peterson, assistant administrator for global health, USAID.
"We face a formidable task. Yet, I am absolutely convinced that AIDS is preventable and that the religious community is in a strategic position to help communities meet the challenges posed by AIDS," Hanson said. -- -- --
Information about "Stand With Africa" is maintained at http://www.standwithafrica.org/swaweb/index.html on the Internet.
The full text of Bishop Hanson's statement and images are maintained at http://www.loga.org on the Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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