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Sharing Knowledge Globally to Fight HIV/AIDS Locally
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Success Stories
Ethiopia: Strengthening Community Development through Interfaith Dialogue
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| “Beyond support to our projects, EIFDDA is the only
institution that came with the idea of interfaith
collaboration, which is unique and encouraging,” says Father Abeje (left). |
The town of Holeta sits 19 miles west of Addis Ababa. Not long ago, amid the hum of rural life lay an undercurrent of conflict. Holeta was experiencing many challenges, and the members of its four religious groups (Islam, Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Catholic, and Evangelical) found themselves at odds with their neighbors from other faiths.
"We looked at each other with bad
eyes," says Father Woldegiorgis
Abeje of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church.
Although tribal ties in Ethiopia have waned, more
than 90 percent of the population identifies with a
religious group. This alignment in faith means that
local religious leaders have a tremendous influence
over their communities. But the lack of a unified front
of religious leaders in Holeta made the town's challenges—including an increase in orphans and a high
unemployment rate—hard to address.
When the Ethiopian Interfaith Forum for
Development, Dialogue and Action (EIFDDA)—the
only consortium of faith-based organizations in the
country—became aware of the lack of communication
among religious groups in Holeta, they knew they had
to intervene. Luckily, EIFDDA had developed the
skills, resources, and networks to intervene effectively.
In 2008, the organization received a PEPFAR New
Partners Initiative (NPI) grant through Religions for
Peace from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. This grant was awarded to develop
their organizational and technical capacity, and in turn
the capacity of their ten faith-based member organizations,
to sustainably address HIV in their communities.
Simultaneously, in support of the NPI grant,
EIFDDA also received technical assistance to
strengthen both its management and programmatic
systems. This support was provided by John Snow, Inc., and its partner Initiatives, Inc. through TA-NPI.
TA-NPI worked with EIFDDA to determine which areas of their organization could be strengthened. Trainings were then provided on finance and administration, governance, human resources, communication, monitoring and evaluation, and support to orphans and vulnerable children and people living with HIV. TA-NPI also supported EIFDDA in creating a network of services and referrals between their partner clinics and care sites.
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| “Before, there was no smooth communication between the different religious groups in Holeta,” says Yonas Dare, EIFDDA
Program Department Head. |
It was with TA-NPI support that EIFDDA was able to reach out to the religious leaders of Holeta and invite them to participate in a workshop to discuss the critical problems facing their community. At first, the intervention was not successful; the religious leaders simply preached to one another, trying to spread the word of their specific religion and did not address the reason why they had been brought together.
EIFDDA used its enhanced communication and
negotiation skills to redirect the heated discussion to
focus on the mutual goal of improving the lives of
Holeta's residents. Once they realized that they were
there to achieve the same objective, the religious
leaders of Holeta embraced the training. Over two
days, they learned about care and support for orphans
and vulnerable children, general health and nutrition,
sanitation, psychosocial support, HIV, elder support,
and community mobilization. The leaders also recognized
their collective power to affect community
change, and created a formal interfaith forum to put
what they learned into practice and to raise funds to
support Holeta's citizens with their own hands.
"The training really helped us reach a new level," says
Mudesir Shikur, a Holeta Muslim leader. "I learned I
have to contribute myself."
Indeed, EIFDDA's training allowed Holeta's various
faith groups to realize their common values—including love, loyalty, hard work, and transparency—and use them to share experiences and coordinate
community resources. To date, more than 40 members
of local religious groups have been trained by
EIFDDA. Nine interfaith forums have been created,
each of which is in the process of legally establishing
itself with the government.
"We learned about helping each other, supporting orphans, and that our role as religious leaders is to mobilize the public, which is the most important thing," says Father Abeje. "Now we're like brothers."
Technical Assistance to the New Partners Initiative (TA-NPI) is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and implemented by John Snow, Inc. (JSI). The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the CDC or the U.S. Government. The contents are the sole responsibility of John Snow, Inc. For more information, please contact: webmaster@jsi.com.