Community Programme and Global Village

Community Programme Rapporteur Team

• Nandinee Bandyopadhyay - (India)

• Glen Brown - (Canada)

• Jane Galvao - (Brasil)

• Bechir N’daw - (Mali)

• Ec. María del Carmen Quevedo Tobar - (Ecuador)

• Amitrajit Saha (Piklu) - (India)

Community Programme Vision• Reclaim ownership of the agenda

• Reach and involve diverse communities

• Address issues of human rights, social justice and economic inequality

• Bring together community and evidence-based science

• Ensure a long-term legacy for the region

• Demand accountability and action

What is the place of community at this conference?

Is it here?

Physically and

symbolically removed in what some

have called a “Global

Ghetto”….?

Or is it here…..?

We are all engaged in a quiet struggle over the future of community at the conference -

and nature of the conference itself

• We must address -– The migration of too many scientists

to attend only Pathogenesis– The sense of two distinct & barely connected

conferences that many attendees report feeling– The need to build on interdisciplinary sessions

and networking opportunities across traditional boundaries of community/ science/ funders/ government/ etc

Does it matter?• Where, how and why does the presence of

community at the conference make a difference?

• The reality behind the statistics

• Experience that can validate or challenge theory

• The ability to break down barriers/myths through personal contact

• The recognition and valuing of expertise not acquired through advanced studies, but rather through life

Enabling dialogue• Non-abstract driven sessions - bridging

sessions, special sessions, plenaries, invited presentations, satellites and networking sessions - brought depth, diversity and dialogue that would not happen in single track sessions.

12,000 first time attendees

• In Mexico City c. 60% of the conference goers had never previously attended the International AIDS Conference

• Does the conference accommodate and prepare them to make the most of the conference experience - to take information, skills, ideas, connections and materials back to their home country?

• Are the advance information, orientation, logistics, translation, materials, etc enough to make the conference accessible to new attendees?

Communities as partners

• Throughout the conference, we heard examples of successes (and failures) in building partnerships between community and other stakeholders.

• PartnershipsIn research

• Early, meaningful - extended to operations research• Clearly understood expectations for all parties• Investment and support for capacity and

sustainability of community partners• Continuing after the project is over

Similarly in prevention, care/treatment, policy making, and all other areas

How can a partnership overcome inequities of economics, social power and formal expertise?

Partnerships without trust?• A recurring theme -- are powerful partners

willing to share knowledge?

• Controversies about how (and even if) the “Swiss Statement” should be shared with PLHIV and their partners

• “Publish or perish?” US government delay of nearly a year in sharing important new epidemiological analysis with community?

Partnerships mean deep commitment

• GIPA -- are we slipping back into tokenism?

– Building PLHIV human capital through “Greater INVESTMENT in People with AIDS”

• Commitment to working with youth and children– HDN bringing 7 reporters age 7-17 to cover the

conference -- and recognising the huge support necessary to make that work

The voices of community:Sex workers

• More plenaries, sessions and networking activities than ever before

• The fundamental need to respect sex work as “work” instead of a pathology, and to protect sex workers from all forms of explotation and abuse

• Policies that are reality-based rather than ideologically/morality based

• “Save me from my saviours”

The voices of community: MSM• New attention in a region where the epidemic is

predominately MSM

• Understanding that poilitical will is the greatest barrier

• Recognition of diverse ways of being a MSM in different cultural and personal constructs

• Greater exploration of MSM issues in hostile social/political environments

The Voices of Community: Indigenous Peoples

• Networking of native/ first nations/ indigenous peoples from South Americam, Meso-America, North America, and the Pacific

• Need to recognise and respond to the enhanced vulnerability and growing epidemic

• Need to understand and respect culture

Voices of communities: • Women• Youth • Transgender• Homeless• Drug using/ harm reduction• Faith• Migrant

Voices of communities• The Global Village as the centre of

networking

• Activism throughout the conference

• Technology and innovation as forces for creating and reaching community

• Culture as a powerful tool

Voices of communities• Human rights approach increasingly applied

• Increasing attention to social justice

• Facing key issues together:Criminalisation, travel restrictions, housingGreater south-south dialogue and coalition

building

Place of the conference in community

• Maximizing impact in Latin America - what will the long term be?

• Changes in Mexican government policy on methadone

• Head of host country denounced homophobia

Place of the conference in community

• Expanding scope and participation– Regional hubs– Kaiser webcasts– Activist blogs (“AIDS2008”)– Community media

To Vienna and beyond• The Global Village and community actitivities

were “messy, sloppy and noisy.” They were also where the energy of the conference and community was, and where the epidemic is.

• How do we bring that energy not just into the next conference, but incorporate it as an essential part of the worldwide AIDS effort?