Mainstreaming the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia
Four major faith-based organizations in Ethiopia entered into a two project agreement to intensify their efforts further in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The four major faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Ethiopia have entered into a two-year project agreement with the United Nations development Program (UNDP) and the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) to intensify their efforts further in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Local news agencies reported on Friday, Aug. 27 that the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat (ECS) and the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (ELASC), the four major FBOs, entered the two-year project agreement, in an attempt to mainstream HIV/AIDS into their spiritual and development endeavors.
According to the UNDP, mainstreaming is one of the important components of the joint HAPCO-UNDP Ethiopia's HIV/AIDS and development program. It conceptually means bringing HIV/AIDS into the very center of every sector's and institution's development agenda by taking an in-depth account to the bi-directional influences and impacts of HIV/AIDS and development in planning, implementing, evaluation and re-designing of programs and actions. Mainstreaming is an invaluable instrument to make the Multi-Sectoral HIV/AIDS response operational. This requires a thorough and systematic review as well as change of institutional policies, strategies, and regulations, methods and tools.
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UNDP and HAPCO are currently finalizing the development of a comprehensive mainstreaming handbook for incorporation in all sectors and institutions, including FBOs under the current agreement through a consultative process with relevant stakeholders.
According to the Addis Tribune, the rationale for mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in the FBOs spiritual and other development initiatives is due to four major advantages:
