[procaare] LIVING 2006/ VIVIR 2006 Cancelled

["GNP+" <mstolk@gnpplus.net>]

News Release: LIVING 2006/ VIVIR 2006 Cancelled 
Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+)
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 "Cancellation of Living 2006 does not just mean one less conference in
the calendar." 

The Living with HIV Partnership has taken the difficult decision to
cancel the LIVING 2006 / VIVIR 2006 Conference, due to challenges in
securing sufficient financial support from donors. The decision was
difficult but necessary as four months before the conference only a
quarter of minimum required funding was pledged. 

To all organizations involved in planning this conference the
cancellation is a major disappointment. The LIVING 2006 / VIVIR 2006
Conference was designed as a unique combination of the International
Conference of People Living with HIV/AIDS and the International Home and
Community Care Conference. 

With the cancellation of the LIVING 2006 conference, People Living with
HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) have been deprived of an invaluable opportunity to meet
and strategize on issues of importance to our lives, and a forum at
which to develop the skills of new activists. People Living with HIV are
at the forefront of initiatives to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS all
over the world. In the past these conferences have enabled PLWHA to
share the knowledge and experience they have gained to further
strengthen our work. 

An opportunity for community and home based care givers to gain
recognition for their crucial role in carrying much of the AIDS burden
in hard hit countries has also disappeared. These care givers are a
critical - but under appreciated - part of the health care system of
most countries. Without home and community care many of the strategies
and targets of international organizations working to combat HIV/AIDS
will fail. 

The Living with HIV Partnership maintains that home and community care
givers, many themselves HIV positive, deserve investment that would
improve their efforts to work better with people living with HIV and
AIDS. Such investment is good value for money, and very small when
compared to the real value of voluntary work, as for example, support
with treatment compliance so that HIV/AIDS drugs are effective, and
teaching family members basic nursing skills. If donors only choose to
invest in formal health care systems, universal access will remain a
dream. 

Bernard Gardiner of the International Federation of Red Cross / Red
Crescent societies (IFRC), one of the partners of the Living with HIV
partnership, says: "The Federation calls on donors to reassess their
strategies and make a real commitment to the development of civil
society so it can prevent unnecessary suffering and save lives." 

Fiona Pettitt of the International Community of Women Living with
HIV/AIDS (ICW), also a partner, says: "This is one of the hardest
decisions ICW has had to be involved in. Both conferences have been in
existence for many years and played their part in reducing the impact of
HIV. Their value has been immense to ICW members and other HIV positive
women, often providing inspiration which results in embarking on a life
of activism. Donors must fund these conferences: their worth far
outweighs the cost of holding them." 

Richard Burzynski of the International Council of AIDS Service
Organisations (ICASO) says "With the loss of this conference we all need
to urgently review what this means to the response to the pandemic. What
happens when PLWHA and care givers lose their main international space
for building solidarity, sharing experiences and learning, and
identifying strategies for more effective responses based on the
realities of those most affected? Cancellation does not just mean one
less conference in the calendar." 

The commitment of the LIVING 2006 partners to work with people living
with HIV/AIDS in Peru and Latin America, does not end here. The
partnership will ensure that Latin American voices and issues are
integrated into national, regional and global agendas. 

With LIVING 2006 now cancelled, the Living with HIV partnership will not
cease to exist. Already steps have been taken to explore alternative
activities around the objectives of the Partnership. Key issues and
topics will be put forward even more strongly at other regional and
global conferences. 

Already in early December, a donor consortium meeting is planned both to
analyze reasons behind the lack of commitment and to advocate for strong
long-term commitment from donors for the global PLWHA movement as well
as future conferences - regardless of their geographical location.   

Finally, the Living with HIV Partnership is making itself strong to
ensure the knowledge and capacity which has been developed in Lima by
the Peruvian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, will not be lost.
According to Bernard Gardiner of the IFRC, "the Federation may also be
able to have our global HIV/AIDS strategy meeting & HIV workers
teambuilding meeting in Lima in 2006. So there is a real effort emerging
already to utilize the preparedness of the local network, and make sure
they do not suffer a credibility loss or setback due to the
cancellation." 

For future updates, please visit the conference web site:
www.living2006.org. 


**********************************
Martin Stolk
Communications Coordinator
Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+)
Tel: +31-20-423 4114
Fax: +31-20-423 4224
Email: mstolk@gnpplus.net 
Website: www.gnpplus.net


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Sent by:  Martin Stolk
Email: mstolk@gnpplus.net 


Cross-posted from PWHA-NET [mailto:pwha-net@eforums.healthdev.org] 
November 07, 2005