Pernessa C. Seele, MS¹, Joyce Moon Howard, DrPH², Erline Belton, MA¹, V. AnnDenise Brown, DrPH³, and Samiya A. Bashir¹. (1) The Balm In Gilead, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 450, New York, NY 10036, 212-730-7381, sbashir@balmingilead.org, (2) Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health Division of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 600 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, (3) Director of Evaluation, The Balm in Gilead, Inc., 130 W 42 Street, Suite 450, New York, NY 10036

HIV/AIDS reaches across traditional borders of religion, culture, ethnicity and nationality to devastate communities across the African continent. A great deal of work has been done to establish faith-based interventions that effectively stem the tide of HIV/AIDS infection. The Africa HIV/AIDS Faith Initiative, a CDC funded program of The Balm In Gilead, Inc., has developed a capacity building model to engage faith communities in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Using both an inter-denominational and an inter-faith approach towards HIV/AIDS prevention, education and training The Initiative has established a 23-member working International Advisory Board consisting of Christian and Muslim faith leaders and theological scholars from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe and the U.S. Through the efforts of The Initiative this advisory board has worked together across theological differences to develop a united statement addressing HIV/AIDS. Additionally, The Initiative’s programs are both inter-denominational and inter-faith, emphasizing both an acknowledgment of differences and a focus on unifying commonalities and goals. Some important features of this process include: identifying and engaging faith leaders at the appropriate levels, ensuring faith representation across national, gender and religious boundaries and consensus building to develop common unifying messages applicable to all faith communities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to

(
• Identify important commonalities within different faith groups (
• Recognize the importance of including the leadership of diverse faith groups in the consensus building process (
• Understand the process of collaboration within an interfaith environment to develop unifying HIV/AIDS messages

Keywords: Collaboration, HIV/AIDS

Related Web page: www.balmingilead.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Balm In Gilead, Inc.
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Pernessa C. Seele is the Founder & CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Inc.