The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), with funding from the CARIFORUM 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation, will host the Barbados National Faith Leaders Consultation in Saint Michael Parish Barbados from 6 – 7 July 2018.

The Consultation forms part of a series of engagements with faith leaders in Barbados under the PANCAP Justice for All programme. It will facilitate the development of an action plan for advancing faith leaders’ implementation of key elements of the Justice for All programme. Participants will include 40 faith leaders representing national faith leaders’ networks from across Barbados.

The action plan will include but not limited to the establishment of the main goals for an inter-religious faith leaders network in Barbados with emphasis on contributing toward the end of AIDS; identification of the lessons learned for ending AIDS from faith leaders’ engagements with People Living with HIV and with other groups such as parliamentarians, youth leaders, civil society and members of church communities; challenges for developing a viable Faith Leaders Network and proposals for overcoming them; specific recommendations to achieve the goals of the inter-religious/faith leaders network and priorities and timelines for achieving the goals of the Network.

In an invited comment, coordinator of the consultation, Dr. Nigel Taylor, Chair, Barbados Evangelical Association, stated, “The many challenges faced by faith-based organizations (FBOs) necessitates a strategic partnership framework of cooperation with all stakeholders in the HIV prevention and response. As such, there must be a concerted effort to increase the partnership and collaboration between all the major stakeholders as we seek to put all systems in place to end AIDS by 2030”…[+]