PSI Builds Bridges to Religious Leaders - Guinea

In the mid-1990s, PSI/Guinea launched a series of workshops to address public health issues with Muslim religious leaders, first in Guinea, then in Cameroon, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Niger.PSI/Guinea Deputy Director Diallo, a practicing Moslem, starts these workshops with the facts about HIV/AIDS so that the leaders understand that everyone is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Once they understand that they, too, are vulnerable, their interest increases. Diallo, often dressed in resplendent traditional West African garb, quotes from the Koran to justify preventive health practices and gives condom demonstrations. Banners with sayings from the Koran and other Islamic sources hang in the halls.

The workshops include a broad representation of the Muslim community. "Government participation reinforces the collaborative aspect of the programmes and the importance of the workshops."

The workshops are designed to address the following problems/constraints:

• Muslim religious leaders tend to have insufficient information about HIV/AIDS and the scale of the epidemic in their country.
• Government and non-governmental partners are faced with insufficient financial and technical resources to address HIV/AIDS. This lack of resources has resulted in a delay in reaching out to religious leaders.
• In many countries, young people become sexually active in the early to mid teen years. However, discussion about sexuality between parents and children is often taboo. Young women generally do not propose condom use to their partners because of trust or the fear of being seen as promiscuous.

The workshops are designed to maximise active involvement by the participants. Information is presented, and questions are posed for the participants to discuss, debate and draw conclusions. Educational films are shown covering a range of topics such as living positively with HIV and the work done with religious leaders.

Different types of behavior change (such as reducing the number of partners, fidelity, correct and consistent use of condoms, etc.) are discussed.

"By the end of the workshop, the religious leaders have a more comprehensive understanding of HIV, how it is transmitted, how to prevent infection, facts about the pandemic and how it affects the development of their country."

During the workshops, condom use is openly discussed as a critical intervention for prevention efforts. Religious leaders are made to see that they can and should play a positive role in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Each participant prepares a plan to articulate his role and specific actions to promote HIV/AIDS prevention in his community. As a group, a declaration is signed, and a set of resolutions is adopted.

HIV/AIDS

In Guinea and other places, PSI invests time and energy in building bridges to religious leaders and bringing them on board in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "PSI realises that religious leaders often have an influential role in shaping opinions, attitudes and behaviors and, therefore, seeks to engage them in the struggle to reverse the AIDS epidemic."