Indian Civil Society Unites in the Fight Against AIDS

[Guest guest]

Indian Civil Society Unites in the Fight Against AIDS

A number of Indian civil society actors gathered together in Mumbai

from 12th to 13th, February, 2009 to explore possibilities in

creating common space for joint actions towards developing a

multisectoral HIV response in India.

Representatives from Mumbai, Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, Bangalore,

Pune, Bihar, Patna, Kohlapur, Nagpur, Chhenai, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,

Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisghar and Manipur participated in the people's

conference. Most of these them represented networks and organizations

of their respective states.

Members from INGOs, media, grassroots level networks, APACHA

International Secretariat and APACHA Executive Committee were also

present.

The Conference formally launched APACHA India. APACHA India will be

the representative body of Asian People's Alliance for Combating

HIV & AIDS (APACHA) in India, which is a Federation of multisectoral

Civil Society respose to HIV and AIDS

An 22 member Executive Committee was formed to facilitate APACHA

India and its functions. Mr. Ashok Rao will lead the team as the

chair for next one year. Other members in the team are: Vice-

President Noori Saleem, Vice- President Dr. Boby , Secretary-

Mathew Mattam, Join Secretary- Sanghamitra Iyengar, Joint Secretary-

Namita Nanda, Treasurer Dr. Sanjeev Kumar. The conference has

decided to initiate APACHA India process in each states of India

within the next six months.

Mr Mathew Mattam in his welcome speech said, " In India, though APACHA

initiatives were taking place since 2004, there were several ups and

downs. Finally, we the Indian civil society members are happy to

formally launch APACHA India which will be connected at the states

and grassroots level. It will be a part of APACHA International. This

process will strengthen civil society members coming together for a

cause. " He also mentioned about alliance building meeting of APACHA

in Pune in 2007 where a number of participants were willing to be

part of APACHA. " Based on people's aspirations APACHA India is

finally launched " , added Mathew.

APACHA India has also finalized a resolution to submit to NACO and has

asked them to be serious in some of the issues such as, increasing

remuneration for peer outreach workers, establishing a multisectoral

exploratory working group with meaningful & expanded grass-root level

representation, exploring the appropriate direction of NACP 4. APACHA

India expressed, " We are concerned about the recent letter from the

GF to the CCM to cut the fund proposal across the programs by 10%. We

strongly feel the need for the Global Fund to apply the principles of

equity while calling to reduce resource allocation.

Resources addressing the weakest and most vulnerable should not be

the target of resource reduction. We request the Global Fund

secretariat to also come out with plans for reducing administrative

cost of the Fund by outsourcing the non core operation of the Global

Fund and renegotiating the fees paid to the LFA and consultants. This

process should be transparent and accountable " .

Acknowledging the efforts of NACO in responding to the epidemic, they

further asked NACO to be more serious about Multi sectoral approach

and be practical about the need of PLHIV, their treatment, care and

support.

Addressing the conference, Dr. Joe , Chairperson of APACHA

International said, " This is high time for Indian civil society to

come together and take joint action. " He further added, " Civil

society as the legitimate and strong force has capacity to provide

alternatives and support the government initiatives as well. Within

these contexts, APACHA India will be a milestone in creating a common

space for every one to have their say and take collective action to

combat HIV & AIDS in India. "

Mr. Prabodh Devkota, Asia Coordinator of APACHA International shared

his experiences in building APACHA as a vibrant network of Asia.

Addressing the mass he said, " We have practically experienced and

witnessed that people can be mobilized and multi- sectoral approach

is possible. " He added, " It is true that we had a tough time to make

things happen, nonetheless it has been possible. With our collective

dreams, collective passion, and political will to make change happen,

we have proved that things can be changed. But the fact is that there

are still more challenges and this is just the beginning of the

journey. " He said, " The beginning of APACHA India is going to be a

milestone for APACHA in its attempts to address the causes and

consequences of the epidemic in Asia " .

The conference was focused to critically revisit the ongoing efforts

to address the epidemic in India, identify gaps and to address them.

It also highlighted the ongoing HIV & AIDS initiatives at the Asia

level.

Participants expressed their serious concern about the impact of

possible economic crisis and warned the government and donors that

the economic crisis should not be an excuse for them to turn away

from the promises they have made.

Based on the discussion, APACHA India has also developed its interim

plan of action. Towards the end, on behalf of the newly elected

APACHA team, Mr. Ashok Rao said, " As the first elected team of APACHA

India, we would like to express our commitment to strengthen APACHA

India processes and to play an important and critical role towards

addressing the epidemic effectively in India. " He further said, " We

are really happy to be part of one of the largest people's networks

of Asia " .

Correspondence from Mumbai

APACHA News Desk

e-mail: <secretariat.asia@...>

http://www.apachanet.org/knowledge/news/apacha_india.php