Tuesday, 27 November 2018 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): 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 Jamaica National Faith Leaders Consultation at Cardiff Hotel and Spa, Runaway Bay, Jamaica on 28 and 29 November 2018.   

 The Consultation forms part of a series of engagements with faith leaders in Jamaica 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 faith leaders representing national faith leaders’ networks across Jamaica.

The main purpose of the consultation is the establishment of the main goals for an inter-religious faith leaders network in Jamaica with emphasis on contributing toward the end of AIDS.  Faith leaders will be engaged in identifying 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.  Participants will discuss the challenges for developing a viable Faith Leaders Network and proposals for overcoming them.  Faith leaders will also identify specific recommendations to achieve the goals of the inter-religious/faith leaders network as well as priorities and timelines for achieving the goals of the Network.

In an invited comment, coordinator of the consultation, Canon Garth Minott, member of the Religious Groups Steering Committee of the Jamaica Council of Churches, said, “it is expected that participants will make recommendations for strategies that would contribute to promoting positive values, healthy living and affirming respect for all, irrespective of differences.  Valuing every human life is important from a religious perspective and is a useful point of departure for a holistic response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic.”  

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 What is PANCAP?

PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners which was established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilises resources and build capacity of partners.

• 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation

 Under the 10th (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation, PANCAP will strengthen coordination on human rights issues in keeping with the Justice For all Roadmap through the HIV and AIDS Thematic Task Force in CARIFORUM.

• CARIFORUM

CARIFORUM refers to the Grouping of Caribbean States which are signatories of the Georgetown Agreement establishing the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). The ACP grouping is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states.

CARIFORUM is the recipient of and manages the implementation of Caribbean Regional Indicative Programmes financed by the EDF and Caribbean regional programmes financed by individual Member States of the European Union. It also provides technical assistance to agencies/institutions implementing projects under these programmes.

• European Union

The Member States of the European Union have decided to link together their know-how, resources, and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of stability, democracy, and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance, and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders’.

Background to the PANCAP Justice for All (JFA) Roadmap

The PANCAP Justice for All (JFA) Programme was established in September 2013 as a regional response to the UN High-Level Political Declaration (June 2011) designed to reduce AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The objectives of the JFA Roadmap are:

• Enhancing family life and focusing on those in need
• Increasing access to treatment and affordable medicines
• Reducing gender inequality including violence against women, girls, and adolescents
• Promoting prevention with special reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights including age-appropriate sexual education
• Implementing legislative reforms for modifying AIDS-related stigma and discrimination