BOX 9. RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL ISSUES (CONT.) recommendations of this study highlight key actions required under human rights law to combat impermissible discrimination against women, and also points to the importance of working with religious groups and leaders as a key aspect of prevention.19 It is crucial for a NHRI that wants to engage in reproductive rights to consider how to deal with religious and cultural issues. Not only can this be considered a positive obligation in order to respect the views of the people being served, it is also often imperative if results are to be achieved. The question then remains how to do this. In this respect it is i­mportant to consider religion and cultural values not only as obstacles (which they can be) but also as potential beneficial factors. Certain religious and traditional values can actually be seen as benefiting reproductive rights just as religious and traditional leaders can become ­important allies in the struggle for the same rights.20 It should also be kept in mind that in some c ­ ountries religion is so important and religious leaders so powerful that without some ­collaboration with the religious structures, the chance of impact is extremely limited. ­However, working with religious leaders must not undermine the work of NHRIs in promoting gender equality, respecting the universal human rights of women and girls and promoting reproductive rights in general. The big question, then, seems not to be whether religious and traditional leaders and structures should be involved when working with respect to reproductive rights but how best to do this. There are some examples, such as discussions with Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, of efforts to correlate religious views with human rights. Among the important lessons learned by UNFPA in this respect are the following: • Candid, respectful dialogue can go a long way in achieving common ground between advocates for reproductive rights, UNFPA, FBOs and religious and cultural leaders. ­Bringing in experts who speak the language of religion and can actually use r­ eligious arguments for the respect for life and human rights and building arguments based on facts (such as providing national epidemiological data on HIV) can be highly ­successful tools in such efforts. It is very seldom that there is only one view within the ­relevant r­ eligious and/or traditional circles and it will thus often be possible to identify ­sympathetic religious and traditional leaders that are amenable to a human rights 19 E/CN.4/2002/73/Addendum 2. 20 In Azerbaijan, UNFPA conducted a study on gender equality by comparing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women with some widely recognized Islamic references and books. This showed parallels between the Convention and the spirit of the Islamic faith. 97