Announcement of E Forum on AIDS Stigma in south Asia

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members,

Greetings from South Asia !!

This is an announcement for all members from the SOUTH ASIA region about an

E forum on Challenging AIDS Stigma and Discrimination in South Asia. This

forum has been arranged by UNAIDS- Inter Country Team for South Asia, New

Delhi in partnership with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Those wishing to participate in this forum may write to sbharat@...

giving their complete name and email id . The key objectives and the

structure of the forum are described below.

Regards,

Shallini Bharat

Moderator

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Mumbai, India

E-mail: <sbharat@...>

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E Forum :Challenging AIDS Stigma and Discrimination in South Asia.

This e-forum is meant to raise a spotlight on AIDS Stigma in the South Asia

region. It is a platform for all those facing the challenge of AIDS stigma

either in their personal lives or as part of their work, to share their

knowledge, experiences, ideas, expertise and good practices with colleagues

and friends across the region. The purpose of this e-forum is to move

beyond the rhetoric of debating whether there is stigma, to seriously

working towards stigma reduction and elimination. In doing so we take the

position that stigma due to AIDS exists.

The e-forum will be moderated in a structured way. It will seek to discuss

the following three themes:

1. Stigma impact: This theme will bring out the multiple

and diverse ways in which stigma due to AIDS impacts people and proves to

be an obstacle in the fight against the epidemic in this region. The key

question is: In what ways and in what settings ( family, education, health

etc ) is stigma due to HIV/AIDS impacting people living with the virus,

their family members, and those involved in care, counseling, treatment and

support services, or engaged in AIDS research, programs and

interventions? ( This theme is currently on )

2. Response to stigma: This theme will focus on stigma

reduction efforts at individual, community and institutional levels. A

range of contexts will be included namely, the family, health, work,

education and the NGO sectors. Strategies ranging from education campaigns,

to behavior change communication, to human rights protection may be

highlighted. The key questions are : What are people living with HIV/AIDS,

and those engaged in care and support as well as those working on this

issue, doing to deal with AIDS stigma and what barriers they are

encountering in this process? Are there anti stigma interventions, small or

big, in the region which may be shared with others?

3. Agenda for action: This section will aim to bring out a

few recommendations for combating stigma in collaboration with partners in

the region and within the individual countries. The key questions are: What

needs to be done to deal with AIDS stigma more comprehensively and

systematically in order to mitigate its impact and even eliminate it? What

are the key recommendations for developing a regional strategy for AIDS

stigma reduction and elimination?

Each of the above themes will be introduced by 2/3 Key Resource Persons

selected from the different countries of the region. You may respond to the

issues highlighted by them, expand on the issues, debate and challenge them

or throw up fresh ones reflecting your concerns and position. Each theme

will run for approximately one week. The total duration of the forum is

expected to be about 4 weeks.

The e-forum is expected to a) widen our understanding of the multiple and

complex ways in which stigma impacts people and care and support provision;

make visible small and big, individual and collective, successful and

effective, ongoing efforts to deal with stigma in the region; c) identify

key recommendations to help develop mechanisms and frameworks to address

AIDS stigma more comprehensively.

Above all, this e-forum is expected to forge a unity of thoughts, ideas and

action plans in the region around the issue of stigma due to HIV/AIDS.

The summary of the e-discussion will be documented and the key

recommendations emerging from the forum will be shared with all participants.

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