UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UNAIDS The First 10 Years120A major task of the newlyestablished InternationalPartnership against AIDSin Africa was to tacklethe stigma of AIDS andpromote prevention, includingcondoms – here being sold inKampala, Uganda.Panos/Sven Torfi nnAnnan formally launched the International Partnership against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) at theForum, saying that “… the IPAA is the concrete expression of the continent’s resolve to actin new ways and with renewed vigour against AIDS”.The formal outcome was the African Consensus and Plan of Action: Leadership to OvercomeHIV/AIDS. As with all these meetings, the event itself was only the culmination of an extensivepreparation process. It was preceded by 23 consultations across Africa, involving governments,the UN, the private sector and civil society, as well as national workshops. UNAIDShad collaborated closely with the UN Economic Commission for Africa.The regional strategy produced for the Africa Partnership helped to lay the foundations forthe global strategies debated and, to a considerable extent agreed, at UNGASS in 2001.Since 1999, there had been significant progress in increasing African ownership of thePartnership and mobilizing high-ranking political support. The King of Swaziland openedParliament by describing AIDS as a ‘national disaster’ and a National HIV/AIDS CrisisManagement Committee was established. The Presidents of Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique,Nigeria and Zimbabwe established high-powered AIDS Commissions. The President ofBurkina Faso created a National Solidarity Fund and the government was developing AIDSrelatedinitiatives to be funded through debt relief initiative mechanisms.