NEWS

One-day conference on 27 Feb. 2010


An important consideration in the effective HIV/AIDS response is fighting stigma and discrimination against People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). It is widely known and argued that the fear of being discriminated against one’s positive HIV/AIDS status is strongly associated with the silence and denial attitude which has stifled voluntary testing and early treatment, thereby compromising the HIV/AIDS prevention effort. It is for this reason that the National Association of Migrant Organizations against HIV/AIDS/STIs in the Netherlands (NAMIO) in collaboration with the Europe Harvest Mission (EHM) Church and Stichting Gobez, both in Den Haag, organized a one day awareness and information sharing event on the 27th February, 2010 to address the issues.

Among the over 30 participants that attended the conference was the Counselor (Wethouder) for Health and Sport for the Den Haag municipality, Mr. Bert van Alphen who expressed his delight for such a laudable initiative and pledged his total support. The conference which was aimed at assessing the position of the migrant churches regarding the issues of sexual health as well as draw the attention of religious leaders to the urgent need to open up to their congregants about the situation of HIV/AIDS within the migrant communities in the Netherlands has as theme “The role of the Church in the fight against HIV/AIDS, stigma and taboo within the migrant communities in the Netherlands. The sub theme of the event was "Pastor, tell me about HIV/AIDS: The religious perspective combined with the medical info!" For an overview of the meeting outcomes please read minutes of the event as compiled by Eric Akum.

During the course of the dialogue a young girl (Hewot) originally from Ethiopia presented a heart breaking charity song HIV/AIDS which was sang by a group of Ethiopian artists at the OAU in Addis Abeba.

At the end of the gathering a Manifesto was signed by all the participants declaring that “The prevention of STIs, including HIV/AIDS especially within the migrant communities should be focused on breaking stigma and taboo to eliminate discrimination against PLWHA, stimulating and fostering discussions/dialogue among the community and religious leaders."