Advocacy

PEPFAR Reauthorization

PEPFAR Reauthorized for One Year

On March 23, 2024, the US Congress passed a funding bill that was signed by President Biden and includes a one-year reauthorization for PEPFAR (which would need to be reauthorized again on March 25th, 2025). While CCIH is grateful the reauthorization continues the bipartisan consensus and support of global health programs, we hope Congress will use this extra time to provide a multi-year reauthorization to PEPFAR soon. This would allow partners to more accurately plan out their own activities and support programs that address HIV/AIDS. See more below about the challenges to PEPFAR, unfounded rumors and how CCIH and others in the faith community have responded in defense of PEPFAR, one of the most successful and lifesaving health programs.

Rumors Regarding PEPFAR and Abortions

The 2023 PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) reauthorization was complicated by rumors that the program funds abortions. Shepherd Smith, Co-founder of Children’s AIDS Fund International has been a strong advocate for and involved in Christian work to care for and provide support for people living with HIV for many years, going back to before PEPFAR’s creation.

Shepherd Smith researched the situation and found no evidence to support the rumor that PEPFAR is funding – or has funded – abortion or promoted abortion and wrote a summary of his findings, as well as an opinion piece explaining why Why a One-Year PEPFAR-Reauthorization Is a Really Bad Idea. In the piece Shepherd explains the pitfalls of the one-year reauthorization and presents why conservatives and pro-life advocates who have knowledge about the program and work in developing countries have always been supportive of PEPFAR.

Opinion Pieces from Faith Actors Supporting a Clean PEPFAR Reauthorization

CCIH, the Christian Health Association of Kenya and the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services contributed to this opinion piece posted by the Global AIDS Policy Partnership on “Why Christian Organizations Want Congress to Reauthorize PEPFAR.”

In this opinion piece in the New York Times, Father Richard Bauer shares his experience working for 25 years in clinics for people with HIV in Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia and the transformational impact he saw from PEPFAR. Father Bauer is a Roman Catholic priest with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers who serves as a hospital chaplain and social worker. In the piece, he expresses his support for a clean five-year PEPFAR reauthorization and debunks the rumors that PEPFAR funds have been used for abortions.

World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene wrote an opinion piece published in The Hill about PEPFAR and why he supports it: PEPFAR is a pro-life miracle – evangelicals must continue to support it.

Advocacy Resources

CCIH Advocacy Toolkit

CCIH released this advocacy toolkit in 2022 that we hope members will be able to use and customize to achieve their advocacy goals. We aim for it to be useful for organizations that have been advocating for years, as well as for those who are just beginning. To help guide development of the toolkit, CCIH conducted several focus group conversations with members to learn more about their advocacy outreach and ways that CCIH might be more effective in supporting those efforts.

CCIH Advocacy Advisor Bob Noziglia wrote this blogpost to share some highlights of those conversations and what we’ve learned, as well as a follow up piece to explore the influence of faith communities a little deeper. We hope you will use the toolkit and we would appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts or suggestions for advocacy tools so we can continuously improve the toolkit.

CCIH Voice on the Global Stage

CCIH staff participate in many advisory councils, coalitions, communities of practice, networks, roundtables, and working groups to share our expertise on a variety of issues and speak up for faith-based actors. See a list of groups

Why Christians Support Strong Global Health Programs

This two-page brief explains why US support of strong global health programs aligns with Christian values and is a wise investment to protect security and economies.

Christian Voices on the Importance of Advocacy

In this video, CCIH members explain the value of U.S. foreign assistance and why advocating and speaking out for those without a voice is important to them as Christians.