Global Citizen Summit Steering Team Meeting held in Kenya

Representatives from AfriCASO, UNAIDS, Actionaid, APACHA, Oxfam, Panos, HERD, CEGA, Health Link World Wide, African CSO Coalition on HIV&AIDS participated in the steering team meeting to develop the detail road map for the upcoming Global Citizen Summit to end AIDS, in Kenya from 9th – 10th, March, 2009. The first ever international summit on social mobilization for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support has been scheduled to be held on May 27-29th, 2009. Summit will take place in the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, in Nairobi, Kenya.

"The time has come for us to refresh steps and deliver AIDS response that actually works for the front line. I have no doubt in my mind that social actions and social movements will be key in delivering the end of AIDS. This summit will ask hard questions that must help us to re-direct AIDS response" said, Leonard Okello, the HIV&AIDS Theme Head of Actionaid International.

At a time when the world is witnessing the strengths as well as serious limitations of time bound projects, social mobilization has been observed as one of the best alternatives going beyond the Time Bound Projects. It is high time for global AIDS response to seriously reflect on existing practices as well as alternatives especially in comprehensively curbing an epidemic that has been challenging broader development dynamics and demanding a combined response from different corners. The summit, in these contexts will seek to improve our understanding of the various social mobilization experiences in an effort to scale up their application and maximize their impact to reach universal access. It will bring together a wide range of stakeholders who use participatory approaches, multi-sectoral mobilizations and other methods of social mobilization to share their rich experiences that have proven to have results for community and social mobilization to end AIDS.

Highlighting about the expectation of the summit, UNAIDS Social Mobilization and Partnership Advisior, Jacquline Makokha said, "The summit will provide a rare opportunity for community voices to be heard by lead implementers of HIV programs. It will add a much needed imputes for discussion around universal access.

According to the team, this summit will explore radical options to mobilize the nations, test the nations, treat the nations and end aids. It will also explore the likely scenario of the global AIDS response in the context of increasing focus on climate change; food crisis; global financial crisis and agree urgent radical options for the course of action to reduce the cost of an AIDS response without undermining the quality of services.

Focusing on the need to reflect and radicalize social actions and social movements as one of the timely alternatives, Mr. Prabodh Devkota, Asia Coordinator of APACHA said," This is high time for the world to seriously reflect on the ongoing policies and practices and to realize the fact that AIDS response has not been able to go beyond time bound projects. Unless a broader society is mobilized with a greater sense of solidarity, responsibility and accountability the battle is almost impossible." He further said, "The Global Citizen Summit will be an opportunity to reflect, revisit and re strategize global AIDS response with major focus to people-centered social actions."

Similarly, Professor Dr. Kwame Owusu-Ampomah, Senior Research Fellow, HERD said, "The Global Citizen Summit is a timely intervention to focus attention on radical approaches to an emergency response to the HIV&AIDS epidemic. Business as usual does not make sense when humanity's survival is at stake".

Global Citizen Summit and APACHA International Secretariat Media Team-