AIDS is a terrible disease and one of the greatest challenges the church has ever faced. Its effects are especially pronounced in Africa and Asia, where the infection rate is particularly high and hardly a week goes by without church congregation members dying of AIDS. The UEM members are at their side.
We want to do more than “help the poor victims”. We want to empower people with AIDS to renounce their status as passive victims and we want to bridge the gap between “us” and “them” that is so widespread. People with AIDS should not be judged or stigmatized, but rather have their place in the community just like everybody else.
Our anti-AIDS programme concentrates primarily on six points: Education and training for church workers, ecumenical learning, theological work, combating poverty, public advocacy for the rights of people with HIV/AIDS, and fundraising. The main activities are:
In the race against the spread of HIV/AIDS, churches need to work with one another and have much to learn from one another. We support an exchange of experiences between our member churches in Germany, Africa, and Asia.
Final document of the Dumaguete symposium
Call for applications now online
Download the publication of the UEM Africa regional office "Mission Echo":
Download the publication of the UEM Asia regional office "Mission Sparks":