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Dispatches from Toronto AIDS Conference   
Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006
Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006
Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006 Monday, Aug. 14, 2006
Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006 Aug. 16—Today’s conference sessions opened with a challenge: What is the price of inaction?, speakers asked at “Time to Deliver: The Price of Inaction.” Mark Heywood of Treatment Action (South Africa) put the question to his government, challenging South Africa to set and meet targets by 2008 to include getting 500,000 people into treatment. Youth advocate Kerrel McKay (Jamaica) gave a personal perspective about the price of inaction: her father died of AIDS when she was 15 years old, spurring her work today to mobilize youth to fight AIDS in her community.
Other highlights included:
She says that the intersection of poverty and gender inequality is fueling the AIDS epidemic in
Speaking about CEDPA’s program, Ebokpo says she values the exchange of best practices and experiences among the participants from around the world. “I discovered that women from Cambodia, women from the Eastern block, we all had the same problems” and could learn from one another, Ebokpo said. Tuesday Session Highlights
Aug. 15—The government of France announced that for the first time, it would contribute 300 million Euros to the Global Fund to Prevent AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “We are fortunate to live in a time when we have the opportunity to meet our obligation,” Clinton said, saying that the world community has the resources and tools to fight the epidemic. Clinton urged leaders to base prevention strategies on scientific evidence. “We know how to overcome AIDS,” he said, “We know how to prevent millions of needless deaths.” Protesters Demand Rights for Women and Girls Mary Robinson, UN Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Ireland, called on policymakers to move beyond rhetoric and use a rights-based approach to AIDS policies. "Millions of women don't know their rights," she said, and challenged women's organizations to push AIDS to the forefront of their priorities. Robinson was joined by other speakers including Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in
Demonstrators took to the streets after the rally, chanting the slogan from the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference “women’s rights are human rights,” and marched to the convention center where the AIDS conference is being held. Aug. 14—At a luncheon session today, two of the leading global networks of people living with AIDS—the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+)—announced they have received a major institutional strengthening grant to join forces over the next three years.
Other highlights included: AIDS Conference Opens to Thousands More than 20,000 people from 170 countries sat under the dimmed lights as they listened to remarks by leaders including Bill and Melinda Gates, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot, and conference co-chairs Helen D. Gayle of CARE and Mark A. Wainberg of the McGill University AIDS Centre. These leaders called for increased action and commitment to fight AIDS, particularly to meet the needs of women and girls, step up prevention efforts among vulnerable populations, advance new technologies against HIV and AIDS, and meet funding commitments. As noted by Helene Gayle, "we must ensure that promises made are promises kept" and that "rhetoric meets reality" in fighting AIDS. Frika Chia Iskandar, an Indonesian AIDS activist, introduced herself to the assembly by stating that "I am the new face of AIDS—a young Asian woman," and challenged donors to direct more funding to the needs and realities of those living with AIDS. UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot reminded participants that "we are at a great time of hope and great opportunity because we have achieved more in the last five years that the last 20," but also noted the huge gap in preventing the spread of HIV, particularly among youth. The theme of prevention was continued by Bill and Melinda Gates, who shared a podium to address the question of how to stem the four million new HIV infections that occur each year. Bill Gates called the gap between these new infections and the relatively small number of those receiving anti-retroviral therapy as the "harsh mathematics of this epidemic." He stressed that women and girls are particularly vulnerable to infection and stigma, and that "we have to put the power of prevention in the hands of women" if we are to be successful, challenging his foundation and other donors to focus more on the development of microbicides and oral prevention drugs that could enable women to better protect themselves from infection. Melinda Gates continued the theme of prevention, stressing that in addition to developing new technologies, "we must bring the tools we already have to those who need them," including condoms because "in the fight against AIDS, condoms save lives." The attendees gave many of the speakers standing ovations, cheering and clapping in solidarity with the calls for action. The one note of controversy involved the decision by Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper to not attend the convention, which prompted Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to boycott her planned attendance in a symbolic protest. CEDPA Alumni Leading Fight Against AIDS CEDPA met up with some of them at a reception and strategy session held today a few hours before the official conference began. Among those who attended were Tanzanian parliamentarian Hon. Lediana Mafuru Mng’ong’o (pictured standing right) and Ugandan advocate Proscovia Namakula (pictured left). As the national coordinator for the National Forum of People Living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda, Namakula has increased her focus on developing collaboration among the many national and international networks of people living with HIV/AIDS. She would like to see more networks work together to elevate shared advocacy goals and eliminate competition for funding. Elected to the Tanzanian parliament in 2000, Mng’ong’o uses her position as Chair of the Coalition of African Parliamentarians against HIV/AIDS to campaign for the rights of women and children affected by HIV. She has lobbied her fellow parliamentarians, along with women leaders and government ministers, to break the silence about HIV and reduce stigma. Mng’ong’o holds roundtables with parliamentarians and people living with HIV/AIDS, and makes home visits to people receiving treatment, to align policymaking with the realities and needs of people’s lives. Mng’ong’o was part of the Women in Management program in 2000, where she said she was urged by her fellow participants to get involved in politics. Featured in CEDPA’s recent WomenLead magazine, Namakula participated in the last year’s WomenLead in the Fight Against AIDS training. |
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Other highlights included: 
Aug. 16—
Other highlights included a session on “Global Leaders Speak Out,
Aug. 14—More than a thousand demonstrators in downtown Toronto demanded that women and girls become more of a priority in AIDS policies and programs.
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Aug. 13—The XVI International AIDS Conference opened in the Rogers Centre here in Toronto, an 11.5 acre baseball stadium with a size that symbolized the enormity of both the passion and the challenge that is ahead in the AIDS fight.
Aug. 13—Among the thousands of AIDS advocates, managers, scientists and political leaders attending the AIDS conference are many CEDPA alumni leading efforts against AIDS around the world.
