Press Release

Global consortium led by CARE receives up to $50 million award from USAID to respond to HIV/AIDS

ATLANTA (March 7, 2003) - A coalition of organizations, led by CARE, an international humanitarian organization, has been funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to form a worldwide alliance with communities to provide care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families, and to reduce stigma and discrimination.

The five-member consortium has been awarded up to $50 million from USAID, under the "Communities Responding to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic" (CORE) Initiative, www.coreinitiative.org to support work in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia, Europe and Eurasia over the next five years.

"We cannot win this war against AIDS without much broader partnerships with faith and community-based organizations," said Dr. Anne Peterson, assistant administrator for global health at USAID. "These organizations know their community and are a part of their community."

Along with CARE, the partners in the consortium include the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP), the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Brighton, U.K., the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), and the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva.

Over the five years of the award, the consortium will build the capacity of community- and faith-based organizations through small grants, which will scale up successful small projects and facilitate the exchange of information and expertise.

"The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time," said Peter D. Bell, president and CEO of CARE USA. "Through this initiative, we will extend the scope of our efforts on HIV/AIDS far beyond what each of us could achieve individually."

Nonsectarian organizations are partnering with faith-based organizations, which in many cases have been among the first to respond to the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS.

"The CORE initiative is both a challenge and an opportunity for the faith communities," said Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, "Challenge because as the pandemic has unfolded, it has exposed fault lines that reach to the heart of our theology, our ethics, our liturgy and our practice of ministry. Opportunity because faith-based organizations have strengths, they have credibility, and they are grounded in communities."

The global alliance has received the support of more than 70 organizations worldwide, and will work closely with partners in developing countries. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) will be actively involved in the project. Kristin Kalla, until recently director of CARE's HIV/AIDS unit, will be providing leadership for the consortium in Washington, D.C.