Highlight Day One:
Bert Koenders visited our booth!
Bert Koenders, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs visited the STOP AIDS NOW! booth today. His visit was an enormous surprise and showed the engagement and commitment of the Ministry in the fight against the HIV and AIDS. After informing him about the concept of the booth we took a picture of him with an original Mexican "sombrero". We used the picture to make a customised STOP AIDS NOW! "Greetings from Mexico" flyer which we offered to him afterward. The flyer contains information about our work and is offered, as a memory of the conference, to visitors that pass by our booth.
News from the Global Village Day One
After months of preparations the STOP AIDS NOW! team arrived in Mexico City. Yesterday the XVII International AIDS Conference was officially opened with speeches of Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, and others. Today we have started our work in the Global Village. It was nice to see everything coming together. Partners came to visit us and met with their colleagues from the field. During the interactive sessions seven partners showcased their work. We will highlight a few sessions in order to give an impression of the day.
Woman AIDS Support Network
Zimbabwe, partner of Oxfam Novib
WASN facilitated a session in which they challenged us to question whether the goal of Universal Access by 2010 is realistic in any way. After all, according to WASN, we have missed all our key passed deadlines. We have missed Healthy People 2000. We have missed 3 by 5. We are going to miss the MDGs. Why do we keep missing our deadlines? As WASN sees it, we have to correct our mistakes—the privatisation of health care services, the brain drain of health care workers, uneven spread of health care facilities, structural adjustment programs and so on.
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights
Netherlands, partner of ICCO and Oxfam Novib
WGNRR launched the HeRWAI Policy Analysis Tool. This is their new toolkit for advocating for the MDGs at the global level from a human rights perspective. WGNRR first gave a presentation on the toolkit and it various components. The facilitators then led participants through an interactive exercise to demonstrate to them the importance of the toolkit and how to use it. Participants were invited to pick pictures that represented how their own country has succeeded at one MDG and how it has failed on another one. Participants were then walked through the various steps involved in the use of the toolkit. Participants were enthusiastic about the Tool. As one member of the audience put it, “This is a great means for us to work at the grassroots level for such an important global agenda that affects us all.”
Tanadgoma
Georgia, partner of Oxfam Novib
Tanadgoma presented a booklet developed especially for sex workers to discuss condom use. With pictures, sex workers are given examples on how to negotiate condom use. Tanadgoma shared with the group how they use the booklet and presented their best practices. The booklet can be used in other countries as well as for other target groups.
