Church alliance to present budget to government

By PETER ESILA
THE Papua New Guinea Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV and AIDS (PNGCLAHA ) Secretariat will be presenting its K507,200 budget to the government for funding purposes.
Chairman Cardinal Sir John Ribat said the secretariat, which consisted of 20 churches, is responsible for implementating key programmes and addressing issues.
Although Minister for Religion Soroi Eoe, Secretary Anna Solomon and National AIDS Council Secretariat Dr Nick Dala were not there to receive the budget in Port Moresby yesterday, the alliance will present the budget later.
The government has allocated K10 million for churches in this year’s budget.
“The Secretariat is one of the recognised umbrella bodies under the National Aids Council Secretariat which is responsible for the coordination of the churches’ implementation of key priority activities under PNG National HIV strategy,” Sir John said.
“Since the formation and the launching of the secretariat in May 2010, the secretariat and the UNAIDS, the joint United
Nations programme on HIV, has been very supportive in terms of both technical and financial support.”
United Nations resident coordinator Gianluca Rampolla said a collaborative effort is needed to fight the epidemic and faith-based organisations played a critical role.
UNAids technical adviser Andre Hama said the secretariat managed and coordinated meetings, forums, workshops and summits for Christian leaders in PNG to meet, discuss and to share their experiences on sensitive issues.