AFRICAN RELIGIOUS HEALTH ASSETS PROGRAM

Africa possesses the resources to heal itself of AIDS. That is the bold and hopeful assertion of ARHAP, an international, interdisciplinary project in which Vesper Society has been a lead partner. Launched in 2002, ARHAP has mapped the health assets of religious institutions in sub-Saharan Africa—valuable disease fighting resources already present through the practices and networks of faith communities. The long-term goal is to connect these religious health assets with health leaders and public policymakers to meet the challenge of disease.

ARHAP was founded by partners from several organizations, including members from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Interfaith Health Program also of Rollins School of Public Health; Vesper Society of San Francisco, California; Religious Studies Institute of the University of Cape Town, the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and the University of Kwazulu-Natal at Pietermaritzburg, all of the Republic of South Africa. Norwegian affiliates include staff from St. Luke’s Foundation of Trondheim, Norway.

Three of the primary purposes for forming this partnership were to 1) understand and assess the impact and growth of religious health assets in fostering health in all of its dimensions in Africa; 2) fuel research that will promote a greater and more complete understanding of the role of religion and religious institutions in health promotion and delivery; and 3) strengthen leadership and organizational capacity to advance health and ameliorate suffering, especially in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In 2004, Vesper Society provided funding for ARHAP’s continuing research and a colloquium in South Africa that convened about 50 leaders to reflect on the program’s findings to date. In July, ARHAP contracted with the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify, assess, and map religious health assets in Lesotho and Zambia and to make this new body of information accessible to faith and health leaders, WHO, decision makers, and program managers. This knowledge was urgently needed to mobilize current capacities, align resources, fill critical gaps, and target interventions.

In 2006, ARHAP completed the two-country study, which documented the contribution made by religion in the struggle for health and wellbeing in Lesotho and Zambia, two of the countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. The study calls for a greater appreciation of the potential religious health assets (RHAs) have for the struggle against HIV/AIDS and for universal access and offers recommendations for action by both public health and religious leaders at all levels. The full report, Appreciating Assets, is available on ARHAP’s website.

In 2007, ARHAP expanded its work and secured backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With Vesper Society’s support, ARHAP formalized its governance structure. In February, the WHO in collaboration with Washington National Cathedral Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation sponsored an ARHAP-focused event at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

In 2008, ARHAP was commissioned by Tearfund and UNAIDS to conduct a three-country study of collaboration between religious entities and their stakeholders in Malawi, Kenya and the DRC. The primary goals are to strengthen collaboration, increase mutual respect and understanding between religious entities, governments and donors in the three countries and to ensure significant long term contributions will be made to AIDS plans through effective multi-sector collaboration. In 2008, preparation was underway for a major ARHAP hosted conference on Mobilizing Religious Health Assets for Transformation that took place in Cape Town, South Africa in July 2009.

The history, structure, membership, projects, publications and additional resources collected by ARHAP are contained on its website.

For additional information, contact .
October 2009