UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 3De Lay explained: “And they [CPAs] had to be true renaissance men and women: theywere supposed to cover everything and bring everybody together. But there were manyinstances where Theme Groups would meet and the CPA wouldn’t be invited becausethey were too low in rank. You would have the Resident Representative of UNICEF [and]the Head of WHO [for instance], who didn’t want to be coordinated or reached to by somelittle pipsqueak … who’s basically considered just a social advocate. So the situation forCPAs meant that they had almost no budget and little technical credibility, as far as theyweren’t education specialists, behaviour theorists [or] behaviour change specialists, andthese issues became a major challenge for them”.55Certainly many CPAs felt challenged or frustrated by the lack of tangible results fromtheir work. But there were clearly rewarding moments. Maria Tallarico, the fi rst CPA inMozambique in 1996, recalled how the sustained advocacy of the UN Theme Group andthe UNAIDS office resulted in AIDS becoming a political priority for the President and hisgovernment. This was despite all the other challenges facing a country emerging from acivil war that had lasted for 16 years. Tallarico believed it was an achievement because therole of UNAIDS at country level was clear at the time. She paid credit to the parts playedby the Theme Group Chair (the World Bank) and the UN Resident Coordinator, who wereboth committed to political advocacy at the highest level.A clear example of such advocacy occurred on World AIDS Day in Mozambique in 1997,when the President, Joaquim Chissano, together with his political and military opponentof many years, Afonso Dhlakama, sat side by side at the World AIDS Day activities in Beirain the Sofala province, which had been at the core of the fi ghting. In the words of Tallarico:“They came together for the issue of AIDS … They were sitting together with the samelevel of power in a very controversial region of the country … Together they pledged theircommitment to the fight against AIDS. Believe me … that was something really touching.Can you imagine, for the Mozambican people to see these two people fi ghting eachother … then they shake hands, they agree on this issue”.The importance of the event was further marked by the presence of all UN representatives,together with the representatives of the bilateral and international organizations workingon AIDS in the country. Most of these representatives had travelled the 1000 kilometresfrom Maputo to Beira to witness and support the occasion.Tallarico, who is now UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Honduras, looks back with fondnessto her time in Mozambique: “Mozambique was the experience that charged my batteries,my activism … I am still living with this energy and this commitment”.