International Partnership Against AIDS In Africa

The International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) is a coalition of actors who have chosen to work together to achieve the shared vision of significantly scaling up efforts in Africa to curtail the spread of HIV, reduce its impact and halt the further reversal of human, social and economic development. The actors of the Partnership are: African governments; co-sponsors of UNAIDS; donors; the private sector including labour, and the community sector. (See www.unaids.org/africapartnership/whatis.html)

More information on the Partnership and related issues is available at www.unaids.org/africapartnership/html . Any organisations or individuals interested in joining the partnership or receiving news of its activities should send their name and both e-mail and physical addresses to: [email protected]

1. Education for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Nigeria

A four-day national workshop on Education for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Nigeria was held in Abuja from 9-13 June 2002. The workshop, co-sponsored by UNESCO and the Federal Ministry of Education and supported by UNAIDS and DFID, brought together a total of 150 participants representing the Federal and State Ministries of Education, State Primary Education Boards, Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria and two resource persons. The meeting resolved that Nigeria shall develop its programme in education for HIV prevention by integrating the principles of FRESH, the UNGASS agreements and the UNESCO Strategic Plan on education for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. For more information, please contact Gesa Kupfer at [email protected]

2. Rwanda gets $14m for drugs

The Rwandan government is to spend US$14.64 million pledged in April by the UN Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The money has been pledged over two years, with $3.3 million for the first year. A meeting of the African Association of Purchasing Centres for the Essential Generic Drugs, held in Kigali last week, recommended that medical and pharmaceutical companies should never again go beyond a profit of five percent on HIV/AIDS drugs in Rwanda. For more information, please contact Ivan Hermans at [email protected]

3. Africare Zambia integrates agriculture with HIV/AIDS

The international non-governmental organisation Africare is integrating agricultural activities with HIV/AIDS activities in Eastern, Southern and Central Zambia in a bid to reduce infection levels of the pandemic. The programme is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The HIV/AIDS awareness programme run by Africare will be extended to Kaprivi in Namibia. For more information, contact Anna Vohlonen at: [email protected]

4. Grassroots Initiative Network

Grain Africa (Grassroots Initiative Network) is a non-profit organisation whose major objective is to promote and sustain grassroots involvement within the marginalised and deprived communities in Africa. The focus is on poverty reduction through community self-help groups; development education and the creation of collaboration-partnership networks in the areas of education, health/HIV/AIDS intervention and awareness programmes, food security, civic lobby, gender/youth affairs and the environment.

Link-up operations have already been established within Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. The organisation is currently looking for volunteer capacity support for its partner Secretariats in Nairobi, Durban & Dar-es-Salaam. Organisations are asked to assist in whatever way possible to enable Grain Africa to realise some of their objectives. For more information, please contact Daniel Mbinda at: [email protected]