Leadership: The World AIDS Day Theme 2008

[Guest guest]

Dear AIDS INDIA e FORUM Members,

We commemorate December 1st as World AIDS Day and reiterate our resolve to unite

in the fight against HIV. The theme for this year's World AIDS Day is

" Leadership " under the slogan " Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise "

Please share the details of your World AIDS Day (WAD) activities with

the FORUM. Please do send us the photos and reports of the WAD

activities

Leadership: The World AIDS Day Theme 2007 and 2008

Introduction

The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is " leadership " . This

theme will continue to be promoted with the campaigning slogan, " Stop

AIDS. Keep the Promise. "

Why the theme of Leadership?

Since the beginning of the epidemic, experience has clearly

demonstrated that significant advances in the response to HIV have

been achieved when there is strong and committed leadership. Leaders

are distinguished by their action, innovation and vision; their

personal example and engagement of others; and their perseverance in

the face of obstacles and challenges.

However, leaders are often not those in the highest offices.

Leadership must be demonstrated at every level to get ahead of the

disease - in families, in communities, in countries and

internationally. Much of the best leadership on AIDS has been

demonstrated within civil society organisations challenging the status

quo.

Making leadership the theme of the next two World AIDS Days will help

encourage leadership on AIDS within all levels and sectors of

society. We hope it well inspire and foster champions within a range

of different groups and networks at local and international levels.

Leadership as a theme follows and builds on the 2006 theme of

accountability. In 2006 a number of milestones were reached where

accountability was particularly crucial.

It was the year of the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS,

which reviewed the progress on the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on

HIV/AIDS – an important blueprint for reaching the Millennium

Development Goals on AIDS. 2006 marked the fifth year

anniversary of the African Abuja Declaration.

2006 was also the year in which national targets were set, or should

have been set, by governments for achieving Universal

Access to Treatment, Prevention, Support and Care by 2010. In

addition, at 2006's International AIDS Conference, " accountability "

was the buzzword throughout the global forum, reflecting the

conference's theme, " Time to Deliver. "

Despite the efforts to hold leaders accountable in 2006, progress in

halting HIV is falling far short of targets. Over 25 million people

have been lost to AIDS so far, and 4.3 million people were infected

with HIV 2006. The spread of HIV is quickening – with more

people infected in 2006 than in any previous year.

This is despite the number of promises by world leaders to provide

services to curb the rates of infection and to bring down death

rates. The G8 has made commitments on AIDS which now need to be

delivered upon. In other high level meetings, governments of rich

countries promised to increase the spending on development aid to 0.7

percent of their annual budget. Only a handful of countries have done

so. In the Abuja Declaration, African leaders committed

to allocating 15 percent of their budgets to health. This has

happened in just one or two Stop AIDS.

Keep the Promise.

countries, with only one-third of African countries spending over 10

percent. Promises are not being kept because there is a lack of

leadership at every level.

Using the theme

As with past World AIDS Day themes, leadership has been chosen as a

loose global campaigning concept. Local campaign themes and World

AIDS Day messages are best shaped at national, or community levels,

where campaigns can tailor the theme towards their specific situation

or constituency. Where possible, campaigners are encouraged to

link local messages to the leadership theme, particularly around

World AIDS Day.

This helps maximise national, regional and international visibility

of global campaigning efforts on AIDS. Also where possible, we

encourage the use of the slogan " Stop AIDS.

Keep the Promise. " in the accompanying language of World AIDS Day

materials. The principle behind all the work of the World AIDS

Campaign is that local messages should underpin all global

campaigning efforts.

Whatever messages are most appropriate for AIDS campaigning work can

be promoted with the leadership message.

The theme of leadership is offered as a vehicle for uniting efforts

within a common global message. World AIDS Campaign themes have a

number of campaigning functions, including:

• helping to generate media coverage for AIDS and World AIDS Day.

• providing organisations with limited resources access to meaningful

campaigning materials.

• enhancing solidarity within the global response to AIDS through

working through an united effort.

• galvanizing action both nationally and internationally in a way

that other smaller scale efforts can not by representing a world AIDS

campaigning message.

Where the global campaigning theme of leadership detracts from the

impact of local efforts it should not be used. In any situation where

the global campaigning theme is seen as diminishing the autonomy of

local campaigning voices it should not be used.

The global theme offers only a loose organising principle where it

compliments existing or emerging campaigning efforts.

One advantage of using the theme, particularly around World AIDS Day,

is that it can offer a universally recognised vehicle for promoting a

wide range of AIDS issues. The media, governments, local businesses,

and a range of institutions locally and globally embrace World AIDS

Day, and the annual theme that accompanies it, as an opportunity

to demonstrate commitment and action on AIDS.

So a diverse range of campaigners can use the theme to promote their

causes. Campaigns could be politically orientated towards government,

for example, " Leadership on treatment now: we are still dying.

Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise. " Or they could be designed to mobilise a

certain sector within a common cause, for example " Textile workers,

lead the fight against AIDS in Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.

your workplace. " The theme of leadership is designed to be as

flexible as possible to accommodate a range of campaigning needs.

The World AIDS Campaign International Support Team will be working

with a range of global networks to develop materials which are

adaptable to many different situations.

More guidance and campaigning notes will be circulated throughout the

year. As in 2006, posters, leaflets and CD-ROMs will be developed and

distributed.

These will be available from around August 2007 in a number of

languages, including French, Spanish, Russian, Swahili and English.

Other language versions, particularly African languages,

will also be offered via electronic distribution.

Background on World AIDS Day themes

The overall purpose of the World AIDS Campaign from 2005 to 2010 is

to ensure that leaders and decision makers deliver on their promises

on AIDS, including the provision of Universal Access to Treatment,

Care, Support and Prevention services by 2010.

Within that five-year mission, annual campaigning themes are selected

which are timely, relevant and adaptable to a number of different

regions and issues.

The theme for World AIDS Day has been determined by the World AIDS

Campaign since 1997. Since that time, the campaign has developed into

to its current form, governed by a committee of global constituency-

based AIDS networks.

The Global Steering Committee of the World AIDS Campaign selected the

theme of leadership during their fifth steering committee meeting

held in Geneva on 8th and 9th of February 2007.

This Global Steering Committee is comprised of the Global Network of

People Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Community of Women

Living with HIV/AIDS, the Youth Coalition, the Global Unions

Programme on HIV/AIDS, the International Council of AIDS

Service Organisations, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, and the

International Women's AIDS Caucus. UNAIDS and the Global Fund to

Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria are nonvoting members.

For further information see www.worldaidscampaign.

http://www.worldaid scampaign. org/en/Media2/ Files/wad- theme-2007- and-2008