Cafod to close Aids advisory group

The Catholic aid agency Cafod is to cut the post of HIV advisor and disband its HIV Advisory Group (Hag) after more than 20 years, writes Carina Murphy.

The decision was described as “a worrying development that should not go unnoticed” by Vincent Manning, the chairman of Catholics for Aids Prevention and Support (Caps) and a member of the advisory group.

Speaking ahead of Cafod’s 30-year anniversary event on 24  March to mark the agency’s response to Aids, Mr Manning said that Cafod prophetically recognised that HIV/Aids is more than just a medical issue. “It is a matter of human dignity and social justice. As secular agencies downscale their capacity to respond to the challenges of HIV, a distinctive Catholic presence is likely to become more, not less important.” He pointed out that he first raised concerns about the change in Cafod’s strategy in 2014 when he urged the aid agency to “stay the course”. He admitted that the international response to HIV/Aids over three decades has been remarkable. More than 36 million people globally are living with HIV, according to the United Nations, and 1.1 million people died from Aids-related causes worldwide in 2015.

Cafod’s operations director Geoff O’Donoghue told The Tablet that the agency was not “de-prioritising” HIV, but strengthening its focus on the work that local partners and their health services could do. He confirmed that the HIV/Aids Advisory Group will end in its current form on 31 March. “HIV remains critically important to Cafod’s work, particularly in countries where HIV continues to be a major threat to the health, wellbeing and development of individuals, families and communities,” he said.