Engaging Religious Leaders in the Response to HIV and AIDS in Tanzania

Faith leaders were chosen as a key focus group in Tanzania because of the country's widespread religious beliefs. "In a multi-country survey on faith, 93 percent of Tanzanian respondents said religion is 'very important' in their lives, with 80 percent reporting that they attend religious services at least weekly." Due to this moral authority and influence, religious leaders can potentially play a powerful role in responding to HIV and serve as ambassadors for change. HPI/Tanzania collaborated with TANERELA, a network working "to empower HIV-positive religious leaders to live openly, overcome shame, and become agents of change in their congregations and communities." This included assisting the organisation to grow and develop, for example, by helping open regional centres and post-test clubs for faith leaders.

HPI Tanzania also hosted workshops to sensitise leaders of different faith communities about HIV and stigma. For example, at a workshop co-hosted with the Tanzania Interfaith Partnership (TIP), religious leaders from the Christian, Episcopal, Muslim, and Pentecostal Councils of Tanzania prepared stigma and discrimination messages for their sermons or hotubas (in Swahili). According to HPI/ Tanzania, as a result "160 sermons/hortubas incorporated stigma-reduction messages in the three months after the workshop, reaching approximately 8,500 congregation members."

Mass media was used to amplify the voices of religious leaders to reach a national audience. In 2012, HPI partnered with a local media house to produce a 30-minute talk show with religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim, and Pentecostal Councils discussing gender-based violence. In addition, influential leaders recorded sermons with anti-stigma messages which were broadcast on Star TV, Channel Ten, and Magic FM radio in 2013. To reach the Muslim community, HPI/Tanzania engaged with a prominent cleric who runs a weekly talk show called "Arrisalah" (The Message). He conducted four programmes on HIV-related stigma and discrimination. In addition to airing these programmes nationally on television and radio, HPI/Tanzania disseminated DVDs of the programmes to key stakeholders and posted them to project internet sites, including YouTube.

HPI also worked with religious institutions to develop and disseminate new HIV policies and guidelines. In collaboration with the Christian Council and the Supreme Muslim Council (BAKWATA), HPI helped develop guidelines on HIV, stigma, and discrimination. "This work inspired the Ulamaa Clerical Council - composed of the most senior Islamic clerics in the country - to issue a fatwa (Islamic legal pronouncement) against HIV-related stigma and discrimination." HPI/Tanzania supported the leadership of the Pentecostal Church in establishing an HIV department after the leaders had participated in trainings, helping them develop guidelines for reducing HIV-related stigma, and undertaking sensitisation of bishops and pastors on HIV.

The Health Policy Initiative in Tanzania (HPI/Tanzania) - later subsumed within the Health Policy Project - "supports government, civil society, and private sector partners to build an enabling environment to scale up HIV prevention, care, and treatment and improve family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) policies in Tanzania. To achieve this goal, HPI/Tanzania carries out advocacy, technical assistance, and capacity building." The Health Policy Initiative is implemented by the Futures Group, with funding from USAID/Tanzania and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).