Negotiating Religious Barriers to Mobilizing and Building Capacity of Key populations (KP) for HIV Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa Facilitator: Justus Aungo, PhD. Co-Facilitators: Zebedee Mkala and Carlos Laudari Pathfinder International WEWS10

Conceptualizing and Thinking Religion and KP Prevention Interventions By Justus Aungo and Carlos Laudari

HIV -KP Nexus: Complex System Pathways

Religion and Prevention Religious groups and organizations are active in the HIV Prevention Continuum Key areas of Intervention: – Behavior change communication especially among youth and adolescents – Providing care and treatment services – Social protection and support Question for Discussion : What is missing from the prevention activities of religious groups and organizations in Africa ?

KP and Religious Practices KP individuals are involved in religious activities Those who are active in religious activities are ‘hidden’…. KP are not politically economic neither to the religious organization nor the state- have no capital. State largesse and religious moral compassion converge on the abstract figure of KP. KP populations in Africa often provide an arena where the religious symbols and institutions converge with the state apparatus: A site on which politics, power, religion and cultural ideology find convenient alignment.

Contrasting Realities or Imaginaries? Food Safety/Security Real Goal: Healthy longer lives Immediate Objective : Quality health and human rights Hunger. Disease. Homelessness. Violence. Poverty. Housing and Shelter Health

How do Religious Individuals and Groups Conceive Prevention? Food Safety Real Goal: Realization of Immortality Immediate Objective: Morality and Spiritual purity Hunger. Disease. Homelessness. Violence. Poverty. Housing and Shelter Health

Conceptualizing Prevention among KP