Lesotho Inter-religious AIDS Consortium

Core Activities:

LIRAC is a National HIV and AIDS Consortium of Faith Based Organizations; it is an umbrella body that coordinates all subscribing affiliates responding primarily to HIV and AIDS programs. Membership of LIRAC is composed of three main religious faiths in Lesotho namely: Christian faith constituting 93%, The Bahai faith 1% and Islamic faith 4% throughout the ten district of the country, in every city, town and village.

LIRAC is HIV/AIDS driven and it focuses on Coordination and Management of projects by its implementing partners (mainly Churches), which involve prevention, Treatment literacy, Advocacy, Care and Support, and Impact Mitigation. We envisage an effective and coordinated faith based response to HIV and AIDS in Lesotho that contributes to sustainable development, hence why as the secretariat we are out to:

• Encourage, initiate and support collaborative action by faith-based organizations to contribute to and influence the national response to HIV and AIDS in Lesotho, thereby, bringing those who are going in the same direction, and are in close geographycal vicinity to stay in tune and display united efforts.
• Influence FBOs to actively engage into the National response on HIV and AIDS and align to and harmonize all programming to the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan of 2006-2011.
• Build towards a network of coordinated faith based response that seeks to contributes to effective, sustainable, and transparent development. It should be easier and pleasing to reach the goals together as one people, everyone should be inclined to accept and give help.

Activities in Lesotho:

The Lesotho Inter-religious AIDS Consortium is comprised of a wide range of stakeholders and implementing partners who bring with them different perspectives and extensive experience ranging from Prevention to Treatment literacy, Advocacy, Care, Support, Food Security and Impact Mitigation. It is here that the role played by LIRAC is most desirable. The diversity and complexity of the work done by Faith Based Organizations which do not necessarily know each other, or care to work together and share, wherever possible the resources, and achieve common goals together, is being harmonized by the LIRAC Secretariat, and coordinated so that partners who share the same direction work as a team, so as to get to the destination faster and easier. By recreating the spirit from that of competition to that of cooperation the accomplishments become greater. To achieve this therefore, our core activities include:

1. HIV and AIDS knowledge management (information collection and dissemination), and capacity development. Through its work, LIRAC promotes community dialogue, offers technical expertise to its implementing partners and provides national leadership on cutting-edge issues related to the diverse facets of HIV and AIDS in the Southern African region. In the last eight (8) months, LIRAC has implemented programmes in all the ten districts of Lesotho.

ACTIVITIES BY THE SECRETARIAT

•Training and supervising the affiliates in management of projects, finances, reporting and Monitoring and Evaluation.
•Organizing quarterly Church Leaders Forums, District forums, week of prayers, candlelight memorial and World AIDS Day.
•Organizing Annual General Meeting for affiliates and Executive Committee regular meetings to direct and guide the Secretariat in its day to day operations.
•Running the office in terms of transport, communication and office rental successfully.
•Printing and distributing 5~000 copies of Sunday pack, 10~000 News Letters, to our affiliates, friends and Partners.
•Two office personnel recruited.

• ACTIVITIES BY AFFILIATES

•30 affiliates received training and are being supervised in Project management, finance management, reporting and Monitoring & Evaluation.
•Two Quarterly Church Leaders Forums have been successfully held, the next one follows on the 30th June, 2009.
•Week of prayers were conducted, T. shirts printed for publicity and World AIDS Day was organized and celebrated in TY.
•3000 copies of Sunday pack and news letter have so far been utilized.
•10 District Forums were held successfully by local church authorities, under the guidance of the secretariat.
•380 Pastors from all over the country have been trained on Channels of hope HIV& AIDS competency.
•20 Community dialogues have been conducted in the districts of Maseru, Mafeteng, and Berea.
•7 Commercial Sex Workers rehabilitated.
•246 People trained to form HIV& AIDS care and support teams within Churches.
•Over 5000 school age Orphans and Vulnerable Children have received a support ranging from Food Security to Life skills programs, Back-to-School programs, psychosocial support, clothes, and temporary homes.
•30 Training of Trainers (TOTs) have been engaged in ten districts
•30 Treatment Literacy Trainers (TLTs) who have received (both basic and advanced) trainings, and are holding seminars and pitsos in the health centres, schools, prisons and village grounds

Future Plans:

·Recruit a technical advisor
·Review policies, organizational structures and systems.
·Recruit and place district level coordinators
·Develop more church oriented HIV/AIDS Sesotho material

Funding:

NAC