Africa: AIDS Assembly Summary, 07/03/01

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER

Africa: AIDS Assembly Summary, 1/3 Date distributed (ymd): 010703 Document reposted by APIC

Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for Africa at http://www.africapolicy.org

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Region: Continent-Wide Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +health+

SUMMARY CONTENTS:

This series of three postings contains brief topical excerpts from the official United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, June 27, 2001, paired with related excerpts from parallel statements released by youth, African civil society groups, and international civil society groups at the UN General Assembly Special Session. Because of the exceptional importance of evaluating the outcome of this unprecedented global gathering, we are making an exception of sending out three postings for your reference.

This posting contains excerpts on prevention and treatment. Related postings focus on rights and discrimination and on resources.

The full UN Declaration is available at: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/FinalDeclarationHIVAIDS.html

The full Youth Position Paper is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106c.htm

"HIV/AIDS and Civil Society: Africa's Concerns and Perspectives" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106d.htm

"A Civil Society Perspective on the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106.htm

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PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

*UN Declaration, June 27, 2001*

Prevention must be the mainstay of our response.

[47] By 2003, establish time-bound national targets to achieve the internationally agreed global prevention goal to reduce by 2005 H.I.V. prevalence among young men and women aged 15-24 in the most affected countries by 25 percent and by 25 percent globally by 2010, and to intensify efforts to achieve these targets, as well as to challenge gender stereotypes and attitudes, and gender inequalities in relation to H.I.V./AIDS, encouraging the active involvement of men and boys. . . .

[52] By 2005, ensure that a wide range of prevention interventions which take account of local circumstances, ethics and cultural values is available in all countries, particularly the most affected countries, including information, education and communication in languages most understood by communities and respectful of cultures, aimed at reducing risk-taking behavior and encouraging responsible sexual behavior, including abstinence and fidelity; expanded access to essential commodities, including male and female condoms and disposable syringes; harm-reduction efforts related to drug use; expanded access to voluntary and confidential counseling and testing; safe blood supplies; and early and effective treatment of sexually transmissible infections. . . .

[54] By 2005, reduce the proportion of infants infected with H.I.V. by 20 percent and by 50 percent by 2010, by insuring that 80 percent of pregnant women accessing antenatal care have information, counseling and other H.I.V. prevention services available to them, increasing the availability of and by providing access for H.I.V.-infected women and babies to effective treatment to reduce mother-to-child-transmission of H.I.V., as well as through effective interventions for H.I.V.-infected women, including voluntary and confidential counseling and testing, access to treatment, especially antiretroviral therapy and, where appropriate, breast- milk substitutes and the provision of a continuum of care. . . .

[55] By 2003, ensure that national strategies supported by regional and international strategies are developed in close collaboration with the international community, including governments and relevant intergovernmental organizations, as well as with civil society and the business sector, to strengthen health-care systems and address factors affecting the provision of H.I.V.-related drugs, including antiretroviral drugs; inter alia affordability and pricing, including differential pricing; and technical and health care systems capacity. Also, in an urgent manner make every effort to: provide progressively and in a sustainable manner, the highest attainable standard of treatment for HIV/AIDS, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, and effective use of quality-controlled anti-retroviral therapy in a careful and monitored manner to improve adherence and effectiveness and reduce the risk of developing resistance; to cooperate constructively in strengthening pharmaceutical policies and practices, including those applicable to generic drugs and intellectual property regimes, in order further to promote innovation and the development of domestic industries consistent with international law;. . .

*Youth Caucus Position Paper, June 27, 2001*

Young people have a right to protect themselves against HIV, and our prevention efforts must use this as a basis for all activities geared toward stopping the spread of AIDS.

Youth commitments

+ We will address the power relations between young women and men as central to prevention, ensuring that all prevention programs are gender sensitive and provide young women with the skills to negotiate safer sex while teaching young men to respect the human rights of girls and young women.

+ We will obtain and provide full and complete sexual and reproductive education, information and services to allow youth to make informed decisions about sex.

+ Our prevention efforts will confront the range of situations in which young people may find themselves, in order to address all vulnerable youth, including but not limited to: young women, people confined to prisons and institutions, young people in refugee settings, homeless youth, unemployed youth, out of school youth, young people from ethnic minorities and/or stigmatized social groups, young people living with AIDS, rural youth, young injecting drug users, young commercial sex workers, young men who have sex with men and young people living in extreme poverty;

+ We will demand access to male and female condoms for all young people who are sexually active, and will support and encourage young people who choose to abstain from sex;

+ We will take HIV/AIDS tests and encourage our peers to find out their sero-status so that we can live healthy and productive lives.

HIV/AIDS treatment is a fundamental human right, and is indispensable for effective prevention.

+ We dedicate ourselves to work at community levels to develop programs in which young people assist their peers and women, who bear the brunt of caring for the sick and providing psycho-social support, in ways that promote community acceptance of HIV/AIDS, positive living, and the sharing of responsibility for the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

+ We demand that governments adopt and implement trade agreements that will guarantee access to AIDS medicines.

+ We call on the private sector and governments to significantly scale up financing for infrastructure and treatment.

*African Civil Society Statement, June 26, 2001*

In addition to the major issues already highlighted in the Declaration, we call upon our Governments to prioritize re-investment in primary health care infrastructure and systems in rural areas, as a way of scaling up HIV/AIDS response in Africa.

1. We recommend that an Essential Prevention and Care Package should be developed and made widely accessible. We recognize the importance of research in enhancing prevention, care and treatment, however, such research should not delay the implementation of prevention, care and treatment.

2. The centrality of community-based responses in the African context for prevention and care needs to be recognized and nurtured.

3. Civil society demands that there be full access to quality ARVs, and drugs for opportunistic infections for all, at affordable prices, taking into account the low purchasing power of vulnerable groups.

8. We call for the review of TRIPS in relation to the production and distribution of ARVs, such that the central concern is saving lives rather than profit.

*Civil Society Statement, June 27, 2001*

Though the Declaration notes that prevention, care, support and treatment are mutually reinforcing elements of an effective response to the epidemic, it is necessary to link these components within a comprehensive approach that recognises the impact of HIV/AIDS on multiple sectors. Additionally, these measures should actively involve people living with HIV/AIDS and organizations working in the economic, social, legal, political and cultural sectors. Such an approach is essential to address one of the underlying contributory factors to the widespread advancement of the epidemic -- poverty.

The Declaration refers to making prevention programmes "available", or "efforts" to provide high standards of treatment--wording which implies a passive approach. This does not acknowledge the dominant role communities and self-empowerment efforts have played and continue to play in the response to HIV/AIDS. The role of communities, however, must be complemented by government programmes; governments must be held accountable for actual implementation of such programmes, in great part by actively empowering vulnerable groups and civil society in the design, implementation and monitoring of programmes within a human-rights framework.

Such empowerment, including the mobilization of financial and human resources, is a necessary condition for the success of programmes; only when people are aware that they have rights to prevention and care programmes and services can they adequately act to defend and implement those rights.

Prevention efforts for the most vulnerable groups should include:

- full access to comprehensive sexuality and sexual & reproductive health education and services, regardless of race, gender, age, HIV status, socio-economic status and sexual orientation;

- risk- and harm-reduction strategies, including the availability and accessibility of STI diagnosis/treatment, condoms, microbicides and lubricants, as well as needle and syringe exchange and drug substitution and maintenance programmes, for all people;

- consideration of breast milk substitutes for babies of mothers living with HIV/AIDS only when they are acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe; otherwise their use could lead to greater infant morbidity and mortality in resource-poor countries;

- political leadership, commitment and action to address policies, legislative, cultural and economic factors that increase vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, including reviews of the extent to which current prohibition laws on illegal drugs and sex work contribute to the spread of HIV infection.

An effective response to HIV must include prevention, care and support (including treatment) and impact mitigation, especially the continuing support for orphans and vulnerable children.

In many countries, the burden of care has gone beyond the capacities of families, communities and institutions. Therefore, we insist that more attention be given to supporting care-givers, with special attention for women and older persons, who bear a disproportionate part of this burden.

Care packages should be comprehensive and relevant to the local context. Client-centred counselling and education on all the elements of promoting a healthy life, as well as nutritional support, constitute an essential component of treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Within this context, it is essential to provide ongoing education and training for health-care providers on internationally recommended treatment protocols and regimens, and on appropriate client-centred counselling.

Human rights are not negotiable: the global threat posed by HIV/AIDS does not allow people's health and lives to be traded against companies' intellectual property rights. Antiretroviral drugs and medications for the treatment of opportunistic infections must be made available and accessible to all people living with HIV/AIDS. The international community, governments, civil society and the business sector should take extraordinary initiatives to fully exploit existing trade agreements or adapt them where conditions require to do so, in order to guarantee access to treatment and care. The pricing of treatments should be differentiated and adapted, so that all countries have equitable opportunities to provide such treatment. These efforts must be integrated into national treatment and care programmes by 2003, not 2005 as stated in the Declaration.

Provision of treatment should be continuous and sustainable in order to avoid drug-resistance. This implies that governments should make investments in the health-care infrastructure and human resources to ensure such continuity and sustainability.

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Africa: AIDS Assembly Summary, 2/3 Date distributed (ymd): 010703 Document reposted by APIC

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Region: Continent-Wide Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +gender/women+ +health+

SUMMARY CONTENTS:

This posting contains excerpts on rights and discrimination. Related postings focus on prevention and treatement and on resources.

The full UN Declaration is available at: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/FinalDeclarationHIVAIDS.html

The full Youth Position Paper is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106c.htm

"HIV/AIDS and Civil Society: Africa's Concerns and Perspectives" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106d.htm

"A Civil Society Perspective on the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106.htm

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RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION

*UN Declaration, June 27, 2001*

[58] By 2003, enact, strengthen or enforce as appropriate legislation, regulations and other measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against and to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people living with H.I.V./AIDS and members of vulnerable groups; in particular to ensure their access to, inter alia education, inheritance, employment, health care, social and health services, prevention, support, treatment, information and legal protection while respecting their privacy and confidentiality; and develop strategies to combat stigma and social exclusion connected with the epidemic.

[59] By 2005, bearing in mind the context and character of the epidemic and that globally women and girls are disproportionately affected by H.I.V./AIDS, develop and accelerate the implementation of national strategies that promote the advancement of women and women's full enjoyment of all human rights; promote shared responsibility of men and women to ensure safe sex; empower women to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality to increase their ability to protect themselves from H.I.V. infection.

[60] By 2005, implement measures to increase capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of H.I.V. infection, principally through the provision of health care and health services, including sexual and reproductive health, and through prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culturally and gender-sensitive framework. . . .

[64] By 2003, develop and/or strengthen national strategies, policies and programs supported by regional and international initiatives, as appropriate, through a participatory approach, to promote and protect the health of those identifiable groups which currently have high or increasing rates of H.I.V. infection or which public health information indicates are at greatest risk of and most vulnerable to new infection, as indicated by such factors as the local history of the epidemic, poverty, sexual practices, drug-using behavior, livelihood, institutional location, disrupted social structures and population movements forced or otherwise. . . .

*Youth Caucus Position Paper, June 27, 2001*

1. Recognizing that young women and men must occupy positions of leadership in the global fight against AIDS.

2. Adopting a rights-based approach to HIV prevention, that affirms young people's rights to sexual and reproductive health information and care and services, as an indispensable way to stop the spread of AIDS.

3. Acknowledging that the rights of children and young people orphaned by AIDS to education, shelter and a life free from discrimination must be respected.

4. Affirming that care, support and treatment are a fundamental right for all people living with HIV/AIDS.

5. Ensuring that the following groups of vulnerable young people are directly targeted for prevention, care and support, and treatment services: young women, people confined to prisons and institutions, young people in refugee settings, homeless youth, unemployed youth, out of school youth, young people from ethnic minorities and/or stigmatized social groups, young people living with AIDS, rural youth, young injecting drug users, young commercial sex workers, young men who have sex with men and young people living in extreme poverty.

*African Civil Society Statement, June 26, 2001*

We applaud the regional and global efforts leading up to a renewed commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS around the world. We further applaud the commitments in the draft Declaration on HIV/AIDS endorsed in this UNGASS and in previous such fora.

However, we wish to express our deep concern about minimal civil society involvement particularly from Africa, in these important initiatives by our leaders, which is evidenced among others by exclusion for the most part of civil society representatives in our national delegations to this UNGASS.

In addition, we protest in the strongest possible terms the further exclusion of duly accredited civil society partners in this process through the discriminatory practice of visa denials by the government of the USA.

We note further with concern, that while Africa is the region most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is the least prioritized in terms of resource allocation and the global commitment.

We are concerned that through this process the voices of Africans, especially the poor and marginalized, have not been heard. As a result, we are deeply concerned that the grassroots experiences in Africa have not strategically informed the global process that has led to this UNGASS on HIV/AIDS, and yet, processes such as this affect the lives of millions of Africans, who are either living with HIV/AIDS or are affected, or are vulnerable to being infected with HIV.

Civil society is known to contribute significantly to the prevention of further transmission of HIV infection and improvement of care for persons living with HIV/AIDS, as well as alleviation of the HIV/AIDS impact in their respective communities. However, there is no sustained support for their work, few efforts to involve them in decision making, and insufficient resource allocation to enhance their effectiveness. Further, civil society views are not represented accurately nor articulated or integrated sufficiently into global policy making processes.

We need to recognize that everybody has a role and a responsibility in prevention, care and support with regard to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and that special attention should be paid to vulnerable groups and communities that bear a heavier burden or are more highly impacted by the diseases, due to factors related to violation of human rights including gender. These include those infected and affected, especially people living with HIV/AIDS, women, children, youth, orphans, the poor, refugees, migrant populations, and internally displaced persons.

9. Much has been said about GIPA - Greater Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS - in all HIV/AIDS programs. Yet it is only on paper. We demand that the GIPA principle must be put into practice in all HIV/AIDS programs for an effective impact on the target populations, communities, countries, and the globe in general.

*Civil Society Statement, June 27, 2001*

The Declaration provides a useful tool for focusing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and addressing this urgent crisis through joint governmental and civil society leadership as well as all governments' political commitment to implement the Declaration. We particularly support the references to the role of poverty, underdevelopment and illiteracy as principal contributing factors in the spread of HIV/AIDS. We welcome and support the emphasis given to the empowerment of women and girls and the essential contribution of people living with HIV/AIDS and civil society. We also welcome and support the acknowledgement of the unique vulnerability of young people and indigenous populations.

However, it is essential that we continue to speak about vulnerable groups in relation to the epidemic; this is not simply a question of semantics but of ensuring the avoidance of inappropriate policies and programmes. We insist on specific references to vulnerable groups regarding decision-making and implementation of prevention, care and treatment strategies, especially those groups not mentioned in the Declaration. These are men who have sex with men, sex workers and their partners/clients, injecting drug users and their sexual partners, prison populations, mentally and physically disabled people, ethnic minorities and racial groupings, and transgendered persons.

Twenty years of experience with this pandemic has clearly shown that openness about HIV/AIDS, in all its aspects, is crucial to curb further spread of HIV and guarantee access to care, support and treatment. Real leadership is needed to address denial, stigma, intolerance and all forms of discrimination based on race, socio- economic status, ethnicity, HIV status, class and religion, which to this date remain major obstacles to an effective response.

Human Rights

We reiterate that the response to HIV/AIDS should be framed within a strong and meaningful human rights-based approach avoiding the use of discriminatory language, with an emphasis on all those rights that are related to HIV/AIDS -- in particular international agreements and conventions adopted by the UN, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Special attention must be paid to ensuring all human rights, including freedom from poverty, racism, gender bias and (threats of) violence against those affected by the epidemic and working in the field, as well as promoting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS to education, work, shelter and medication.

We emphasize the importance of meaningful participation by, and support of, people living with HIV/AIDS at all levels of decision- making, planning, implementation and evaluation.

We note the crucial importance of developing a culture-specific approach. We do not support a rationale in which culture is used to weaken the Declaration and limit the universal necessity to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Gender

The gender-based and gender-biased social norms and beliefs prevalent in most societies form a major contributory factor to the spread of HIV and people's inability to confront the consequences of the epidemic in an adequate and effective manner. All prevention and care programmes must be gender-sensitive, challenging and addressing gender-based stereotypes in socialization processes that prevent men from sharing decision-making and responsibility with their partners. These programmes must also ensure that all adult and adolescent men and women -- irrespective of their sexual orientation -- can enjoy their human rights to appropriate prevention and care services.

Within this context, special attention is needed for empowering women and girls, particularly those that are affected by poverty, so that they can have control over, and make decisions about their sexuality and reproduction in a voluntary, responsible and informed manner, free from any coercion whatsoever.

Within the health sector, it is vital that HIV/AIDS programmes be carried out as part of a broader sexual and reproductive health policy and programming framework to ensure that the multiple needs of those affected by HIV/AIDS, both HIV-negative and HIV-positive, are addressed in an integrated manner that is meaningful to their daily lives. It is often the same factors and situations that place people at risk of suffering gender-based violence, HIV/STI infection, lack of access to harm-reduction measures, pre- and post-natal care, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortions.

Race and Ethnicity

Discriminatory practices based on race and ethnicity limit basic human rights, especially for women, to education, employment, housing and access to services. This makes members of specific racial and ethnic groups and indigenous populations particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. Recognition of the intersection of race, gender and HIV/AIDS is crucial for taking urgent action.

Youth

Young people have and will continue to serve on the frontlines in the fight against AIDS. Given that youth make up a significant part of the world's population, and that half of all new HIV infections globally occur among them, governments and civil society must recognise the value of investing in young people.

Young people must be included in key decision-making positions at every level, from community-based grassroots organisations to those with a global scope. It is vital that young people actively participate in the design and implementation of, and have guaranteed access to youth-friendly comprehensive information, education, treatment, services and care related to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS. It is important to note that young people are also members of other social groups that are most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

Young people, especially marginalized and out-of-school youth, have the least access to full enjoyment of their rights. In order to effectively combat the AIDS pandemic, the political, civil, economic, social, cultural and development rights of young people must be guaranteed and protected regardless of their HIV status. We stress that community participation is needed to protect and promote the rights of adolescents to address their sexuality positively. These community-based efforts should include strategies to promote changes in the social norms that act as barriers to adopting safer sex.

We support the acknowledgement in the Declaration that children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS require special assistance. Orphans are frequently subjected to situations that significantly increase their vulnerability to many abuses. Therefore, all vulnerable children should have guaranteed protection from all forms of abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, trafficking and loss of inheritance.

************************************************************ Africa: AIDS Assembly Summary, 3/3 Date distributed (ymd): 010703 Document reposted by APIC

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Region: Continent-Wide Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +health+

SUMMARY CONTENTS:

This series of three postings contains brief topical excerpts from the official United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, June 27, 2001, paired with related excerpts from parallel statements released by youth, African civil society groups, and international civil society groups at the UN General Assembly Special Session. Because of the exceptional importance of evaluating the outcome of this unprecented global gathering, we are making an exception of sending out three postings for your reference.

This posting contains excerpts on resources. Related postings focus on prevention and treatment and on rights and discrimination.

The full UN Declaration is available at: http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/FinalDeclarationHIVAIDS.html

The full Youth Position Paper is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106c.htm

"HIV/AIDS and Civil Society: Africa's Concerns and Perspectives" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106d.htm

"A Civil Society Perspective on the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment" is available at: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ung0106.htm

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RESOURCES

*UN Declaration, June 27, 2001*

[80] By 2005, through a series of incremental steps, reach an overall target of annual expenditures on the epidemic of between U.S. $7 billion and U.S. $10 billion in low- and middle-income countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of experiencing rapid expansion for prevention, care, treatment, support and mitigation of the impact of H.I.V./AIDS, and take measures to ensure that needed resources are made available, particularly from donor countries and also from national budgets, bearing in mind that resources of the most affected countries are seriously limited. . . .

[81] Call on the international community, where possible, to provide assistance for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in developing countries on a grant basis;

[83] Urge the developed countries that have not done so to strive to meet the targets of 0.7 percent of their gross national product for overall official development assistance and the targets of earmarking of 0.15 percent to 0.20 percent of gross national product as official development assistance for least developed countries, as agreed, as soon as possible, taking into account the urgency and gravity of the H.I.V./AIDS epidemic. . . .

[87] Without further delay, implement the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country initiative (H.I.P.C.) and agree to cancel all bilateral official debts of H.I.P.C. countries as soon as possible, especially those most affected by H.I.V./AIDS, in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty eradication and urge the use of debt-service savings to finance poverty-eradication programs, particularly for H.I.V./AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support and other infections.

*Youth Caucus Position Paper, June 27, 2001*

We call upon youth structures, governments and international partners to join us in the following:

6. Establishing a Youth Advisory Board to be put in place by the General Assembly, to monitor funds and programs of the Global AIDS Health Fund, and integrate youth into all other decision-making structures established by the Fund at national, regional, and global levels.

+ We recognize that AIDS is a development crisis, and therefore necessitates a response that addresses the underlying poverty and inequality that fuels the epidemic.

+ We call on governments and civil society to prioritize poverty eradication programs that place young people at the center.

+ We call for complete debt cancellation for all countries with high HIV prevalence rates, in order to free resources which must be effectively spent on social services such as health and education.

*African Civil Society Statement, June 26, 2001*

3. Alleviating the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS

The mutually reinforcing relationship of poverty and HIV/AIDS stands in sharp relief in Africa. Conflict, corruption, issues of rights denial, gender inequality, the lack of an enabling environment, and globalization need to be concretely addressed in the Declaration.

The Declaration is weak on its links to agreed international development targets, and it is questionable how these targets will be achieved without explicit commitments and actions to control HIV/AIDS.

4. Resources

Most countries struggling with the impact of HIV/AIDS do so under a heavy burden of mounting debt due to restructuring imposed by loan mechanism by international financial institutions.

In relation to the much-discussed Global Fund, civil society demands its full participation in the process of developing, managing and monitoring the fund. There is need for a committee to be set up outside the existing UN structure and not linked to international financial institutions to manage the funds. This committee should be made up of representatives of countries commensurate with the burden of the disease borne by the countries, and involve civil society.

HIV/AIDS is a human emergency and rules governing the global fund should be shaped by the views and aspirations of the people most affected by the disease.

Recommendations and follow-up

7. We recommend a scaled up response for HIV/AIDS affected children, including orphans. We call for increased commitment and funding to achieve the international development targets related to education, as a means to reduce the vulnerability of children and adolescents to HIV/AIDS.

10. We demand that, in light of debt in developing countries, new money is made available as grants and not as loans. This is in addition to ongoing negotiations around debt relief/cancellation.

11. Additionally, civil society calls for the establishment of strong national mechanisms to channel funds directly to community groups, and for long term cash funding commitments.

*Civil Society Statement, June 27, 2001*

Civil Society Access to Resources

Governments of both industrialized and resource-poor countries should be held accountable for providing adequate funding for HIV/AIDS-related policies and programmes. We not only urge, but demand that all governments of industrialised countries uphold their commitment to 0.7% of their GNP for overall official development assistance. These funds should be allocated to countries according to challenges and needs. New, additional resources should also be drawn from an accelerated strategy of debt cancellation, consistent with existing Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) especially for the poorest countries that have been most affected by HIV/AIDS.

We reiterate that all governments should not only commit themselves to a substantial increase in their national budgets made available for HIV/AIDS, but that they immediately implement a precise, time- framed and publicly transparent plan for these funds, in particular describing how they will be made accessible to NGOs, including community-based and grassroots organisations and organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS.

It is critical to ensure that new global funding mechanisms, like the Global Health Fund, recognise, complement and strengthen existing efforts with additional resources and reinforcing strategies. Community-based action is critical to the response to HIV/AIDS, particularly in resource-poor countries: civil society must have access to these additional funds. Their involvement in the management of the Fund is essential for transparency of funding decisions, and to guarantee access. Governments, particularly in poor countries, should collect and disseminate data and information on the impact of the epidemic on various sectors of the community and on policies, programmes and funding allocated to reduce the impact.

Follow-up to UNGASS

In conclusion, we acknowledge that the Declaration expresses many commitments on the part of member states of the UN General Assembly. However, unfulfilled commitments are not enough: all governments must be held accountable. Follow-up should not only include periodic national reviews and an annual General Assembly, one-day review. We propose the establishment of an international Declaration Monitoring body, similar to the Treaty Monitoring Committees for international conventions, to which governments must submit biannual or triennial reports on their compliance with the provisions of the Declaration. This monitoring body should also review shadow reports generated by civil society and present recommendations to Governments regarding their compliance with the commitments made in the Declaration. Furthermore, the monitoring body must include the active involvement of civil society and people living with HIV/AIDS as a key criterion in assessing compliance.

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Message-Id: <200107031437.KAA26535@server.africapolicy.org> From: "APIC" <apic@igc.org> Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 11:31:15 -0500 Subject: Africa: AIDS Assembly Summary, 1/2/3

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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