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Way forward for the Zimbabwe civil society - June 2008 feedback
meeting
UNGASS
September 02, 2008
The UNGASS (United
Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV & AIDS ) feedback
meeting was held on the 2nd of September in Harare, Zimbabwe, jointly
organized by ZAN (Zimbabwe
Aids Network), WASN (Women
and Aids Support Network), SAFAIDS,
The Centre
and PPAAT (Public Personalities Against AIDS Trust). It was attended
by ZAN members from the provinces, civil society organizations representatives,
government representatives, HIV & AIDS activists and other strategic
partners. This year's UNGASS was held in New York (United
States of America) from the 10th-12th of June 2008. Zimbabwe's'
civil society was represented by ZAN, SAFAIDS, The Centre, PPAAT
among other organizations.
The objectivess of the workshop were to:
- give feedback
to the stakeholders on the proceedings of UNGASS 2008
- discuss
the tenets of UNGASS
- build capacities
of civil society organisations, government and stakeholders for
participation in future UNGASS meetings
Various presentations
were made by the representatives of organizations that took part
in the UNGASS 2008 High Level Meeting which was held in New York
. These ranged from understanding what UNGASS is, Universal Access
for women and girls in the face of HIV & AIDS, Universal Access
for the sexual minorities and addressing their human rights, the
impact of harsh immigration and travel bar policies travel bar on
PLHA (People living with HIV & AIDS), strengthening partnerships
between civil society and UNGASS and capacitating civil society
on UNGASS for their participation in future UNGASS sessions.
The following questions came into my mind on what I think should
be the role of civil society to ensure that issues related to universal
access, promotion and protection of the rights of PLHA are respected
and ensuring more quality aid is channeled towards addressing nutrition,
prevention and treatment measures for PLHA. This will also be part
of a preparatory process for civil society engagement in the UNGASS
2010 event:
- Do we know
what Universal Access and UNGASS (United Nationals General Assembly
Special Session on HIV & AIDS) is?
- Why should
we even take part in the proceedings of UNGASS which are held
every 2 years in New York, The United States of America?
- Are our
policy makers accessible to us when we need to seek a platform
with them in order to address HIV & AIDS related issues at
the local level?
- How will
the policies formulated at UNGASS help an old grandmother, who
does not even know what UNAGSS is, but know show to seek alternative
ways of looking after her orphaned grandchildren due to the AIDS
pandemic or a young woman who needs anti retro viral treatment
who is based in the rural areas?
- How can
we popularise UNGASS at the local level, so that both the urban
and rural populations are able to relate to it in their daily
activities?
- How can
we ensure that our councillors at the local district levels, members
of parliament, the labour movement, the business community and
other stakeholders get to appreciate their role in ensuring that
issues related to HIV & AIDS become their daily bread in their
line of work..?
- How can
civil society working on HIV & AIDS begin to join hands with
human rights activists working on constitutional rights and ensure
that the right to health is enshrined into our constitution?
- How can
civil society working on HIV & AIDS become more capacitated
on engaging on issues of policy and advocacy in preparations for
UNGASS 2010?
- Does the
Zimbabwe civil society have a clear message to UNGASS on issues
that need to be addressed if Universal Access is to be realized
in Zimbabwe by 2010?
If one is able
to address the above questions which I have put for reflection to
the rest of the community, then it means that by the time the next
UNGASS event is going to take place in June 2010, the Zimbabwe civil
society will have been able to prepare itself for meaningful engagement
with the policy makers at the global level ensuring that the voice
of the people in a bid to save lives from the HIV pandemic.
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