HIV Orientation Workshop for PNGCLA and NACS on the

Joint National HIV Information Campaign 2026-2027

PNG CHRISTIAN LEADERS ALLIANCE ON HIV and AIDS SECRETARIAT

10:00am-3:00pm, Wednesday, 20 May 2026, Conference Room, Port Moresby Catholic Archdiocese

MATERIALS

• HIV Pamphlets

• HIV Situation and Response [targets]

• KPAC Community-Led Service (CLS) Delivery Models [powerpoint] [pdf]

• Preferred  HIV Terms [one page selection] [full guide 68 pages]

• Church Planning Template [BLANK PDF] [BLANK WORD] - 12-month HIV Information Campaign. [sample template with entries]

Cardinal Ribat calls churches to act as one team in PNG’s HIV response
PNG CHRISTIAN LEADERS HIV Orientation Workshop, May 2026

HIS EMINENCE SIR JOHN CARDINAL RIBAT, MSC, DD, KBE
20 May 20265, Catholic Archdiocese

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

His Eminence Cardinal John Ribat, Chair of the Papua New Guinea Christian Leaders Alliance, has called on churches to step forward as active partners in Papua New Guinea’s HIV response, urging faith leaders to use their facilities, networks, and moral voice to support communities with compassion, confidentiality, and practical services.

Speaking at the PNGCLA Workshop on HIV Response held on 20 May 2026 at the Catholic Archdiocese in Port Moresby, Cardinal Ribat said churches have both the responsibility and the reach to help people understand HIV, access counselling, protect confidentiality, and link those in need to testing, treatment, and care.

The workshop brought together church leaders, the National AIDS Council, UNAIDS, KPAC, Catholic Church Health Services, and other partners to discuss how churches can respond to the renewed urgency around HIV in Papua New Guinea. The discussions focused on counselling, church health facilities, confidentiality, community mobilisation, testing, treatment linkage, and the role of faith-based networks in reaching people at community level.

Cardinal Ribat emphasised that churches are not starting from zero. Across the country, many churches already have health facilities, trusted leaders, congregations, schools, women’s ministries, youth groups, and community structures that can be mobilised to support the national HIV response.

“Many of us have facilities that we could use for this work,” Cardinal Ribat said. “For us, this is our responsibility. We have the people.”

He said the response must begin with practical readiness. Churches, he noted, need to identify existing facilities, assess whether counselling and HIV-related services are still functioning, and determine what support is needed to make these services more effective. He also highlighted the importance of preparing church workers and community leaders to respond sensitively to people affected by HIV.

“We need to prepare well, raise awareness, and make sure that our people can be supported properly,” he said.

A key concern raised by Cardinal Ribat was confidentiality. He said churches must be ready to support people who are dealing with deeply sensitive issues involving HIV status, marriage, family relationships, trust, and stigma. Without confidentiality, he warned, people may be afraid to seek help or speak honestly about their situation.

“Confidentiality is very important for our people,” he said.

Cardinal Ribat welcomed the presence and leadership of the National AIDS Council and called for stronger partnership between churches, government, community-led organisations, and development partners. He said the workshop marked an important moment for churches and national partners to move together rather than working separately.

“The aim is to get us all together and working in partnership,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of a united church voice. According to Cardinal Ribat, HIV messages must not remain only in Port Moresby or within formal meetings. They must reach church stations, villages, settlements, families, congregations, and communities across the country.

“There should be one voice in what we are doing here in town and out to our stations and our people,” he said. “This is the moment when we have come out to speak.”

Cardinal Ribat warned against the belief that HIV had disappeared or was no longer a serious concern. He said the virus remains a continuing reality in Papua New Guinea and requires a response grounded in unity, seriousness, and compassion.

“Some people may have thought that HIV and AIDS had gone. But as long as we live, this virus will not simply disappear,” he said.

He described the churches as part of a wider national team that can help protect communities, reduce stigma, promote testing, encourage treatment, and support people living with and affected by HIV.

“We are not just one voice. We are now a team,” Cardinal Ribat said. “We work together to ensure that our nation is well protected and our communities are well aware.”

The workshop concluded with a strong message that Papua New Guinea’s HIV response will be stronger when churches, communities, government, and partners move together with one voice and one shared responsibility. For Cardinal Ribat, the role of churches is clear: to speak, to organise, to serve, and to stand with people and families affected by HIV.

Quotes from the Cardinal

“Many of us have facilities that we could use for this work.”

“We need to prepare well, raise awareness, and make sure that our people can be supported properly.”

“Confidentiality is very important for our people.”

“For us, this is our responsibility. We have the people.”

“The aim is to get us all together and working in partnership.”

“There should be one voice in what we are doing here in town and out to our stations and our people.”

“This is the moment when we have come out to speak.”

“Some people may have thought that HIV and AIDS had gone. But as long as we live, this virus will not simply disappear.”

“We are not just one voice. We are now a team.”

“We work together to ensure that our nation is well protected and our communities are well aware.”

“One Voice, No Action, Nothing Gets Done”:

Wep Kanawi Calls Churches to Move Together on HIV
PNG CHRISTIAN LEADERS HIV Orientation Workshop, May 2026

Mr. Wep Kanawi, Chair, National AIDS Council
20 May 20265, Catholic Archdiocese

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

At the PNG Christian Leaders Alliance workshop on HIV response, Mr Wep Kanawi, Chair of the National AIDS Council, called for churches and national partners to move from concern to coordinated action. His remarks focused on rebuilding counselling capacity, formalising partnerships with churches, mobilising volunteers, and using the reach of faith networks to support communities affected by HIV.

A call to rebuild counselling capacity

Mr Kanawi reminded participants that Papua New Guinea once had a stronger counselling base for HIV services. More than 300 counsellors had previously been trained with support from experts, but much of that capacity has weakened over time. He said the country should not treat counselling as a new idea, but as a proven part of the response that must be restored.

“The answer is: we must do it again.”

“We must train more counsellors.”

“We can develop a proposal and seek funding to train up to 1,000 counsellors.”

He proposed that suitable people be identified and supported through a structured training programme. This could include social assistance funding and collaboration with institutions able to support a national volunteer and counselling effort.

Restoring provincial structures and volunteer support

Mr Kanawi also spoke about the need to rebuild provincial support systems for HIV. He noted that HIV workers and counsellors had previously been present in the provinces, where they visited facilities, trained staff, and supported people seeking testing and care.

“We had people who were trained out there in every province.”

He said the Council is considering how provincial AIDS structures can be reconnected to the appropriate national arrangements, including discussions with the Department of Personnel Management. He also raised the possibility of having at least 15 volunteers in each province to support HIV-related work.

Learning from community-led testing

In his closing reflections, Mr Kanawi commended the KPAC team for showing participants how HIV testing is conducted. He said the demonstration helped leaders move from abstract discussion to practical understanding.

“Instead of only talking about HIV testing, they showed us how it is done.”

“Many of us have never actually seen how a test is done or been tested ourselves.”

Partnerships with churches

Mr Kanawi encouraged churches and faith-based organisations that want to support HIV programmes to consider formal partnership arrangements. He noted that the Council had already started this approach with the SDA church and that similar templates could be used with other churches.

“If you want to do programmes like this, and if you feel it is workable to do so through a memorandum of understanding, come and talk to us.”

Reaching communities through faith networks

A major concern in his remarks was the need to bring more church networks into the response, especially those with strong influence across communities. He said churches hold the trust, attention and confidence of a large share of the population, and without them the response may fail to reach many people.

“If they do not come on board, we will not have an effective way or conduit to reach those communities.”

From one voice to action

Mr Kanawi closed with a direct call for unity, costing, and government engagement. He urged partners to identify what they can do together, attach a realistic cost to it, and present it to government as a serious contribution to the national HIV response.

“One voice, with no action, means nothing gets done.”

“Many voices together can get things done.”

“Let us put our heads together.”

“Let us calculate the value and cost of what we are doing together, put a price tag on it, and ask the government for support. We can do it.”

Why this matters

The workshop showed that churches are not starting from zero. They already have trusted leaders, health services, local networks, and community presence. Mr Kanawi’s message was that these assets must now be organised into a practical response: trained counsellors, volunteers, formal partnerships, outreach, testing, treatment linkage, and resource mobilisation.