International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDs (INERELA+)

The International Network of Religious Leaders Living with Or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA+) vision is - All people realize their right to healthy, peaceful, just, and quality lives driven by comprehensive faith-based interventions. Our mission is INERELA+ empowers religious leaders to be transformational and transformative change agents in reclaiming social justice, dignity, health, and well-being of all people.INERELA+ is a global inter-faith network established in 2002 as an African Network of Religious leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+) to address inequalities and to provide quality compassionate health care interventions in underserved communities to end preventable deaths and to save lives. INERELA+ was registered in April 2004 in South Africa as a Civil Society Organisation committed to advance health care and save lives.In 2008 ANERELA+ transitioned to INERELA+ (International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS). The name change was due to the growth and expansion beyond Africa into other regions of the world: Asia Pacific, the Americas, Europe and Central Asia which are organized through Regional Networks.INERELA+ has 16 active country/national networks in Africa with a membership 45 310 Religious Leaders from from Baháʼí, Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Muslim. We are also present in 5 regional networks in Asia/Pacific, Canada, Americas, Europe and Central Asia and this provides a rich platform of information exchange, synergies and influence. Our country networks are constituted and, in some cases, managed by ordained and lay RLs. INERELA+ interventions are led by our members, which is a growing critical mass of Religious Leaders (RLs) (both lay and ordained male and female) are embedded in their communities. We capacitate our member RLs as social change makers using our ASRHR handbook and SAVE toolkit so they can deliver Programs in their local communities and support them to address inequalities, poverty and save lives. We also use our INERELA+ SAVE Model toolkit to capacitate health professionals to strengthen our affiliated health facilities together with traditional leaders to become agents of change in championing equitable health care by providing quality, timely care in underserved communities. As an interfaith network we are committed to justice, compassion, and inclusion for vulnerable people. We promote equity, love, hope, dignity and offer psychosocial support through our affiliated health facilities and a network of member Religious Leaders/ social innovators. In line with the 2030 Agenda INERELA+ has adopted the principle of “leaving no one behind” by investing in the wellbeing and lasting change for children, young people, women and the marginalised as they are all created in the image of GOD.Adolescents and young people participate in our Programme through SRHR and life skills interventions which are combined with gender inequality, discrimination, social cohesion, peace promotion and climate justice. INERELA+ recognises the critical role of SRHR in achieving sustainable development and therefore emphasizes the intersection between adolescent health and broader societal outcomes. Our Projects focus on shaping policies to promote adolescent well-being beyond the 2030 Agenda,