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High-level Participation Expected at ICASA 2005 Leadership Forum
Abuja, Nigeria, 24 October 2005 — Commitment for ICASA 2005, the 14th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa which will take place in Abuja from 4 – 9 December 2005, comes from the highest level of government, scientists and experts, community leaders and activists, international partners and donors.
The ICASA 2005 focus on HIV/AIDS and Family accentuates the conviction of current AU Chairman and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that HIV/AIDS and the severe burden it puts on families, is the leading development issue facing Africa. President Obasanjo will be hosting leaders at the ICASA 2005 Leadership Forum, which is a key event within the conference. This forum enhances Africa's leaders' role and responsibilities in the AIDS response.
Leaders like President Wade of Senegal, former President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, former US President Bill Clinton, and UN Secretar-General Kofi Annan will discuss how to make the money work to accelerate progress in the fight against the AIDS epidemic, with Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); Ms.
Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of UN Population Fund (UNFPA); and Dr.
Lee Jong-wook, Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO).
Ms. Rima Salah, Deputy Executive Director of UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Dr. Debrework Zewdie, Director, Global HIV/AIDS Program for the World Bank, and UNIFEM (UN Development Fund for Women), UNDP (UN Development Programme), UNODC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime), ILO (International Labour Organization) and UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) representatives at global level will focus on a global campaign to "Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS", ensuring that children have a central place on the global HIV/AIDS agenda, the impact of AIDS and poverty on women in Africa, and scaling up universal access to prevention, care and treatment.
Leaders of hope, champions of initiatives and people living with HIV/AIDS from different sectors within Africa will share life experiences and discuss effective ways to cope with future challenges.
Business coalitions on HIV/AIDS initiatives, and the challenges and successes of these partnerships will be discussed by leaders in that sector, including Ambassador Richard Holbrooke of the Global Business Coalition (GBC), Pascal Dozie of Nigerian Business Coalition to Combat HIV/AIDS (NIBUCCA), Brad Mears, CEO of South African Business Coalition on HIV and AIDS (SABCOHA); and Dr. Donald de Korte, Regional Director, HIV Access Forum of the Merck Foundation.
Dr. Mark Wainberg, chairperson of the International Conference on HIV/AIDS which holds in Toronto, Canada in 2006, will bring an international voice to ICASA 2005.
For more information please contact:
Mary-Anne Usomine Ikoku
UNAIDS-Nigeria
Tel: +234 9 4618584.
Cell: 0803 305 1561
Email: maryanne.ikoku@undp.org
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