National AIDS Committee
World AIDS Day
December 1 2005

World AIDS Day 2005 marks the first campaign organized by a global steering Committee of civil society organisations. It represents a renewed effort to underscore the need for a concerted global effort to counter a global epidemic.

Appropriately, the theme chosen for this first global campaign is for fulfillment of the milestone commitments made by the governments gathered at the United Nations in 2003 known as the UNGASS (United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS) Declaration. For the first time the world formally acknowledged HIV/AIDS as a global crisis requiring global action.

The UNGASS Declaration sets out the Commitments governments pledged themselves to return home and fulfill. “Keeping the promise” refers primarily to the UNGASS commitments. Chief among the UNGASS commitments were prevention campaigns, reducing stigma, care, treatment and support programmes, and rights-based policies and legislation for persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS . Specific time-lines made the Declaration a powerful tool for demanding the resources needed for action in fighting the epidemic.

World AIDS Day presents an opportunity not only to remind Governments of their promises but also to review how effectively implementation of the promises is taking place. The yardstick for effective action is the extent to which effective partnerships have been created at all levels of national, international and local society. All sectors of society – women, business, labour, faith-based, NGOs and the media are called to develop partnerships within and between sectors. Governments for their part must facilitate the development of effective civic and public partnerships.

Here in Guyana the National and Regional AIDS Committees particularly welcome the theme of keeping the UNGASS promises, since the NAC/RAC worked strenuously to strengthen the draft Declaration and ensured the presence of local NGO and Government representatives at the UNGASS meeting in New York in 2003. Following the UNGASS meeting the NAC/RACs were responsible for locally distributing widely the UNGASS Declaration.

Unfortunately the UNGASS promises – the over-arching framework for eradication of HIV/AIDS with which particular strategies should harmonise - have been over-shadowed in recent years. Strategies driven at times by unhelpful political, faith or commercial agendas have encouraged divisiveness rather than solidarity in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The NAC/RACs are encouraging all organisations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS to re-call the UNGASS Commitments. The enormous levels of funding available in Guyana to combat HIV/AIDS bring considerable potential for divisiveness.

Recognition of the potential for divisiveness has produced widespread support internationally for the ‘Three Ones’ Strategy, a commitment to one action framework for all partners, one national coordinating authority and one system of monitoring and evaluation. Advocating together for implementation of the UNGASS Commitments is best achieved within the framework of the ‘Three Ones’. All actors standing shoulder to shoulder (rather than face to face) act as an antidote to the competitiveness for funding which project activity induces.

Only by effective partnerships of Guyanese organisations acting in cooperation with each other will the Government of Guyana and international funders be constantly reminded they have promises to keep. The most significant challenge in Guyana to achieving high levels of cooperation and unified action is a tendency to view technology and finances as the key tools in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Such an approach robs the campaign of the valuable imputs of Persons Living With HIV/AIDS and local advocates. Re-focusing on “Keeping The Promise” should rectify such disturbing tendencies.

Contact Persons:
Gloria DeCaires (Chair) tel: 254-0311
Merle Mendonca (Secretary) tel: 227-4911
Sharon Santiago (RAC Sub-Region 1) tel: 777-5029
Shondell Butters (RAC Reg.#2 tel: 774-4227
Dennis McKenzie (RAC Reg.#3) tel: 254-0761
Janice Bowen (RAC Reg.#5) tel: 221-2209
Therysa Lewis (RAC Reg#6) tel: 333-2391
Ivor Melville/Marilyn Sobryan/Patricia Smith tel# (RAC# 7) tel: 455-2462/455-2339
Sandra Rodrigues (RAC Sub-Reg.#9 tel: 772-2006
Carla Nedd (RAC Reg.#10) tel: 442-0877

The National AIDS Committee (NAC) is a voluntary body which promotes HIV/AIDS policy and advocacy issues, advises the Minister of Health and assesses the work of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) in relation to the National AIDS Programme/Strategic Plan. The NAC also encourages the formation of Regional Aids Committees (RACs) and networking amongst NGOs involved in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.