AIDS 2006. Canada: Community Programme Committee (CPC) Communique/ December, 2005

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues and partners,

The Community Programme Committee for AIDS2006 committed to writing a

communication to promote community participation at AIDS2006, try to be

transparent in its work as a committee, and promote the conference separate from

the IAS and Local Host communication mechanisms. With these purposes this

Communique is written and distributed to the networks of the community

co-organizers and is posted on some global list-serves, so, please, excuse

possible duplicate posting.

Community Programme Committee,

AIDS2006 ~ XVI International AIDS Conference

Toronto, Canada, August 13th – 18th, 2006

As the Community Programme Committee for AIDS2006 we wanted to tell you about

the Community Programme being developed for the XVI International Conference in

Toronto this August 2006. With the tragic cancelling of the VIVIR/LIVING

conference in Lima, Peru it is critical there is a strong, representative and

meaningful community presence in Toronto. This posting details key information

around contributing to the programme and attending the conference. More

information is available on the conference website, at www.aids2006.org, in

English, French and Spanish.

Conference organization: The Community Programme Committee (CPC) is chaired by

Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga of La Paz, Bolivia and Evan of Toronto,

Canada, and has community representatives from 12 countries, the majority of

whom are HIV positive. The CPC works with the Science Programme Committee and

Leadership Programme Committee to develop a unified programme of sessions at

AIDS2006, and is supported by a conference secretariat at the International AIDS

Society (IAS) in Geneva. The Toronto Local Host has a separate secretariat

responsible for planning activities like the Global Village, Cultural

Activities, Youth Programme, Outreach, PLWHA Lounge amongst others. The entire

conference is overseen by the Conference Organizing Committee with membership

from the IAS, GNP+, ICW, ICASO, UNAIDS, the Toronto Local Host and the Canadian

AIDS Society.

Conference Theme:

The theme of the conference is Time to Deliver. After 25 years of HIV/AIDS, and

years of research and community mobilization, we pretty well know how to prevent

and treat this disease and how to effectively respond to the epidemic. It is now

time to deliver! With this theme we aim to promote commitment, accountability

and action, and come together in Toronto to make it happen. This year a new

feature of the conference programme is to identify four key challenges which

need to be addressed to better respond to HIV/AIDS. One of these challenges,

under the stewardship of the CPC, is Intensifying the Involvement of Affected

Individuals and Communities.

Contributing to the Programme:

Abstracts: Abstract submission can be completed on-line until February 22, 2006.

We hope people will submit abstracts on various topics related to community

issues and concerns. On the website there is a Conference Abstract Toolkit that

can help community people design effective abstracts, and since the abstract

submission process remains in English only, the IAS has organized a mentorship

programme to help people submit.

Non Abstract Sessions: These 90 minute sessions will be organized as Symposia,

Controversies and Common Ground Sessions, Bridging Sessions, and Learning from

Practice Sessions. You can submit session ideas for these on-line until December

31st.

Skills Building Workshops: Many sessions in the community programme will take

the form of skills building workshops which are practical sessions related to

skill development. These sessions can be offered in different languages.

Proposals can be submitted on-line until February 22, 2006.

Satellites: Some groups will be interested in organizing satellite sessions for

conference delegates. There are costs associated with putting on satellites

although some Non-Governmental Organizations will qualify for cost reduced or

free satellites.

Toronto Local Host Activities: These activities include:

• Cultural Activities Programme (culturalprogramme@...)

• Global Village (globalvillage@...)

• Youth Programme (youth@...)

• Outreach (outreach@...)

• Lounge for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PHALounge@...)

These activities are being planned by coordinators and community advisory

committees. You can get further information, or share ideas and proposals,

through the coordinators at the above addresses.

Attending the Conference:

Registration: Unfortunately conference registration is expensive and remains out

of reach for many community people. After Bangkok, community voices lobbied for

and succeeded in getting the registration fee lowered and a greater number of

scholarships available. Registration fees are reduced for people from non-OECD

(developing world) countries and there are significantly reduced rates for

students and youth. There will be low cost housing options available.

Scholarships: There will be 1200 international scholarships for people who have

been traditionally underrepresented and who might not otherwise be able to

attend the International AIDS Conference, and up to 1500 Canadian scholarships

to support people from Canada to attend the Conference. Two separate scholarship

working groups have been formed to set criteria and choose the International and

Canadian scholars. The deadline for applications to the two scholarship

programmes is February 22, 2006 and the form can be completed on-line.

Travel to Canada: Although visitors to Canada from some countries require travel

visas, the visa application has been revised and no longer requires disclosure

of HIV status on the application form. Unlike the USA, Canada has no travel

restrictions specifically barring visitors with HIV/AIDS. The visa application

process does take time and visitors should begin the application process at

least 8 – 12 weeks before travel.

Language: There is a commitment to increase the number of simultaneously

translated sessions, and make more conference broadcasts and reports available

in other languages.

The Community Programme Committee (CPC):

Our goal as the CPC is to work towards a conference that is accessible to

affected individuals and communities, and is relevant and meaningful to their

issues and needs. There remain problems with large, international conferences

and not everyone agrees that we should even try to represent community interests

in the planning of these meetings. However, we continue to struggle for visible

and meaningful representation of community at AIDS2006 and hope you will

consider joining us.

The Community Programme Committee, AIDS2006

(CPC contact c/o: thabosephuma@... and online at www.aids2006.org )

Sincerely,

Gala Vrabiye

Administrative Coordinator

International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO)

65 Wellesley St. E., Suite 403

Toronto, ON M4Y 1G7

CANADA

Tel: 1-416-921-0018 ext. 10

Fax: 1-416-921-9979

E-mail: icaso@...

Web site: www.icaco.org