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Barcelona AIDS2002 and the NGO voice
Reposted courtesy of IRIN PlusNews, 1 July 2002
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Previous international AIDS gatherings have tended to be "scientific showcases", but community-based organisations and children's NGOs are hoping for a higher profile at the 14th International Conference on AIDS to be held in Barcelona, Spain, next week. "In the past, we felt that the community arm of the programme in international conferences had been tacked on as an afterthought, but this year looks to be different," Debbie Matthews, programme manager for the AIDS Foundation of South Africa, told PlusNews on Monday.
The Durban-based NGO has been mobilising and managing resources for HIV/AIDS community projects in the country for about 14 years. The AIDS Foundation would be focusing on themes dealing with prevention and education and community interventions, Matthews said. The NGO would be making presentations on alternative models of care for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as on how large donors can use organisations such as the AIDS Foundation as "donor intermediaries" in the community.
Poster presentations for delegates unable to participate in oral sessions will be exhibited during the Conference. Every day, new posters will be presented by their authors, who will be available for a question-and-answer session. "Our main reason for attending will be to keep abreast of the latest developments and to network and share experiences on best practices from other regions," Matthews said.
She added: "People had the wrong idea last time in Durban [2000 International Conference]; they expected to be involved in discussions and come out with concrete resolutions, but this is not what happens. You are there to learn about what other people are doing and share experiences." The prohibitive cost of attending such conferences, however, still marginalised smaller NGOs and community-based organisations.
"They say these conferences are bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, but they are still expensive for many of us in poor countries," Matthews said. The Foundation will host a workshop to report back on the Conference to those organisations unable to attend.
But Yvonne Spain, Co-ordinator of Children in Distress (CINDI), a children's NGO based in KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the fortunate few. "I was lucky to get a full scholarship, or else I wouldn't have made it," she said. Spain will be presenting a poster on "How Networking has Enhanced Working with Children affected by HIV/AIDS" in a town in KwaZulu Natal, as well as co-chairing a session on mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and adults. "These conferences are usually mind-blowing, there is so much information available. I'm hoping to look at other models on caring for children affected," she added.
The Conference is also an ideal opportunity for NGOs to seek out prospective donors. Meeting donors at the previous international AIDS conference had been "very rewarding for CINDI", Spain said. "This is my third Conference and I am not jaded, I'm looking forward to being an ambassador for other South African NGOs," she said.
loveLife, an HIV/AIDS youth education campaign which encourages young South Africans to talk freely about sexual issues such as teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, will be represented by a team of five youths, as well as the organisation's CEO, David Harrison. The organisation will be presenting an exhibition as well as participating in a satellite session on the science of HIV/AIDS prevention.
"It's important to profile loveLife, which in many respects meets critical success criteria," David Harrison said. Despite still being a "work in progress", loveLife also provided examples which could help to point the way for successful prevention campaigns. There was growing evidence from countries such as Uganda and Senegal that behaviour change could work, but it was still necessary to look at how it worked, he added.
[This item is delivered to the English Service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.]
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