around AIDS. How did that happen?<\/strong><\/p>\nI started working in Africa in 1998, before President Bush\u2019s announcement of PEPFAR and before the Global Fund. And I can\u2019t tell you what a devastation that was, with losing whole communities. Churches could see the reality on the ground because they were holding 10, 20, 30 funerals in a community in a weekend. The churchgoers spent all their time going to funerals. They could see the devastation of HIV and knew that it had to come out into the public where people could talk about it.<\/p>\n
It was important in the community of faith to care for and to comfort, and to provide palliative care and food at the household level. And so churches were the soldiers of dispelling stigma and discrimination, because they were willing to go into the homes and pray with those who were dying, and provide sustenance and community support to those families.<\/p>\n
When the church leads in compassion for others and shows the community that they can also engage, it changes everything.<\/p>\n
PEPFAR has been around 20 years. Have you seen any new generation of faith-based people in the US be interested in the program?<\/strong><\/p>\nI haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
What are your concerns, if any, about this reauthorization battle?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s important to proactively remind people about the core values on which PEPFAR was established. Not promoting prostitution, not promoting or endorsing abortion\u2014that has always been part and parcel of PEPFAR implementation at the partner level. But when things change and executive orders change, people aren\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n
It was so astute of President Bush and the architects of PEPFAR to understand that for big problems, you need a big tent. PEPFAR has been successful because everyone could see themselves in the program. It was my job when I was leading PEPFAR, and it\u2019s the leadership\u2019s job today, to make sure that everybody sees themselves in the program.<\/p>\n
PEPFAR has never turned a blind eye to anything. We like to know what\u2019s going on and we like to fix those things.<\/p>\n
Are there parts of PEPFAR you think should change?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe structure that is in the reauthorization has not only been successful, which is clearly evident in the 20-year results, but it also is a new way of doing business that frankly, all of our foreign assistance should model. Each federal agency has unique talents, but no agency has 100% of the talent. And I think having all agencies involved in PEPFAR with leadership outside of those individual agencies allows it to really have accountability and transparency. Reauthorization maintains the critical structure and the annual reporting that is necessary. Data collection is critical in constantly evaluating the success of your program.<\/p>\n
If you go on pepfar.gov, you can see the data that\u2019s updated quarterly. Now try to go in and find quarterly obesity data across the United States! If you\u2019re only looking at obesity every three years or every five years, there\u2019s no way you can understand whether any of the programs you\u2019ve put on the ground are having an impact or not.<\/p>\n
And so I think there\u2019s a lot of lessons to be learned. I hope everybody takes a step back and realizes we\u2019re stronger together\u2014Republicans, Democrats, Muslims, evangelicals\u2014because in the end, we care about our communities, and our communities are not monolithic.<\/p>\n
This interview has been edited and condensed for length.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/span>