Issue No. 7
May 21- 2004
Calí, Colombia

In this issue

Donors sign historic agreement in the fight against AIDS

Informative round

Three Bolivian proposals are approved

Chile elected president and vice president

Paraguay now has a CCM

Peru's CCM on its way to institutionalism

Initial ARV medication purchases begin in Peru

 

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Moderators

Oswaldo Adolfo Rada L.
Regional Secretary for RedLa+

Germán Rincón Perfetti
G&M de Colombia Abogados
Lideres en Acción

Text and design editor
David Morales Alba

Translator
Cecilia Sarmiento

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Donors sign historic agreement
in the fight against AIDS

Despite the increase in resources, the AIDS epidemic continues to be one of the greatest crises of the century: 40 million people are currently infected, and more than 25 million AIDS-related dysfunctions to date..

World Bank – Washington D.C.- The international community has unified to agree upon three basic principles in response to HIV/AIDS, a historic event.

On April 25 th of this year, a meeting took place in Washington co-chaired by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It was there that donors and developing countries reached this important agreement.

Representatives from Germany, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United States, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom attended the meeting. Representatives for the Global Fund, as well as those from diverse organizations from the United Nations and NGO's, were also there.

The three principles followed a preparation identification process at a world and national level that was started by UNAIDS in cooperation with the World Bank and the Global Fund for the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The first meeting to review these principles was held during the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya on September 23 rd , 2003.

Named as the “Three for one”, the agreed principles are:
1.- A consensus frame of action about HIV/AIDS that will supply the basis to coordinate the work of all those associated;
2.- A national AIDS coordinator authority with ample multi-sectional mandate; and
3.- An agreed upon surveillance and evaluation system at a country level. / Back to top
Reactions

Peter Piot, Director Ejecutivo de ONUSIDAPeter Piot, UNAIDS' Executive Director, said, “We have left our flags and affiliations at the door. It is not a matter of just finding more resources, but also to ensure that those resources are reimbursed in a correct fashion to help countries establish efficient and sustainable strategies. This is why the ‘Three for One' principles are so significant.”

James Wolfensohn, Presidente del Banco MundialJames Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, said, “In order to win the war against AIDS we must all work together for the common good of the poor people that live in developing countries.” He explained that donors' harmony is a decisive element in the successful fight against AIDS, and that “The Bank's multinational programs on HIV/AIDS are meant to support the national strategies deployed in this field in Africa and the Caribbean and to help rationalize the process.”

Hilary Benn, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State, commented that her country, “as the second largest bilateral donor in the world in regards to HIV/AIDS, is firmly committed to the ‘Three for One' principles to harmonize the support efforts of the donors to developing countries (…) This focus constitutes an important programmatical point of our Call to Action due to last year's World AIDS Day and will be adopted by the United Kingdom in its new strategy to fight HIV/AIDS worldwide. I celebrate the decisive agreement reached and I trust that it will provide a stronger and more efficient response to the illness.”/ Back to top

Other voices

Randall TobiasRandall Tobias, AIDS Coordinator in the United States

“AIDS is an emergency that demands an urgent action and a new way to do things. The agreement reached will help all those associated to use their comparative advantage in a way that reinforces, but not limits our collective response.”

Mary Kaphweleza BandaMary Kaphweleza Banda, State Minister for Malawi responsible for HIV/AIDS.  

“At a country level, governments are making a great effort to fight against the AIDS epidemic, while at the same time they must give a quick answer to all contradictory and frequent demands of the donors.” / Back to top

A Three Bolivian proposals are approved

The Global Fund approved three proposals from Bolivia (AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), for a total amount of USD $36 million.
In the meantime, the evaluation process of the Main Beneficiary CIES-GTZ, is now in its third module, a task given to Price Waterhouse, according to Global Fund instructions.
In other news, 200,000 Euros where approved for the Backup Initiative, with the purpose of strengthening the CCM for that Latin American country. It will also support and strengthen base communities such as REDBOL+.
In Bolivia, they have been working in a coordinated manner with REDBOL+ and one of its members, Julio César Aguilera, who is a member of the CCM's executive committee.

Workshop for July

Preparations to hold a workshop in July are currently underway. The workshop will present the Bolivian proposal and its three components to all members, and identify the roles of the CCM, Main Beneficiary, and Local Agent for the Global Fund in Bolivia and its Sub-Receptors.
The main topic of the workshop will be the CCM's government and its statues. In addition, the operating plan of the proposal, the administrative plan of the Main Beneficiary as well as the monitoring and evaluation plans will be presented / Back to top

Chile elects president and vice president

Marco Becerra Silva, a representative of ASOSIDA, was elected April 15 th as the new president of Chile's CCM, and will hold this office until October 14 th . Starting October 15 th and until April 14 th 2005, the presidency will be held by Francisco Vidal Véliz, a representative of VIVOPOSITIVO. The post is rotated because these two people received the same amount of votes during the first and second round.
Becerra Silva was the vice-president of the CCM and replaces Anabella Arredondo Paz, National Aids Coordinator, CONSIDA.
The elected vice-president is Edith Ortiz Núñez, a representative of CONSIDA, who started April 15 th and whose period ends April 14 th 2005, when the next elections are scheduled to take place./ Back to top

Peru's CCM on its way to institutionalism

Thanks to the work done from the onset of the National Multi-sector Health Coordinator (CONAMUSA, initials in Spanish), a name that was given to the Peruvian Coordination Mechanism, and with the support of the Health Minister, Pilar Mazzetti, Peruvian authorities are now reviewing a Supreme Decree that, if signed by President Alejandro Toledo, will grant CONAMUSA social legitimacy and a legal basis to function.
Spokesmen for the Coordinator stated “this is the first step in a long road to build new ways for all the sectors to work together, specifically with a main role played by the PVVs.”. / Back to top

Paraguay now has a CCM

With the participation of the government, NGOs and others based in the community, PVVs and international agencies, the Country Coordinating Mechanism for this South Cone country was formed.
This is the first time that different agencies worked together to make a team decision. This enabled access to the necessary information to start a Project that will respond to the needs of this nation, even though they did not have all the updated and reliable statistical data available to them.
Spokespersons for the CCM stated that the Tuberculosis Proposal has won and the Public Bid for the Main Beneficiary is being developed.
They added that the AIDS Proposal was presented again during the fourth round, when the PVVs formed part of the technical team, just as in prior opportunities.. / Back to top

Initial ARV medication purchases begin in Peru

The Main Receiver of CARE PERU has placed an order to purchase antiretroviral medication through IDA, to supply close to 5,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in Peru.
According to IDA, this purchase should arrive in at most, 8 weeks and will complement a previous purchase made by the Peruvian government last year.
In the last few weeks, the buying process experienced a few delays because the IDA decided not to buy medication patented in the country. Afterwards, it was established that the required products did not have a national patent, this way leaving an opening to make the purchase. / Back to top