Civil Society Organisations Hopeful

Nico Smit

21 April 2011

THE outcomes and recommendations of the Africa wide Civil Society Organisation (CSO) universal access review meeting on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, will impact on the African Common position on the continental HIV response, which is to be presented to the United Nations high level meeting later this year.

The meeting took place in the run up to 5th Conference of African Ministers of Health which is currently being held in Windhoek.

The CSO meeting reviewed, from a civil society perspective, the progress of the universal access since he Abuja Call for Accelerated Action towards Universal Access to HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria services by 2010.

The meeting recommended steps required to achieve universal access and considered the outcomes of regional consultations, where reports came from eastern and southern Africa, west and central Africa, the Middle East, the north African region, as well as the United Nations and the African Union.

Furthermore, the meeting shared “best practices” and learnt from countries which are making progress in achieving Millennium Development Goals.

The meeting’s outcomes will be passed on to an experts meeting which started on Sunday in Windhoek, and then to a ministerial meeting which starts in April 20. The ministerial meeting will then develop a African Common position on the continental HIV response to be presented at the UN High Level Meeting, which is to be held in New York, in June this year.

The aim of the African Common position is to decide the direction to be taken in the next few years in terms of universal access. Once accepted, the common position will guide the actions and interventions of all the inter-agency partners.

AllAfrica – All the Time