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African Development Forum 2000 AIDS: The Greatest Leadership Challenge |
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Home > Documents > The African Consensus and Plan of Action > Annexes Annex I Youth Statement to the African Development Forum Annex II Declaration by African Civil Society Organisations Annex III Position Statements - Gender, HIV/AIDS, and leadership Annex IV ILO Pre-Forum Tripartite Contribution to the African Development ForumYouth Statement to the African Development Forum We the young people represented at the African Development Forum 2000 state our position on Aids and leadership:
b) The United Nations system must create a specific agency to channel funds quickly and without red tape to young people for initiatives that are designed and managed by youth. This agency will be committed to conducting its affairs in a way that is opposed to opulence in the midst of poverty. c) A tripartite partnership must be established at country level to ensure that government, civil society, and the donor community effectively coordinate activities that are focused on young people and HIV/Aids. d) Each government must create mechanisms for purchasing and distributing condoms so that prevention efforts that rely on condoms are sustainable. e) Youth organizations must focus efforts on condom distribution as well as information about the other methods of prevention. Abstinence and faithfulness to an HIV negative partner are critical to the fight against AIDS. Young women must be empowered to say no to sex against their will. If they want to initiate and engage in sex, they must be educated about assertiveness so that they can successfully negotiate condom use. f) Each government must ensure that all the necessary infrastructure is in place so that young people have access to volunteer testing and counseling, information education about prevention, and care and support services for those of us living with HIV/Aids. g) African youth organizations must develop tools for monitoring national efforts in the fight against Aids. In particular, a youth checklist for governments must be formulated to assess the youth-friendliness of government's programs on HIV/Aids. 2. Treatment3. Care, Support, and Stigma 4. Challenging Poverty 5. Participation Follow-up Actions Young people at the Forum insist that governments, NGOs and international agencies present here today, commit concrete resources to ensuring that our efforts on the aforementioned issues can be continued. In particular we request that the Focus Group Coordinator be contacted through the ADF Secretariat, to establish a regional network of African young people. This network will build on existing structures such as the PanAfrican youth Movement, the Scouts associations, and the many youth and AIDS programmes that exist throughout the continent. It will also establish partnerships with the Commonwealth Youth Programme. This Youth Against Aids Network (YAAN) will be dedicated to fighting AIDS at a regional level. It will be a multilingual network with a working group comprising 2 - 3 national youth focal points from Eastern, Southern, West, Central and Northern Africa, representing both government and civil society. The Network will be committed to: DECLARATION BY AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS Preamble We, the African Civil Society Organisations represented at the Africa Development Forum 2000, recognise and applaud the courageous and ongoing efforts made by community-based organisations, groups of People Living with HIV/AIDS and their networks, to combat the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. We call on our governments and the international community to recognise and support these efforts, which must also be expanded to other organisations of civil society. We call for greater focus on People Living with HIV/AIDS, youth and the media as central partners in the common struggle against HIV/AIDS. We recognise the challenge of HIV/AIDS as the greatest threat facing the current generation in Africa. It is an all-encompassing social, economic, cultural and political crisis. HIV/AIDS is a threat that calls for all of society to be mobilised if we are to prevail. We are encouraged that African national and continental leaders, and international donors and partners, are recognising the scale of the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS. We urge them to do more, to match the efforts of African citizens and civil society organisations. We urge them to enter into a true partnership with African civil society: it is through such a partnership that we will succeed. A Partnership against HIV/AIDS in Africa We, African civil society organisations, call for our leaders, our civil society and our citizens to forge a true partnership, to work together to overcome HIV/AIDS in Africa. We submit that there is no simple plan of action that can overcome this scourge. Instead we propose a true partnership, in the form of a grand coalition of leaders, organisations and individuals at all levels, working in their different ways towards a common goal: the conquest of HIV/AIDS. This partnership challenges our leaders, and sets down basic principles for collective action. Challenges to our Leaders We, African civil society organisations, call upon the following leaders to fulfil their responsibilities: 1. National political leaders. Our national political leaders have responsibilities: 4. Religious leaders. Religious leaders have the responsibility to initiate moral and social responses to HIV/AIDS such as caring for sick people and orphans, renegotiating gender roles, promoting the social inclusion of PLWAs, fighting against stigma and human rights abuses. 5. Business leaders. Entrepreneurs, business-people and especially transnational corporations have responsibilities to their employees, to take the necessary steps to minimise HIV transmission at the workplace, to treat employees living with FHV/AIDS without discrimination. 6. Trade union leaders. Based on notions of solidarity and equality, trade unions have the responsibility, to educate workers about protection and to act as a safety net for those who have been infected with HIV. The international leadership of labour organisations have a duty to support their comrades in Africa. 7. Intellectual leaders. Professors, researchers and public intellectuals have a responsibility and an opportunity for shaping thinking and action. 8. Education sector leaders. Teachers have major responsibilities to their pupils, not only while they are studying but throughout their lifetimes. Teachers should include education about HIV/AIDS in the curriculum, and should lead by example, both in their own personal conduct and by making special efforts to include and respect students who are HIV positive and those who are caring for family members living with HIV/AIDS. 9. Cultural and social leaders. Cultural figures and celebrities serve as role models and opinion formers, especially for youth. They can influence the cultural environment positively.10. Media leaders. Journalists, broadcasters, editors, chat-show hosts, actors, script-writers for soap operas: all these individuals and their respective institutions need to be mobilised, educated and strengthened to play important roles: We call for our governments to implement the international guidelines on human rights and HIV and to put in place effective mechanisms of monitoring the implementation, including full legal backing for elimination of discrimination in law and practice, and vigorous prosecution of those who victimise PLWAs. We call for all Africans, in an individual capacity, as citizens, as members of their families and communities, to address the challenges of safe sex, gender relations, and cultural taboos. 3. Empowerment of Women. More than half of those infected by HIV in Africa are women. Women and girls are vulnerable because of cultural, social, economic and political gender inequalities. Rape, sexual violence and domestic violence must be targetted for elimination from our societies. Women and girls must be provided with the knowledge, skills, resources and power to be able to refuse unsafe sex. There must be no double standards when discussing commercial sex work. Women also bear the greater burden of caring for people who are suffering from AIDS. We call for a comprehensive programme for the achievement of women's rights. 4. Resource Mobilisation and Allocation. Africa's governments are poor, but can devote more resources to HIV/AIDS. Existing mechanisms to support CSOs and community efforts are grossly inadequate. Existing resources mobilised and allocated to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa are scarce and insufficient. We call for direct funding to CSOs and their networks. We call for African Heads of State to prioritise HIV/AIDS programmes in their legislation, policyrnaking, financing and policy implementation across all sectors. International donors, who have far greater resources, should prioritise HIV/AIDS programmes including prevention, care and the highest quality treatment. African governments should consider receiving loans for AIDS programmes as an immoral commitment, which they should never make on behalf of their citizens. We call for donors to provide grants only.We also note that the struggle against HIV/AIDS requires a positive environment of economic development, and we call upon international creditors to relieve Africa's unsustainable debt immediately and in full, and provide more resources towards equitable and sustainable development. CSOs should monitor the commitments made by their Heads of State and Heads of Government to provide more resources to HIV/AIDS. Several of our leaders have pledged to put their nations on a war footing in this struggle. One way in which we shall monitor this is through monitoring spending. We expect to see spending on HIV/AIDS increase, and spending on the military decrease, in the next 12 months, so that HIV/AIDS spending exceeds military spending. If this happens then we will know that our leaders are genuine. 5. Reduction of the Transmission of HIV. HIV/AIDS transmission must be reduced through wide-ranging programmes of education, utilising schools, the media, public education, traditional health practitioners and religious leaders. Youth must be fully involved and empowered at all levels. Economic factors that drive women and men to risky sexual behaviour must be addressed. Condoms should be free and widely available. Treatment for STDs should be readily available and free. Voluntary counseling and testing services should be widely available, professional and confidential. Treatments to minimise mother-to-child transmission should be universally available. 6. Treatment. The treatment of People Living with HIV/AIDS is a basic human right. It is also essential to any comprehensive strategy to overcome the virus. Without treatment to enable PLWAs to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives, the stigma attaching to AIDS cannot be removed. Without hope for the future, people will not go for testing, Africa cannot write off million of its citizens, when care and medication that, can radically improve their condition already exist. We do not accept that the necessary drugs are too expensive, as evidence shows that they can be produced for a small fraction of their current market prices. We call upon African governments and the international community to insist on price reductions that make drugs affordable for ordinary Africans, and upon the rights under TRIPS to make use of alternatives including generic manufacture and import to achieve the lowest possible price. We call for expanding the list of essential drugs to include anti-retroviral and drugs for opportunistic infections. We denounce the means used to maintain pharmaceutical companies' excessive profits at the expense of human lives. 7. Care. Africans living with HIV/AIDS deserve the highest quality of care. Community-based organisations and families have been caring for PLWAs at huge cost and with minimal support. We call for substantial support to those providing care at home and within the community for PLWAs. We call for a scaling up of assistance for treatment and care. 8. Vaccine Development. African People Living with HIV/AIDS and their communities are partners in attempts to develop vaccines against HIV. We call for African governments to adopt the 'African Strategy for an HIV Vaccine of 14'h June 2000' so as to actively participate in the global search for a vaccine and to ensure that communities can benefit from the positive product of the trials. . 9. Strengthening CSOs and their networks. The true partnership requested to effectively respond to this pandernic demands strong, informed, skilled and organised civil society organisations. We call on governments and the international community to support CSOs and their networks financially and technically to play their full role. The Way Forward Our common aim and vision is to ignite a social movement encompassing all civil society and, governments in a true partnership to overcome HIV/AIDS. Our starting point is the efforts of the existing CSOs and their networks, including especially organisations of People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Youth. We are mindful of the fact that HIV/AIDS is a societal crisis and any effective response must be a social, economic and political response. Creating a mass movement means unleashing the creative energies of ordinary people to empower them to take their destinies into their own hands. The central role is played by CSOs. Governments should play their proper role in designing public policy in a way that will create an enabling environment for a social movement. Donors including international financial institutions should provide resources, in support of the modalities laid down by the African agenda. We call upon all participants in this Conference to study the true partnership arrived at by the Civil Society Organisations, and to disseminate this through campaigns on their return to their home countries. Governments should disseminate the ideas through meetings, directives and the media. International donors should support these exercises. We express our gratitude to the President of Nigeria and the Secretary General of the OAU for the initiative to convene a special OAU Summit on the issue of HIV/AIDS. We, the African CSOs, consider this a significant step forward. It is a signal that our leaders are taking HIV/AIDS with the seriousness that it deserves. We consider the Summit to indicate an irreversible commitment: we shall go forward from here. To continue with the spirit of ADF 2000, we request that the recommendations from this Forum, including the CSO consensus, be forwarded to the Abuja Summit and presented to all our Heads of State as a major contribution. In the spirit of ADF 2000, we further request that CSOs, including especially those representing PLWA and Youth, be invited to participate fully and to speak for themselves in the Abuja Summit. We the CSOs are committed to expanding and strengthening our existing networking and advocacy role. We call on OAU, ECA and African Development Bank together with their partners as part of the post-ADF activities to technically and financially support the existing networks so as to enable them to effectively fulfill the leadership role at national, subregional, continental and global levels. To this end we propose the creation of a CSO Focal Point at the OAU and ECA. We, the African CSOs, including PLWA and Youth, reiterate our commitment to be active partners in a true partnership of collective social mobilisation against HIV/AIDS in Africa. We call on our national and continental leaders and our international partners to support our efforts. We believe that if we act together, with honest commitment and common purpose, we shall overcome the FHV/AIDS pandernic in our continent. [Go to Top] Annex IIIGender Issues From the Gender Focus Group (GDFG) Several wide-ranging issues are identified by the GDFG which are deemed of high priority with respect to leadership challenges from the perspective of gender. Access to Drugs Top among these was the issue of drugs. Who decides what the drugs are to be made available and how are they to be distributed to the population. Leaders need to revisit the issue of drugs, not just for People Living With AIDS (PLWA). Its associations and actions greatly affects women. In most African countries the studies and trials of drugs such as AZT are pilot programs and are often used for demonstrating the effectiveness of these drugs. But, after the pilot program is completed, the drugs are not available to women most needing them, especially those that are HIV positive. It is necessary to have women decision makers, mothers, and women who are involved in the work of HIV prevention to ensure that the in the pilot programs the subjects understand the consent to the research, trials, and programs that they will participate in. Policies are needed to protect both the mother and child, and also resources for dealing with the issue of mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT). Women should have the right to the female condom. Studies show that there is a lack of this product. Men as well as women prefer the female condom. Govenunents should include female condoms among procurement of these devices for HIV prevention. Governments should not accept arguments that the female condom is not affordable. Therefore, women should be involved in decision-making of procurement of the products. Thus far, developed countries have decided that only the male condom will be made available. Ethical Dilemmas Several ethical dilemmas have been identified which must be addressed by the leadership:1. National Action Plan and Policy at the country level should have as an integral part world of work components, including workplace initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS. To this end, such plans and policies should be formulated in consultation with ILO tripartite constituents. 2. The ILO is called upon to develop an international code of good practice on HIV/AIDS in employment as a matter of priority. 3. National action plans should emphasize the link between HIV/AIDS and poverty, and therefore, take into account the importance of productive employment and income generating activities in policies and programmes to combat HIV/AIDS. 4. Given that women are disproportionately affected by HIMIDS, programmes and policies to address HIV/AIDS should recognize the interplay between gender and HIV/AIDS and include action to reduce gender inequalities. 5. At the enterprise level, a joint approach by employees and workers should be adopted to counteract social exclusion and stigmatization in general and to address the problems of discrimination in particular. 6. Issues of HIV/AIDS should be integrated into collective bargaining in the context of social dialogue. Knowledge and Advocacy: 7. Government should cooperate with the social partners in the world of work in the generation and dissemination of information on the problem and impact of HIV/AIDS. The social partners can play an important roll in this regard, and all possible means should be explored to collect data and information at the workplace, without jeopardizing confidentiality. In addition, data should be collected on employee benefits and social security as well as on the costs to employers of care and support programmes.
9. AIDS education and training programmes should be provided to both managers and workers at the enterprise level and should enjoy the support of workers' and employers' organizations to ensure sustainability. 10. Knowledge and advocacy initiatives undertaken in the workplace should be extended to the wider community in an effort to increase impact of action to combat HIV/AIDS. 11. ILO should collect information on good practices worldwide and disseminate this to its tripartite constituents to support action against HIV/AIDS at the country level. In addition, the ILO should organize an international tripartite meeting to promote exchange of information and experiences on such practices. Capacity-building and mobilizing the social partners: 12.ILO should provide support and technical assistance to employers' and workers' organizations and to labor ministries to strengthen their capacity for the effective implementation of national action plans and policies. In particular, training should be provided to shop stewards and workers' educators in the area of HIV/AIDS management in the workplace. 13.The right to life is a fundamental right and every measure should be taken to protect this right. African Governments are therefore urged to take appropriate measures to guarantee access to life -saving and life-prolonging drugs at affordable price, and the possibility to produce low cost generic drugs.
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| 3-7 December 2000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | ||
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