WCC NEWS: Mobilizing youth and women to reduce HIV

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World Council of Churches - Feature

MOBILIZING YOUTH AND WOMEN TO REDUCE HIV

For immediate release: 22 September 2011

Thirteen West African countries. Thousands of youth and women. The
numbers are daunting. But Ayoko Bahun-Wilson, West Africa regional
coordinator of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA),
is determined to help West African youth become conscious, committed and
prepared to fight to reduce the rate of HIV infections.

Since 2003, Bahun-Wilson has been travelling across 13 West African
countries to organize training sessions, workshops and seminars for
religious communities and churches. “The expectations and especially the
challenges facing those involved in the fight in the sub-region have made
me invest all my effort and energy in the youth and women, who constitute
the most vulnerable populations,” she says.

Working with youth, she has published, among other resources, a Manual of
the Youth against Stigmatization and Discrimination (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=32c5b9426092c7363a7a ); A Handbook on 
HIV Awareness
for the Armed Forces and Peace Building in Côte d’Ivoire; and
Epidemiological Indicators on the HIV and AIDS Situation in West Africa,
which presents in a concise way the political, socio-demographic and
cultural factors of the infection. Currently, she is working with youth
toward publication of a handbook on counselling youth, and another for
Sunday School teachers.

Bahun-Wilson also used the media in the sub-region to reach out to a great
number of people. This approach made it possible to mobilize religious
institutions in difficult-to-reach areas such as the Bayelsa State in the
Niger Delta in Nigeria.

This cooperation also facilitated publication and broadcast of two CDs, one
entitled “We Live With...” which highlights the testimonies of people
affected by HIV.

With the support of religious leaders, Bahun-Wilson spearheaded the
creation of the Interfaith Youth Alliance in the Fight against HIV in West
Africa, which aims to reinforce advocacy and take up the challenges of an
educated, informed and tolerant youth.

In her commitment to fight against HIV-related stigmatization and
discrimination, Bahun-Wilson focuses her action on women and especially
infected widows, who are stigmatized due to cultural obstacles. “The
widows in Ghana are currently well-mobilized in religious communities to
sensitize and protect those who are victims,” said Bahun-Wilson.

With a compassionate approach, Bahun-Wilson, works together with pastors
and with the associations of people living with HIV in Togo, working to
improve the lives of sexual minorities.

Bahun-Wilson's love for challenges and her tenacity have helped her to
widen her scope of action by using the experience gathered at EHAIA to
help the National HIV and AID Control Commissions of the sub-region,
UNICEF in Togo, and the Alliance of Religious Leaders of West and Central
Africa.

Several churches in the sub-region have started developing a programme and
strategic plan to combat the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

In Ghana, for instance, the pedagogical and technical assistance of EHAIA
has allowed the Presbyterian Church to develop an HIV programme that works
toward developing, printing and implementing an HIV and AIDS policy. The
viability of this programme helped the church launch an efficient advocacy
project that led to the mobilization of funds from the Ghana National AIDS
Control Programme.

“Despite the challenges in HIV response in the sub-region, our hope must
remain alive,” said Bahun-Wilson.

[515 words]

This article is the fourth in a portrait series presenting the work that
EHAIA is doing through its regional coordinators and theological
consultants. The series is published ahead of EHAIA’s 10th anniversary
coming up in April 2012.

More information on EHAIA (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0a5a30eec04b9323deb2 )

EHAIA regional coordinators and theological consultants (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=75631039cacb67608cbe )

Read also:

Building AIDS-competent churches in southern Africa (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=dc9d4a8e3e567b75bae6
)

Central Africa: Breaking the silence on human sexuality and HIV
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=69fe991d320e73169147
)


Rethinking theology for HIV response (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=481ef1f65c28fbf32868
)

EHAIA Impact Assessment, 2002–2009 (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=027a523743a25d67c593 )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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