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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Africa: AIDS Consensus and Plan
Africa: AIDS Consensus and Plan
Date distributed (ymd): 001210
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+
Summary Contents:
This posting consists of the final consensus statement for action
on HIV/AIDS from the African Development Forum 2000 in Addis Ababa
(Dec. 3-7, 2000). Additional documents from the Forum can be found
on the Economic Commission for Africa website at:
http://www.uneca.org/adf2000
Additional background and links can be found at:
http://www.africapolicy.org/action/health.htm
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please Note: The version of this document originally distributed on December 10
was erroneously identitied as the "final" version. Conference delegates made further
revisions to strengthen the document. The text below is the revised version, as available
on the Economic Commission for Africa website on December 12. Please also consult
the ECA website for the additional annexes referred to in the text below.
THE AFRICAN CONSENSUS AND PLAN OF ACTION:
LEADERSHIP TO OVERCOME HIV/AIDS
The Consensus
Preamble:
Now is the decisive moment in Africa’s struggle to overcome the
continent-wide threat of HIV/AIDS. Success in overcoming the HIV/AIDS
pandemic demands an exceptional personal, moral, political and social
commitment on the part of every African. Leadership in the family, the
community, the workplace, schools, civil society, government and at an
international level is needed to halt the preventable spread of
HIV/AIDS, and to provide a decent life for all citizens of Africa.
Each and every one of the leadership acts necessary to prevent
HIV/AIDS and to help those living with HIV/AIDS, without exception,
are things we want anyway for a better, more developed Africa, and
must be implemented in full and without delay.
Much has been achieved. Many African communities and several entire
nations have shown that it is possible to contain and reduce the
spread of HIV/AIDS. Success is a reality in many places and is
possible across the continent. The Africa Development Forum 2000 is a
breakthrough. It represents a watershed in national leaders’ readiness
to address intimate personal beliefs and behaviour in a public and
political manner. It marks an unprecedented collective commitment to
the struggle against HIV/AIDS. With the required resources and the
right leadership at all levels, we will win. Too much time has been
wasted. Too many lives have been lost. Now is the moment.
1. Personal Leadership.
1.1. Every individual must personally break the silence
around the norms and practices that fuel the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. As a citizen, leader, wife, husband, parent,
child, youth, adult, worker, or employer, there are critical
issues of information, attitudes and behaviour that must be
learned and faced. Every person must be ready to speak
openly about sexual relations and the unequal power
relations within sexual relationships.
1.2. Families are the cornerstone of society. Parents have a
special responsibility to educate their children from a very
early age about the realities of HIV/AIDS and to socialise
them into personal morality and social attitudes that will
help contain the pandemic.
1.3. Each person must regard themselves as affected by the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, and must acknowledge the possibility that
they themselves or a loved one may become infected.
1.4. Every person must confront the reality of denial,
stigmatisation and discrimination against people living with
HIV/AIDS, and should embrace people living with HIV/AIDS as
fellow members of their families, communities and nations.
1.5. People living with HIV/AIDS are human beings in full
possession of their human rights. They must be valued as a
resource in and of themselves, and as crucial allies in the
common struggle to overcome HIV/AIDS. They should not be
used or manipulated in the campaign against HIV/AIDS.
1.6. Each person must take responsibility for avoiding risky
sexual behaviour, for protecting themselves, and for
preventing the virus being transmitted to others. For many
this will mean promoting and living lives of fidelity.
1.7. Youths have a personal responsibility to respond to the
challenge of HIV/AIDS, in their personal lives and by
setting examples to their peers.
2. Community Leadership
2.1. The struggle against HIV/AIDS will be won community by
community, in every family, village, township, and
settlement across Africa. Authority and resources to
overcome the pandemic must be devolved to the local level.
2.2. At the community level, there should be a common
struggle to overcome HIV/AIDS, with actions and strategies
that combine all members and component parts of the
community, resulting in a true local partnership.
2.3. People living with HIV/AIDS stand at the centre of any
community efforts to overcome the pandemic, and to change
attitudes to overcome denial, stigmatisation and
discrimination. Their rights must be respected in full and
their leadership potential recognised.
2.4. Women and girls must be empowered in their homes,
workplaces, schools and communities, and provided with the
cultural, legal and material means of protection from sexual
abuse. Traditional leaders need to be reliable allies in
protecting women from abuse. Perpetrators of sexual and
domestic violence against women and children, must be
prosecuted in the courts. Child- and woman-friendly family
courts must be created at scale and supported.
2.5. Men’s responsibilities towards women and girl children
must be emphasised. Men must be a target for educational
efforts with a view to their being important allies in the
fight against HIV/AIDS.
2.6. Children orphaned by AIDS should be both a family and
community responsibility, with the family receiving
sufficient support to ensure their welfare, education and
health.
2.7. Governments have a special responsibility to promote
social responsibility among soldiers and other uniformed
officers of the state. They must take the lead in preventing
and punishing sexual crimes by these servants of the state.
2.8. All people, regardless of their sexual orientation,
must have access to appropriate information about HIV
prevention, access to appropriate treatment and care, and
should be free of stigmatisation, discrimination and fear.
2.9. The accessibility and low price of condoms must be
ensured, and people must be taught about their importance
and use. Access for youth and rural dwellers is especially
important.
2.10. Youth comprise over half of Africa’s population, and
are leaders of today and tomorrow. Youth must be clearly
recognised and encouraged both as key participants and as
key targets in developing and implementing HIV/AIDS action
plans at all levels. Youth organisations require support and
resources. The youth representatives from throughout Africa
played an important part in the Forum and the Youth
Statement is appended as Annex I, as an integral part of
this statement.
2.11. The many different stakeholders in communities each
have particular roles and responsibilities, which often need
to be developed more fully, to make them full allies in the
common struggle against HIV/AIDS and the support of people
living with HIV/AIDS. They include:
People living with HIV/AIDS, whose involvement is
essential.
Spiritual leaders, who are among the most
influential community members, provide moral
guidance and awareness.
Traditional healers have multiple roles including
palliative care, and contribution to global
research efforts in search of a cure.
Health care providers in both their roles as
health educators and care givers, are crucial
allies.
Women’s groups are an integral component of the
community. Women’s leaders are educators and role
models for women and girls, and can play a key
role in changing the attitudes of men.
Teachers and educators, including traditional
communicators, are pivotal intermediaries in
influencing children and youth and are influential
role models. They must be trained to teach
forthrightly about sex and HIV/AIDS education.
Employers and trade unions have key roles in
workplace initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS, and
overcome stigmatisation and discrimination.
Elected representatives and traditional leaders
should represent and be accountable to all their
constituents, including PLWAs, and can play an
important role in advocating for their interests
and mobilising community-wide campaigns.
Older people require education and assistance to
enable them to provide aid and care for PLWAs and
orphans of PLWAs. Older persons must be used to
provide education consonant with tradition and
culture to families, communities and civic groups.
2.12 Those caring for people living with AIDS need special
assistance in recognition of the special burdens and
responsibilities upon them.
2.13 In sum, there is a need for total societal mobilisation
at a community level, creating a robust ‘social immunity’
from the scourge of HIV/AIDS. This involves a seamless
continuity between breaking the silence on stigma, and
providing effective prevention, treatment and care.
3. National Leadership
3.1 National leaders’ prime responsibility is to create the
conditions for community mobilisation, across the nation, on
a scale and with a commitment comparable to mobilising for
war.
3.2 Many cases of impressive national efforts exist: the
challenge is to replicate them and to scale them up to cover
every community. This may require national leaders to commit
domestic resources to HIV/AIDS programmes and to ensure that
they in fact reach local groups efficiently.
3.3 National leaders’ personal example can transform the
moral and social climate in which HIV/AIDS can be discussed
and addressed openly, and denial and stigma can be overcome.
3.4 National strategies should include scaling up the
resources and systems necessary so that anti-retroviral and
other essential medications can be made available to the
widest possible population as rapidly as possible. This will
take leadership, hard bargaining, and the mobilisation of
domestic and international resources.
3.5 The status of women and girls at a national level needs
special emphasis. Women must be closely involved in all
components of HIV/AIDS programmes. National leaders must
initiate special programmes and set up special institutions
to promote the rights and initiatives of women. Inequitable
gender relations and opportunities lie at the core of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic. Since Africa’s women leaders have
demonstrated their readiness to lead on HIV/AIDS issues, the
fostering of more women leaders of national and
international stature is an important component of
overcoming HIV/AIDS. Acknowledging the central importance of
this issue, the Statement of the Gender Focus Group, Annex
III, is an integral part of this statement.
3.6 National AIDS institutions and councils should be
strengthened as a matter of urgency in order to assure a
broad, multi-sectoral response at the national and community
levels. Strong legal and regulatory frameworks are required.
HIV/AIDS committees should be extended to the local level
across every country. Stakeholders including PLWAs, Youth
and Civil Society Organisations, must be fully involved.
Best cases in Africa demonstrate that highest level
political leadership of national AIDS councils is a
requirement.
3.7 Effective multi-sectoral leadership requires that every
sector must achieve competence on how HIV/AIDS affects its
activities and how it can contribute to a multi-sectoral
plan to overcome the pandemic.
The health sector, provided with suitable
resources, must play a leading role in prevention,
treatment and the surveillance of the pandemic.
All available measures to minimise mother-to-child
transmission should be utilised.
The education sector is central to effective
responses to HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS and sex education
must be in every curriculum. Schools must be
models for equitable gender relations and young
people must be involved in the management of
school-based initiatives focusing on HIV/AIDS. All
school fees and other charges required to attend
government schools must be abolished to ensure
that all children can enjoy their right to
education. Donors should provide special support
to the education sector.
Youth out of school, including street children,
should be targeted and reached by appropriate
strategies. Given the impact of drug abuse on the
spread of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse prevention and
rehabilitation programmes targeting specifically
youth in and out of school should be implemented
in rural and urban areas.
The social welfare sector must provide assistance
to those caring for people with AIDS, and for
their dependents. Assistance including counseling
should be provided for orphans.
Ministries of finance should ensure adequate
resource provisioning for HIV/AIDS programmes.
They should reorient budgets and administrative
procedures so that funds related to HIV/AIDS
programmes can be managed in the most efficient
manner in order to provide funds expeditiously at
all germane levels.
The trade, industry, mining sectors must shoulder
their responsibilities for minimising transmission
of HIV and for non-discriminatory employment
practices. Business and labour should be involved
in developing and implementing national HIV/AIDS
action plans. Efforts should be made to extend
these activities to the informal sector.
Local production of pertinent pharmaceuticals
should be encouraged.
The rural sector is particularly at risk because
of high levels of illiteracy and poverty. The
agricultural, livestock and fishing sectors should
shoulder responsibilities, especially for
education about HIV/AIDS, alongside the
authorities in rural areas.
The military must confront the reality of high
levels of HIV prevalence among soldiers, and take
necessary steps to reduce transmission. Armies
must provide for soldiers who are living with HIV.
As disciplined national institutions, armies can
take a leading role in HIV/AIDS control
programmes. The military must take steps to
eliminate the high level of sexual violence
against women and girls, particularly during
conflicts, and ensure that those responsible are
prosecuted and punished. Similar considerations
apply to other uniformed services of the state
including the police and prison service.
Commercial sex workers and women forced to engage
in ‘survival sex’ should be protected by the law
and law enforcement officers, and provided with
education and access to condoms and medical
facilities.
African research institutes should become actively
engaged in research for improved treatments for
HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections, drawing
inter alia on the expertise of traditional
healers.
The media should have a crucial partnership role
in public education and shaping attitudes.
Information and communication technology can play
an important role in national, regional and global
transmission of information.
Artists and cultural leaders can play key roles in
influencing public attitudes and can serve as role
models.
3.8 People living with HIV/AIDS must be involved in national
policymaking and implementation in a meaningful manner.
3.9 Governments have a responsibility to improve capacities
wherever needed for the campaign against HIV/AIDS. This
includes their own effectiveness and accountability, so as
to be able to fulfil their commitments to their citizens,
and to be able to receive and dispense international
assistance rapidly and efficiently. CSOs can play a vital
role in monitoring government’s performance.
3.10 Civil society organisations have taken the lead in many
aspects of HIV/AIDS control. Their roles must be appreciated
and supported. NGOs must hold themselves to high standards
of accountability and transparency. The common position of
African civil society organisations represented at the Forum
is important and their Declaration is therefore appended in
Annex II as an integral part of this statement.
3.11 Religious leaders and traditional leaders have immense
influence over matters of personal morality and behaviour.
They are encouraged to be far more active in removing the
stigma of HIV/AIDS and in educating their congregations.
Abstinence and fidelity would, if followed, prove an
effective means of preventing HIV transmission. Religious
values such as care for the stricken, tolerance and
inclusion can assist in the campaign against HIV/AIDS.
3.12 Development and economic planning must play a crucial
role in reducing vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, by means of
promoting sustainable livelihoods and employment and through
poverty-reducing wealth creation.
4. Regional Leadership
4.1 Africa’s HIV/AIDS pandemic knows no geographic, economic
or social boundaries. It demands action at a continental
level and leadership from Africa’s regional and subregional
organisations.
4.2 Much can be learned from successful examples of the
containment of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in different countries
in Africa. The regular sharing of experiences and the
provision of technical advice from elsewhere in Africa are
tools towards adopting best practices across the continent.
4.3 Essential and comprehensive care and treatment for
people living with HIV/AIDS is required. A continental
strategy to ensure the affordable provision of essential
anti-retroviral drugs and treatments for opportunistic
infections is needed very rapidly. This requires a
determined pan-African strategy in partnership with
international donors and pharmaceutical companies.
4.4 The International Partnership against AIDS in Africa has
been established to develop a more conducive framework for
true partnerships and better coordination among key
stakeholders at all levels. It is intended to assist in
providing the much-need additional resources, technical
support, information sharing and coordination of donor
efforts, under the leadership of African governments. The
IPAA should be fully implemented.
4.5 Peace is an essential pre-requisite for effective
programmes against HIV/AIDS. The extent of ongoing war in
Africa seriously undermines any realistic programmes to
combat HIV/AIDS in the affected areas. It is therefore
imperative that African governments and regional and
subregional organisations take decisive steps to create and
maintain peace and security and promote democratisation as a
means of facilitating conflict resolution.
4.6 Long-distance migration, mobility, displacement and
refugee flows are risk factors for HIV/AIDS that demand
inter-state cooperation to develop and implement policies
against HIV/AIDS. Policies and programmes aimed at migrant,
mobile and displaced populations should be developed and
implemented. However, no measures should be implemented that
curtail freedom of movement.
5 International Partnership
5.1 An estimated US$3 billion is now required annually to
contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including prevention,
treatment, community support, research, training and
surveillance. This may soon rise to as much as US$ 10
billion if anti-retroviral treatments are made available to
all PLWAs. These resources are available, nationally,
regionally and globally.
5.2 The first source for resource commitment must be
domestic. In the framework of multi-sectoral strategies,
adequate provision for HIV/AIDS programmes should be
prominently reflected in every ministerial budget. Certain
national leaders have committed themselves to putting their
nations on a ‘war footing’. In resource terms, this implies
spending more on combating HIV/AIDS than on peacetime
defence expenditure.
5.3 This also requires mobilisation of resources from every
possible source such as the domestic private sector and
community resources.
5.4 Foreign donors and international financial institutions
must greatly increase their financial commitments to
HIV/AIDS and development programmes. This assistance,
wherever possible, should be in the form of grants, not
loans, and should benefit from expedited procedures.
5.5 A substantial reduction in the prices of anti-retroviral
drugs and treatments for opportunistic infections is
required. African governments, donors and international
financial institutions must work in partnership to reduce
the prices of drugs to a level commensurate with their
production costs.
5.6 International research efforts to develop vaccines
against HIV and treatments for AIDS and opportunistic
infections should be substantially increased, and carried
out in partnership with African communities and research
institutes, ensuring that resulting benefits reach Africa.
5.7 There is a need for an international code of good
practice to be developed and utilised to safeguard and
guarantee the rights of workers with HIV/AIDS, and to
specify the responsibilities of employers. The ILO should
provide support and technical assistance to employers’ and
workers’ organisations and to labour ministries to
strengthen their capacity for the effective implementation
of national action plans and policies. Recognising the
importance of this, the Conclusions and Recommendations of
the ILO Pre-forum Tripartite Event are appended as Annex IV,
as an integral part of this statement.
5.8 Debt relief is an important source for both money and
political commitment, and as a means of mainstreaming
HIV/AIDS programming into development and poverty reduction
policies. The HIPC programme of debt reduction should be
expanded and accelerated particularly where resources will
be re-channeled to HIV/AIDS and poverty reduction.
5.9 Other sources of finance such as corporations and
foundations, and innovative ways of generating revenue,
should also be sought.
5.10 The African diaspora is an important source of
resources, expertise and networks that can be utilised as
part of a true and effective partnership. Therefore, African
governments should take specific steps to scale up existing
diaspora initiatives, understand the full dimension of this
group and extend this support into new areas of priority.
Dialogue needs to commence as an urgent priority to
encourage the diaspora community to raise funds, mobilise
scientific resources and expertise and combine their
strengths with emphasis on HIV/AIDS.
5.11 International assistance efforts should be coordinated,
transparent and accountable. Mechanisms to ensure the quick,
effective, direct and accountable delivery of resources to
local groups and programmes will be required.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is manageable. With the required political
commitment, provision of resources, and strategies that include all
stakeholders as valued partners, the HIV/AIDS pandemic can be rolled
back and contained. The experience of certain African countries shows
that this is achievable. What has been accomplished must be sustained
and spread across the entire continent. Africa’s HIV/AIDS pandemic
will be overcome at a continental level or not at all.
B. Plan of Action
1. At the National Level
1.1 Each country should hold a representative national
workshop by mid-February 2001, to determine how the
Consensus and Plan of Action of the ADF can be turned into
action at the country level.
1.2 All governments should prepare reports for the Special
Summit of the OAU on HIV/AIDS by mid-March. These should
include concrete action on national initiatives at the
highest level and resource allocation.
1.3 Civil society organisations, especially PLWAs and Youth,
should strengthen their cooperation, evaluate their
experience, and prepare for their contribution to the OAU
Special Summit.
1.4 By the end of 2001, each country should ensure that it
has in place a National AIDS Commission (or equivalent) and
a strategic plan, backed up by appropriate legislation,
modalities for the involvement of PLWAs and other
stakeholders, and mechanisms for regular monitoring of
progress.
2. At the Regional and Global Levels
2.1 Africa’s Regional Organisations, spearheaded by the ECA,
will ensure that the ADF Consensus and Plan of Action are
kept high on the agendas for meetings of African leaders
including Heads of State, at regional, subregional and
supraregional levels (e.g. Organisation of the Islamic
Conference). In view of a history of resolutions that were
not implemented, it is essential that the commitments that
are made henceforth are binding and are fully implemented in
accordance with agreed action plans and timescales.
2.2 During 2001, subregional summits are urged to address
the HIV/AIDS challenge as a matter of high priority. To this
end, the official subregional organisations should similarly
place HIV/AIDS as a top priority in their work.
2.3 At the ECA Conference of Planning and Finance Ministers
(Algiers, 23-25 April 2001), the interweaving of Poverty
Reduction, Debt Relief and HIV/AIDS strategies should be
considered, and common positions on international resourcing
for combating HIV/AIDS agreed upon.
2.4 The Special Summit of the OAU on HIV/AIDS and other
communicable diseases, in Abuja, 25-27 April 2001, should be
a pivotal event for the continental campaign to overcome
HIV/AIDS. This Consensus statement and Plan of Action should
be presented to the Heads of State and Government Summit for
their adoption and commitment to implementation. Civil
society organisations, PLWA, youth and other stakeholders
must be represented as participants.
2.5 The OAU Annual Summit in Lusaka in July 2001 should
devote a special session to HIV/AIDS and request that the
issue remain on the agenda for future summits, in which the
Secretary General of the OAU will present a report on
progress made in combating HIV/AIDS and challenges which
require most urgent attention.
2.6 At the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS,
in June 2001, African participants should present a common
position based on this Consensus, and a common coordinated
demand for international assistance, debt relief, and
provision of affordable drugs.
2.7 At the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children
in September 2001, it should be clearly stated that HIV/AIDS
is the number one threat to Africa’s children. In addition,
it must be stated that there is a collective responsibility
to ensure that the next generation of Africans does not have
to face the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
2.8 The UN Secretary General, in partnership with others,
and with the close involvement of UNAIDS and ECA, should
embark on a major fundraising campaign. Major private sector
corporations, foundations and individual philanthropists
should be invited to contribute to the initiative, which
should be aimed at filling the funding gaps identified by
UNAIDS. The campaign should be carried out in partnership
with key African stakeholders, especially PLWAs, to
encourage a global public response to Africa’s HIV/AIDS
pandemic.
2.9 The IPAA should take a lead, in partnership with African
regional organisations, governments and civil society, in
speedily implementing agreed commitments to bringing
anti-retroviral and other AIDS treatments within reach of
African people living with HIV/AIDS. The IPAA is invited to
devise a mechanism of accountability for commitments made in
this Consensus and follow-on meetings of African leaders and
their partners.
2.10 NGOs and other advocacy forces in Africa and
internationally are encouraged to organise a campaign,
comparable to Jubilee 2000, aimed at pressuring
pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions to make
anti-retroviral drugs available at reasonable costs to treat
all PLWAs in Africa.
2.11 The Youth Against AIDS Network should be encouraged to
continue expanding its regional network of young Africans,
building on existing structures and organisations. It is the
view of the Forum that the YAAN must have appropriate
financing to become a vibrant continent-wide network.
2.12 In addition to the above, mechanisms should be created
so that recurrent reviews, sharing of best practices and
peer review takes place at all required levels.
3. Communications from this Forum
3.1 The major presentations by notables attending the forum
should be made widely available to African radio and TV
services.
Youth Statement to the African Development Forum
We the young people represented at the African Development Forum
2000 state our position on Aids and leadership:
- recognizing that poverty in Africa plays a major role in shaping
both the course and the response to the pandemic;
- Horrified at the number of lives lost unnecessarily to Aids;
- Disillusioned by the fact that our leaders have betrayed us by
waging wars, plundering our resources, raiding our national
treasuries, and taking insufficient action on HIV/AIDS;
- Deeply saddened that due to the role of the World Bank and the
IMF imposed structural adjustment programs, many African states can
no longer provide the basic education and health services that are
so critical to development;
- Disturbed that the inability of many African states to deliver on
health and education services is in direct violation of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights;
- Outraged by the World Bank's decision to offer $500 million in
loans to already indebted countries to fight HIV/Aids;
- Deeply concerned that young people have borne the brunt of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic both in terms of infections and caring for and
supporting family members;
- Further concerned that young women in particular are more
susceptible to contracting HIV because of patriarchal attitudes
about female sexuality, and this is compounded by their biological
vulnerability to infection;
- Cognizant that young people must commit themselves to changing
unhealthy behaviors and assuming leadership roles in the fight
against HIV/AIDS;
- Optimistic that leaders will now finally begin to listen, speak
out and to act;
- Willing to work with leaders at every level, in partnership and
mutual respect to triumph over HIV/AIDS and build a new Africa.
We the young people represented at the ADF 2000 call upon leaders
in Africa at all levels to do the following:
- Prevention
- Every African nation must have an inter-sectoral Aids budget
that is jointly administered by civil society and government. Young
people must form a critical part of the structure that oversees
this fund and must have full voting and decision making power.
- 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.
- 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.
- Each government must create mechanisms for purchasing and
distributing condoms so that prevention efforts that rely on
condoms are sustainable.
- 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. 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
- Treatment
- The pharmaceutical drug manufacturers that profit exorbitantly
from illness must be challenged by young Africans in solidarity
with our governments as they attempt to negotiate lower prices and
advocate for the use of generic drugs.
- Youth organizations should strengthen their treatment
initiatives by promoting good nutrition and positive living.
- Policy measures must be put in place by governments to ensure
that PLWHAs are not exploited financially by companies and
individuals making false claims about treatments and cures.
- Care, Support, and Stigma
- Political leaders should govern by example, ensuring that they
speak openly and honestly about HIV/Aids.
- Youth organizations should establish a "Movement for Acceptance"
that calls attention to the marginalization of particular groups of
young people. In particular this movement will focus on the death
of access of access to services and information for young people
living with HIV/Aids, young women, and young people living in rural
areas, young people living in the street, gay and lesbian youth,
young people engaged in sex work, out-of-school youth, and young
people living in conflict zones.
- Challenging Poverty
- African youth organizations and structures must build alliances
with young people around the world who are currently challenging
the negative effects of globalization and protesting meetings held
by international lending institutions.
- African youth organizations must lobby the international
community to ensure that loans to Africa for Aids are rejected
outright.
- Participation
- Young people must play a critical role in decision-making for
all national Aids strategies and plans.
- Young people must be represented at all levels of Aids planning
and programming at both a community and government level.
- Young people's capacity to manage effective organizations must
be bolstered by policy and legal environments that allow us to seek
training, mentorship programs and build strong organizations and
structures.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). APIC provides
accessible information and analysis in order to promote U.S.
and international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
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