Action of Immediate Witness

Whereas the most devastating crisis in the history of human health is unfolding as the HIV/AIDS pandemic spreads throughout the globe, causing 22 million deaths and now infecting over 35 million men, women and children;

whereas many of the countries hardest hit by this pandemic are in sub-Saharan Africa where a widespread famine is exacerbated by the combination of drought and the inability of infected adults to produce crops;

whereas if present trends continue, 40 million African children will have become orphans by the year 2010, despite the fact that HIV/AIDS is now preventable and treatable even in the poorest countries;

whereas the AIDS pandemic engenders a heinous gender bias by which in several African countries girls are six times more likely to be infected than boys;

whereas the GAO (Government Accounting Office), among others, has recognized the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis for its expertise and credibility in fairly and efficiently allocating funds, yet certain American conservative groups advocate against allowing U.S. funds to be administered by an international body;

whereas the conservative right has successfully lobbied for dedicating one-third of U.S. allocated funds for prevention to restrictive abstinence and monogamy programs;

whereas highly impoverished countries which also have high rates of HIV/AIDS are unable to develop indigenous prevention and treatment programs because they must meet restrictive debt repayment requirements instigated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank;

whereas despite the development of generic versions of anti-retroviral drugs which lowers the annual cost to below $300, action by the World Trade Organization (WTO) still awaits in countries unable to manufacture their own pharmaceuticals locally, largely because of restrictions advanced by the U.S. Trade Representative;

whereas it is necessary to remain vigilant to ensure that the full $15 billion over 5 years proposed in the President's Initiative To Fight AIDS will be appropriated without limiting and damaging amendments;

and whereas our Unitarian Universalist principles call us to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person and to promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT we call on Congress and the Administration to address the problem of the huge and growing number of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa by funding programs which prevent mother-child transmission of the AIDS virus, and which prioritize mothers for anti-retroviral drug treatment so that they are able to care for their young children;

we implore Congress to address the deadly consequences of the gender bias inherent to AIDS in the African context, by enacting legislation which does not mandate abstinence exclusively and does not call for the promotion of abstinence to the detriment of condom use in AIDS prevention education, but rather offers family planning services which do not condemn or exclude abortion options;

we urge Congress to follow through on the President's request for HIV/AIDS funding, by appropriating at least $3 billion per year without unfair restrictions for the next 5 years, and to mandate that at least half of this amount be earmarked for administration and disbursement by the Global Fund;

we call on Congress to pass the legislation presently before it which mandates debt cancellation for impoverished countries battling high rates of HIV/AIDS infection;

we call on the President to require the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate policies which facilitate unrestricted access to low cost generic drugs in impoverished African countries where such pharmaceuticals are not manufactured;

and we call on the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations, as a beacon of liberal religion, to take a leading role in advocating for a strong U.S. response to the AIDS pandemic

1. by joining the global AIDS coalition;

2. through increased advocacy for African AIDS relief by its Washington D.C. lobbying office;

3. by advocating that the U.S. pay its fair share of the international campaign against HIV/AIDS, increasing its support for the Global Fund;

4. by providing leadership, support and resources to local congregations as they take on the mission of educating Unitarian Universalists about the scope of the pandemic, and urging them to action at a grassroots level.