Info
e-mail weekly bulletin No 58, 10 July 2001
2.
How acceptable is the female condom?
3.
Studying local responses in Uganda
4.
HIV/AIDS website for Malawi
1. Partnership Communication in Benin
In Benin the Expanded
Theme Group has established a new activity to improve information sharing:
the production of a quarterly bulletin.
The bulletin covers joint activities - such as preparation for
country participation in UNGASS or planning the upcoming roundtable - but
also lists programmes of individual partners.
Benin has also found a way to increase the sense of ownership of non-UNAIDS
Theme Group partners: henceforth there will be a Theme Group Vice-President,
to be held by a bilateral or non-UN multilateral partner.
For more information please
contact Yamina Chakkar, chakkary@laposte.tg.
2.
How acceptable is the female condom?
An
evaluation is currently being undertaken of the Female Condom Project that
was undertaken in 23 communities in the Mpumulanga province of South Africa.
The project, which began in January 1999, has been perceived by
organizations involved in the prevention of STDs and HIV/AIDS in the
Province as a success story in creating awareness in access and use of
female condoms. The evaluation, which is being conducted by the KUM-
Research and Training Institute in collaboration with UNAIDS, aims to
identify lessons learnt that can be replicated in implementing similar
projects. The evaluation is intended to identify management, communication
and negotiation strategies that were utilised used by trainers and peer
educators in the creation of awareness and use of the female condom. For
more information contact Dr. Joseph Kivilu, Project Director: JMKivilu@beauty.hsrc.ac.za
3.
Studying local responses in Uganda
The Uganda AIDS Commission, with technical support from UNAIDS and financial support from the Pfizer Foundation, have recently decided to carry out a study project that will develop a common understanding of the relevant factors that allowed the country to achieve significant successes in the fight against HIV/AIDS. With technical, policy and administrative support from the national level, appropriate Strategy Notes will be developed and provide further policy and strategy guidance. The study duration is estimated to be 18 months with an indicative cost of US$300,000. The study results could be applied not only in Uganda but also in other African countries, and even globally, to drastically curtail the epidemic through enhanced local actions. For more information please contact Dr Luc Barriere-Constantin at Barrierel@unaids.org
4.
HIV/AIDS website for Malawi
Malawi’s
National AIDS Council (NAC) is developing a website. The site is still under
construction, but already contains much useful data. The site can be visited
at www.aidsmalawi.org. When the site is fully developed it will enable the
users to identify any project at national, regional, district and TA
(Traditional Authority) level. Maps are being posted on the website to
visualise the finding. The site will also contain key material and
information about the epidemic in Malawi, including names and addresses of
stakeholders. The data will be updated on an annual basis, so that the flow
of funds going into HIV/AIDS activities can be monitored. For
more information please contact Niels Sando at nsando-unaids@sdnp.org.mw
The
International Partnership against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) is a coalition of
actors who have chosen to work together to achieve a shared vision – to
significantly scale up efforts in Africa to curtail the spread of HIV,
reduce its impact and halt the further reversal of human, social and
economic development. The
actors of the Partnership are: African governments; co-sponsors of UNAIDS;
donors; the private sector including labour; and the community sector. (See www.unaids.org/africapartnership/whatis.html
)
More
information on the Partnership and related issues is available at www.unaids.org/africapartnership/html . Kindly forward
this e-mail to any organizations or individuals who could be interested, or
provide their name and both e-mail and physical addresses to: masonj@unaids.org