University of Groningen Political, social and religious dimensions in the fight against HIV/AIDS Bartelink, B.; Pape, U. IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2010 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Bartelink, B., & Pape, U. (2010). Political, social and religious dimensions in the fight against HIV/AIDS: Negotiating worldviews, facing practical challenges. s.n. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). 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Proceedings of the panel session on HIV/AIDS at the World Conference on Humanitarian Studies in Groningen, 4-8 February 2009 in Groningen, the Netherlands sponsored by: Network On Humanitarian Action (NOHA) Groninger Universiteits Fonds (GUF) Centre for Developement Studies (CDS) CDS Research Paper No 28 November 2009 ISBN: 978-90-367-4240-5 Table of Contents Negotiating worldviews, facing practical challenges: political, social and religious dimensions in the fight against HIV/AIDS Brenda Bartelink , Ulla Pape 5 Understanding the situation of poverty-related diseases: multi-level statistics, donor initiatives, and conferences Nancy Tokola 17 PEPFAR project implementation and the pursuit of the United States national interest Ricardo Pereira 41 Diverging discourses: Civil society and the response to HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation Ulla Pape 57 STI and HIV/AIDS prevention project for Mongolians in the United Kingdom Bazarragchaa Tsogt, Suvd Batbaatar en Tsegmed Sambuu 79 Complexity of cooperation in response to HIV/AIDS: the case of Mongolia Nancy Tokola 97 Social Protection for HIV-affected Families in Poor Countries: A Policy Recommendations Inquiry after AIDS 2008 Ricardo Pereira 119 Rivers and stones: citizens with HIV, activism and the Global Fund in Peru Henry Armas 133 Development cooperation: a clash of worldviews Simon Polinder 149 The involvement of religious institutions in promoting sexual reproductive health and rights in education Martijn Marijnis 167 Shifting Perspectives: analyzing discourses on faith-based development organisations in the fight against HIV/AIDS Brenda Bartelink 185 About the authors 203 CDS Research Reports 205 Negotiating worldviews, facing practical challenges: political, social and religious dimensions in the fight against HIV/AIDS Introduction Brenda Bartelink, Ulla Pape Travelling to Cameroon, on his first visit to Africa, Pope Benedict XVI stated that distributing condoms does not provide an answer to the tragedy of HIV/AIDS, but on the contrary even increases the problem. 1 It is probably not a surprise to start a book on worldviews and HIV/AIDS with this example, but it is an interesting example nonetheless. The comments of the Pope brought strong and sometimes angry reactions from development agencies and governments, including the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation, Bert Koenders who called the Pope’s statement ‘exceptionally harmful’. 2 It is not our intention to contribute to this debate, or to contribute to essentializing stereotypical images, whether about HIV/AIDS or the Catholic Church. Instead, this volume aims to give insight into the complexities of the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, involving multiple stakeholders, perspectives, motivations and dilemmas. And, if the criticism and discussions on the Pope’s expressions have made one thing clear, it is this: that the complexities in the response to the epidemic cannot be seen outside the context of the many worldviews that influence discourses and practices on HIV/AIDS. This volume presents a number of papers discussed at the panel on ‘Worldviews and poverty-related diseases: responses of researchers, donors and aid organizations’ at the World Conference of Humanitarian 1Interview of the Holy Father Benedict XVI on 17 March 2009, Apostolic Journey to Cameroon and Angola, in: The Holy See, Benedict XVI, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/march/documents/hf _ben-xvi_spe_20090317_africa-interview_en.html. 2 http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/actueel/nieuwsberichten,2009/3/uitlatingen-paus-over- condoomgebruik-buitengewoon-.html. Studies, held at the University of Groningen in February 2009. The conference provided a meeting ground for academics and practitioners to reflect on key characteristics of humanitarian studies. In the conference panel on poverty-related diseases we decided to have a closer look on HIV/AIDS, constituting one major human crisis that finds its roots in the consequences of poverty and vulnerability. With the aim to discuss the interrelation between discourses and practices in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the conference panel brought together a great variety of participants from different countries and backgrounds. The papers presented at the panel – reflecting both practical experiences and academic debate – clearly show how intertwined politics, underlying ideological standpoints and HIV/AIDS policies are. With the publication of this volume we wish to show different perspectives on discourse and practices in the fight against HIV/AIDS and contribute to the discussion on the quality of HIV/AIDS policies. In this introduction we will first introduce the volume’s contributions and then discuss the interrelations and differences between them, thereby reflecting upon the discussions that took place during the conference panel and while preparing this volume. The volume is organized into three chapters, referring to the political, social and religious dimensions in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The three dimensions are thereby of different significance. Whereas the political and social dimensions refer to spheres in society, the religious dimension affects the private, public as well as political spheres in society indicating that a clear separation between spheres is often not possible. 3 The political dimension The political dimension comprises of contributions that refer to the state as an actor in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including donor governments involved in fighting HIV/AIDS in foreign nations severely hit by the epidemic. Despite the limitations multilateral organizations experience being dependent on the politics of nation states, these organizations are political actors and not social ones. Thus, the political dimension also refers to the multilateral institutions that influence both discourse and practices on HIV/AIDS. The section on the political dimension starts out with a contribution of Nancy Tokola on ‘Understanding the Situation of Poverty-Related Diseases: Multi-Level Statistics, Donor Initiatives, and Conferences’. According to Tokola, the general tendency to exclusively focus on HIV/AIDS often leads to neglecting other poverty related 3 Casanova, Jose (1996)