Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112667

Evatt Mugarura¹, Pernessa Seele², Joyce Moon - Haward, Dr³, V. AnnDenise Brown, Dr⁴, Camille Parara, MPH⁴, and Sharon Priestley, MS¹. (1) The Balm In Gilead, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 450, New York, NY 10036, 212-730-7381, emugarura@balmingilead.org, (2) Administration, The Balm in Gilead, 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 450, New York, NY 10036-7802, (3) Socio - medical Services, Columbia University, 722 West 168 Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10032, (4) Evaluation, The Balm In Gilead, Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 450, New York, NY 10036

Cultural and religious conflicts, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are among the major developmental challenges facing Nigeria. Nigeria's population is equally divided between Christians and Muslims who have been feuding because of religious differences. Since 1999 over 10,000 Muslims and Christians have been killed. In a major attempt to foster reconciliation between these groups, the government created the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council-an effort which yielded little success.

In 2001 The Balm In Gilead received funding from the CDC to build the capacity of faith communities to address HIV/AIDS in five African countries, including Nigeria. In order to carry out its HIV related mandate, The Balm In Gilead had to address the conflict between the two faith groups. Through a focus on shared values rather than theological differences, and the understanding that HIV affects people regardless of religious affiliation, common ground was created for the two groups to work together. Consequently, The Interfaith HIV/AIDS Coalition of Nigeria, a national office staffed by Christians and Muslims was established.

Achievements of the Coalition include: 1) the coordination of national and regional faith based HIV activities and the creation of a national policy on how faith communities can address HIV/AIDS, (2) formation of regional Muslim-Christian coalitions to address HIV/AIDS and (3) training programs with facilitators and participants from both religious groups.

Lessons Learned:

Identifying shared values is key to finding common ground for working together Issues which affect diverse religious groups equally can be used as a foundation for forging unity

Learning Objectives: