Fr. Ismael Matambura, SJ, (right) speaks about the work of the African Jesuit AIDS Network during an event at Presentation Manor in Scarborough, Ont. Photo: T. Sison/CJI
Fr. Ismael Matambura, Director of the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) on May 20 stressed the importance of supporting HIV-AIDS initiatives, saying that AIDS epidemic in Africa is not over.
“HIV is still there,” Fr. Matambura said during a talk co-organized by Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) and the residents and staff at Presentation Manor, a non-profit, faith-based retirement residence in Scarborough, Ont.
Earlier this year, UNAIDS noted that although West and Central Africa have made “notable progress” in their response to AIDS, this remained “insufficient to meet global targets to end AIDS as public health threat by 2030.” In 2025, at least 124,000 people died in at least five countries in Central, North, and West Africa, and new HIV infections “continue to grow,” noted Susan Kasedde, UNAIDS Regional Director, West and Central Africa. According to UNAIDS, more than 26.5 million people in Africa are living with HIV, representing 65% of the global total.
Experts have also expressed concern that cuts to USAID and other foreign aid have undermined progress and created serious gaps, particularly in HIV prevention and mobile health clinics.
“It was a very brutal cut; mobile clinics that went to rural areas had to suspend work overnight,” said Fr. Matambura, who responded to a question from the audience about the impact of the USAID cuts in 2024. “The impact was felt all over the continent.” He also noted that bilateral agreements between the US and at least 10 African nations have been suspended. Zambia has accused the U.S. of tying health assistance to access to critical minerals and other resources.
Fr. Matambura said that AJAN was founded in 2002 by Canadian Jesuit priest, Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, in response to the HIV-AIDS crisis. “In the early 2000s, people were dying in large numbers and so, the question was asked: What can we do as a church to respond to the crisis?”
Jesuit efforts to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa include providing services such as HIV care and treatment, psycho-social and spiritual support, awareness raising programs, particularly among the youth, and livelihood support for vulnerable women and girls, he said.
The Building Resilience Among Women and Girls in Africa, a project being supported by CJI, provides women, particularly those living with HIV, with training in financial literacy and business management. Successful trainees are given seed grants to start a small business and they also become part of self-help groups.
The AJAN HIV and AIDS Prevention Programme for the Youth (AHAPPY) program seeks to empower the youth in Africa to live responsibly, he said. The program includes education to prevent HIV-AIDS, drug abuse, and violence. AJAN also works with out-of-school youth by equipping them with skills to identify issues in their communities and seeking solutions to problems, he said. Fr. Matambura noted that “journeying with youth,” is one of the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Jesuits.
During a question-and-answer session, attendees expressed their support for the work of AJAN. “I like the programs because it works with people at the grassroots level,” one said. One asked what other resources are available to women who have started small businesses through AJAN, to which Fr. Matambura responded, “We give them continuous support; we visit them regularly to help them identify the challenges and help they need.”
Fr. Matambura is visiting Canada to raise awareness about the work of AJAN. Last weekend, he also gave a talk at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Guelph, Ont. He is scheduled to speak on May 21 at Sacred Heart Church in Parkhill, Ont., and at St. Basil’s Church, Ottawa, on May 27.
