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- Our continent did not have to be devastated like this by HIV/AIDS. We should not have allowed it to get to this stage and we therefore have the responsibility to reverse the situation. These words were spoken by Charlotte Mjele, a 22-year old South African woman living with HIV/AIDS, addressing delegates at the opening ceremony of the African Development Forum 2000 (ADF 2000) this afternoon. The African Development Forum 2000 taking place at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 3 - 7 December 2000 under the theme "AIDS -- The Greatest Leadership Challenge", is organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in conjunction with UNAIDS and its seven co-sponsors, UNDP, UNICEF, The World Describing how she fought discrimination and came to terms with her HIV positive status, Ms. Mjele told the audience: "I made a conscious effort to be a leader in showing that an HIV diagnosis is not the end of one's life. Many in a similar situation would not even go out to learn and update themselves with information about this virus that is affecting us so much. Not many can stand the risk of being discriminated against. Many are still dying in fear and many are still in the victim mindset. We need to help them make the transition from a victim to a victor." Ms. Mjele appealed to community and national leaders for "more action where it matters most - to reach young people, children at the grassroots, and to deal with poverty which is breeding HIV infection, fear, hopelessness and premature death". Leadership, stressed Ms. Mjele, had a major role to play in reversing the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. Those with HIV/AIDS should lead by example, break their silence and disclose their status. Leadership should push for affordable treatment for HIV-infected pregnant women and HIV-related illnesses, as "the life of an African with HIV should not be seen to be less than that of his or her counterpart in other parts of the world." Some 1,500 African leaders and policy makers, civil society organisations (including people living with HIV/AIDS and academia), young people, private sector and development partner representatives will seek to address concrete roles and responsibilities for leaders at all levels so as to galvanize an African-led response to the pandemic. In his opening remarks, ECA's Executive Secretary, K.Y. Amoako stressed that the doomsday scenario that HIV/AIDS now posed to Africa was not the continent's inevitable future. "This is a battle for the continent's survival. We carry inside each and every one of us the potential to increase the problem or the potential to help solve the problem. This is not a policy issue: this is ourselves, our families, our communities, our hopes. And this is our decisive moment." Setting the scene, Mr. Amoako explained the rationale behind the theme of the Forum: "Leadership is our topic. Leadership at all levels: within the family, the community, the towns, the provinces, civil society, the churches and mosques, the elders meeting places, business, labour and, upper most, at national political level. Leadership which is the boldest, most persistent, most insightful, compassionate, forceful, co-operative and imaginative we have ever had." Describing the Forum as "our decisive moment for leadership", Mr. Amoako posed three challenges. The first was for each individual to ascertain the elements that would enable each to be a better leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including how each person could help assure a better life for those burdened with HIV/AIDS and their families. The second was for minds to focus on how to scale up the best strategies, policies and programmes. The third was to ensure that the consensus emerging from the Forum be taken to the highest level of political leadership. "This is our time to be decisive, this is our test," said Mr. Amoako. "And because we are on the front lines, this is the world's test". Comparing the AIDS pandemic to an invasion, Organization of African Unity (OAU) Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim, told the gathering: "What many of our African countries have been experiencing in the past two decades is far worse than an armed invasion. The staggering numbers of lives lost, the critical points in our socio-economic systems that have been incapacitated, and the looming loss of our future as a people, are devastating outcomes that surpass any war situation". Picking up on this theme in his opening address, Ethiopian President, Negaso Gidada reiterated that the HIV/AIDS pandemic was as good as an invasion, and as such required the same level of determination and resource allocation. UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is among dignitaries attending the Forum. Also attending the Forum are Presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda. Senegal's Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse, and Malawi's Vice-President, Justin Malewezi, are also taking part, along with Prime Minister Nagoum Yomassoum of Chad. Several heads of UN agencies are in Addis Ababa for the African Development Forum 2000: Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of UNDP; Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF; Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA; and Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director of the World Bank. The programme of work consists of pre-Forum meetings, plenary sessions and additional special sessions where participants will meet with experts, participate in roundtables, debates, benefit from skills-building workshops and discuss the main theme, issues and background papers. The core element of the African Development Forum 2000 is analysis of leadership roles in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Events began yesterday with pre-forum meetings to clarify roles and priority issues and to prepare for the main Forum. Monday's programme will focus on Leadership and Public Policy, and will feature plenary and breakout sessions sessions on 'AIDS and Development'. A highlight of the week will be a Forum of Heads of State on the morning of Thursday 7 December, to be kicked off by a keynote address by the UN Secretary-General. At this Forum, Heads of State will each deliver statements sharing their unique perspectives in their respective battles against HIV/AIDS. They will engage interactively in a dialogue with representatives from different constituencies that include leaders from the private sector, development partner agencies, and from civil society, mainly NGOs, the media, academia, and religious institutions. The interaction is expected to promote local, national, subregional and international partnerships. Former South African President Nelson Mandela will deliver a statement by video. The AIDS pandemic is undermining social and economic structures and reversing the fragile gains made since independence. In parts of Africa, AIDS is killing one in every three adults, making orphans out of every tenth child and decimating entire communities, directly affecting health and life expectancy, the labour force, and household security. Most deaths in young adults aged 25-45 is associated with AIDS. Since the start of the epidemic, some 12.1 million children have been orphaned in Africa, out of the global estimate of 13.2 million. Within the next ten years, it is projected that there will be 40 million AIDS orphans in Africa. Africa is the only continent so mortally affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is also the continent that has so far been least able to mobilize an adequate response. With Africa already reeling from the onslaught of HIV/AIDS, the African Development Forum 2000 is emphasizing the urgency of mobilizing all levels of leadership in Africa for the counter-attack. Source:
Economic Commission for Africa
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