Stop UNGASS block on TAC, ALP, ARASA and ALU - CALL FOR ACTION

29 Mar 2006 – 15:31 (modified on 16 Mai 2006 – 10:45)

by Edwin

Note: Further to a previous call for support to a letter objecting to TAC and ALP being blocked to participate in the UNGASS review meeting by
the South African government, a letter regarding the exclusion of Namibian NGOs: AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and
the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre (ALU) (blocked by the government of Namibia) has also now been added. Please now regard this
as a 'double' sign-on

Dear all,

We ask you to support participation of five well-known and respected AIDS NGOs from southern Africa in the Review Meeting on the UNGASSDeclaration of Commitment, taking place at the UN in New York on May 31-June 2, 2006. South African NGOs: Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Friends of TAC, and AIDS Law Project (ALP) submitted applications for 'accreditation' to attend the Review Meeting. Following review of the list of civil society organizations for accreditation by country delegations (government representatives to the UN), however, the list no longer included the names of these three organisations. It appears that the South African government lodged an objection, preventing these well-known treatmentactivists groups from participating in the review. Namibian NGOs: UNGASS participation by the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre (ALU) was also blocked by the government of Namibia.

In response, the Civil Society Coalition on the HIV/AIDS UNGASS has prepared TWO letters calling on the Presidents of South Africa and Namibia to withdraw these objections. If you support this appeal, PLEASE SIGN-ON TO THE LETTERS BELOW by sending your name, organization, city,country and email address to: signup@ungasshiv.org by no later than April 6.

Please be careful to send to the email address given above, and not to listserv/eForum addresses.

The letters will be re-sent to Presidents Mbeki and President Pohamba on April 7 with all received signatures.

[Thanks to the many people who already signed-on to the original letter about South African NGOs. Please now regard this as a double sign-on forthe two letters].

Thank you in advance for your help and support.

Zonny Woods, Marcel van Soest, Mary Ann Torres and Tim France (On behalf of Civil Society Coalition on HIV/AIDS UNGASS)

(For more information on the Civil Society Coalition on HIV/AIDS UNGASS and how to get involved in UNGASS review process: www.ungasshiv.org)PLEASE SIGN ON TO THESE TWO LETTERS BY EMAIL TO:

signup@ungasshiv.orgno later than April 6

----Letter to President of South Africa follows-----

Mr Thabo Mbeki
President of South Africa
Fax (Pretoria): 012 323 8246
Fax (Cape Town) (021) 461 6456

Dr Nkosazana Zuma
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Government of South Africa
Fax (Pretoria): 012 351 0253
Fax (Cape Town): 012 465 6548

Dear Mr. President, dear Dr. Zuma,

We write to you as members of national and international civil society
organizations committed to overcoming HIV and AIDS. In 2003, we
celebrated the South African government's announcement to provide
comprehensive care and treatment to people living with HIV and AIDS in
the country. We note also that South Africa adopted the 2001 UNGASS
Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which stressed government
leadership and the commitment to partnership at all levels in addressing
the pandemic.

We write to raise our concern regarding information that the South
African Government recently lodged an objection against the
participation of three organisations in the forthcoming United Nations
Review of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Treatment Action
Campaign (TAC), Friends of TAC and AIDS Law Project (ALP), three South
African groups that have proven their commitment to addressing HIV and
AIDS in South Africa and the world. This objection, effectively prevents
the three organisations from participating in the review being held in
New York, 31 May - 2 June 2006.

By even the most conservative estimates, HIV and AIDS are devastating
communities and entire countries across the globe. Even if we ignore the
huge personal costs to families and friends directly affected by the
disease, we cannot ignore the impact it has on our societies - on
development, economic prospects, health systems, and education, to name
just a few.

The scale of the HIV pandemic demands that all sectors in society need
to respond to their fullest capacities. The nature of the disease also
means that institutions and individuals across the political spectrum
must work together if the spread of HIV is ever to be reversed, much
less eradicated.

Now is not the time for exclusion on the basis of political differences,
but a time to expand our partnerships across all institutions and
individuals tackling the pandemic - governments and civil society
organizations, businesses and faith-based organizations, educators and
health care workers, leaders of institutions and movements, and all
people living with HIV.

This letter, to which more signatories are lending their name daily,
calls on you in your capacity as President of South Africa, to exercise
your leadership in favour of partnerships over political difference -
and to repeal this objection. Such a step would put even further into
practice your government's initiative of "Batho Pele - Putting People
First".

We ask you to clarify this situation. If the South African Government's
objection participation by the Treatment Action Campaign, Friends of
TAC, and the AIDS Law Project is confirmed, however, we call on you to
lift these objections. Such an act will ensure that the invaluable
contributions and experience of these three organisations can help us
move closer to our common vision of a world without AIDS.

Respectfully,

cc: Dr Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang, Minister of Health
Fax (Pretoria): 012 325 5526
Fax (Cape Town): 021 465 1575

----Letter to President of Namibia follows-----

Your Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba
President of the Republic of Namibia
Fax: +264 61 221780

Your Excellency

We write to you as members of national and international civil society
organisations committed to overcoming HIV and AIDS. We applaud the
commitment of your government to reducing the number of new infections
and to providing access to treatment, care and support for people living
with HIV/AIDS. We note also that the Republic of Namibia signed on to
the 2001 UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which stressed
the importance of government leadership and the commitment to
partnerships at all levels in addressing the epidemic.

We write to raise our concern regarding the information that the
Government of the Republic of Namibia lodged an objection against the
AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and the AIDS Law
Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre (ALU) being accredited to the UNGASS
Review taking place in New York at the end of May 2006. This objection
effectively prevents both organisations from participating in the
review.

The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa is a regional alliance
of fourteen non-governmental organisations working to promote and build
capacity around a human rights based response to HIV/AIDS in SADC. The
regional secretariat of ARASA has its offices in Windhoek. We understand
that one of the primary considerations that resulted in the decision to
locate the secretariat of ARASA in Namibia was the Government of the
Republic of Namibia's demonstrated commitment to respecting, protecting
and upholding human rights, particularly in the context of its national
response to HIV/AIDS.

As a regional organisation, ARASA's exclusion from accreditation to the
UNGASS Review negatively impacts on all of its partner organisations,
which are located in each of the SADC countries. ARASA is the only
regional network of civil society organisations working in the field of
HIV and human rights in SADC and is recognised regionally, continentally
and internationally as such.

The AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre is the only
organisation in Namibia that provides a legal service for people living
with HIV/AIDS and has, we understand, contributed significantly to the
development of the Namibian legal and policy framework on HIV/AIDS,
particularly in the area of human rights. We understand that the AIDS
Law Unit has been working closely with the Government of the Republic of
Namibia on the development of a National Policy on HIV/AIDS.

The scale of the HIV pandemic demands that all sectors of society must
be involved in the response to HIV/AIDS, to the fullest extent of their
capacities. Now is not the time for the exclusion of civil society
organisations from the response. The nature of the epidemic demands that
we expand our partnerships across all institutions and individuals
tackling the epidemic - governments and civil society organisations,
businesses and faith based organisations, educators and health care
workers, leaders of institutions and movements and all people living
with HIV/AIDS.

This letter, to which even more signatures are being collected than just
those listed below, calls upon you, in your capacity as President of the
Republic of Namibia, to exercise your leadership in favour of
partnerships over exclusion.

We ask you to clarify this situation. If indeed it is true that the
Government of the Republic of Namibia has objected to the participation
of ARASA and the AIDS Law Unit at the UNGASS review meeting in May, we
call on you to lift these objections to their accreditation.

Respectfully

SIGNATORIES

Aachen South-Africa Initiative
Absolute return for Kids South Africa
ACCSI - Accion Ciudadana Contra el SIDA
ACT UP Drase Hellas
ACT UP New York
ACT UP Paris
Action Against AIDS Germany
ActionAID International
African Care and Development Initiative
African Microbicides Advocacy Group
African Regional Youth Initiative
African Services Committee
AfriCASO
AGIHAS
Agua Buena Human Rights Association
AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa
AIDS Education Global Information System
AIDS Foundation of South Africa
AIDS Hilfe Baden Wurttemberg
AIDS Law Project
AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition
AIDS-Care-Watch Campaign
Aidsfocus (Medicus Mundi)
AIDS-Initiative Bonn
Aksion Plus
Aktion Canchanabury e.V.
Alliance 2015
Alliance for Children's Entitlement to Social Security
Alma Mata Global Health Network
American University of Beirut (Jocelyn DeJong)
Association des Jeunes Anti - SIDA
Association of Protestant Churches and Missions
AVERT
BUKO Pharma-Kampagne
CAFOD
Cairde
Cambodian Muslim Youth Coordination Centre
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Catholics for Free Choice
Centre for Health and Gender Equity
Childline South Africa
Children's Homes Outreach Medical Programme
Christian AIDS Resource and Information Service
Church of Scotland
CIPRA - SA
City of Cape Town Health Resource Centre
City University of New York (Rosalind Petchesky)
Civicus
Civil-Military Alliance to Combat HIV and AIDS
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project
Concern Worldwide
Cornell University (Jennifer Tiffany)
Council for World Mission
Deutsche Pfadfinderschafr Sankt Georg
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe
Diakonisches Werk Schleswig-Holstein
Difaem - German Institute for Medical Mission
Durban Children's Society
EANNASO
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
Education International
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
El Closet de Sor Juana
EMPOWER
EMS Association of Churches and Missions
ETC Crystal
European AIDS Treatment Group
Evangelica Lutheran St. Jakobus Kirchengemeinde Minden
Facultad de Psicologia, UNAM (Gloria Careaga Perez)
Family Care International
Fordham University School of Law (Elizabeth Cooper)
Fordham University School of Social Service (Cynthia Cannon Poindexter)
FoTAC
Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research
Foundation on Studies and Research on Women
Freedom Foundation
Fundacion Arcoiris
Fundacion en accion - revista Indetectable
Fundacion Nimehatzin
Global AIDS Alliance
Global AIDS Campaign, Fordham University Chapter (Laura Hawks)
Global Health Council
Global Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS
Global Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS Europe
Gossner Mission Berlin
Greek Haemophilia Society (GHS)
Grupo Portuguese de Activistas Sobre Tratamentos
Gugulethu ARV Clinic
Guyana Human Rights Association
Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust
Harvard School of Public Health (Candace Miller)
Health Connections International
Health Development Networks
HIV Denmark
HIV i-base
HIVOS
I.D.A.S.A
ICASO
Igualdad en Matrimonio
ImpAcTAIDS
InfoBalkan
Instituto CentroAmericano de la Salud (ICAS) (Anna Gorter)
Interamerican Concertation of Women's Human Rights Activists
International AIDS Empowerment
International Catholic Mission Society
International Coalition on AIDS and Development
International Women' s Health Coalition
Intersect Coalition
IOLS Research
Jerusalem AIDS Project
Kenya AIDS NGO's Consortium
KfW - German Development Bank
KIT Development
KOSA
Latin American and Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organisations
Leadership for Environment and Development
Legal Resources Centre
Lutheran AIDS Network
Mailman School of Public Health (Robert Sember)
Masipumelele Clinic
Medecins Sans Frontieres
Medecins Sans Frontieres Greece
National Empowerment Network of PLWHA in Kenya
National Health and Welfare Council
NCCA Christian World Service
Netherlands School of Public and Occupational Health (Diederik Aarendonk)
NetMediaOne
NiZA
Norwegian Church AID
Open Society Institute
Oxfam
Oxfam Ireland
Oxfam Novib
Padare/Enkudleni, Mens Forum on Gender
Parish of St. Margareta
Partnership Committee of Verden Circuit
Pastoral Ecumenica VIH-SIDA
People's Health Movement
Physicians for Human Rights
PILS
PMB Child and Family Welfare Society
Positive Malaysian Treatment Access and Advocacy Group
Positive People, Goa
Protestant Church in Essen
Public Health Watch, Open Society Institute
Public Services International
Queen Mary University of London
RAPCAN
Red Cross Childrens Hospital, Cape Town
Reproductive Health Matters
Rutgers Nisso Group
S.O.S Enfants
SAfAIDS
SAMO Development Organisation
SENSOA
Share-Net
SIDACTION
Sima Community Based Organisation
SmartReporting Ltd
Southern African Legal Assistance Network
Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Childrens Hospital (Mark Cotton)
Stellenbosch University, Department of Paediatrics (Louise Cooke)
Stellenbosch University, Department of Sociology (Steven Robins)
Terre des Hommes Foundation
The Female Health Foundation
The Light Project
The Rockefeller University (Lucio Verani)
Treatment Action Campaign
Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign Zambia
Tsebo Outsourcing Group
Tshwane University of Technology (Sylvester Moepya)
UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS
United Church of Canada
United Evangelica Lutheran Church Argentina and Uruguay
United Nations Development Programme
University of Cape Town (Mary Ann Davies)
University of Cape Town (Lauraine Vivian)
University of Copenhagen (Ina Bluemel)
University of Massachusetts (Anissa Helie)
University of Portsmouth (Linn Dahlman)
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women
Wits Paediatric HIV Clinic
Women's Environment and Development Organization
World AIDS Campaign
World Conference of Religions for Peace
World Population Foundation
World YMCA
Young Christian Workers of Diocese Limburg
Youth Coalition Canada
Youth Coalition India
Youth Community Training Centre, Livingstone
Youth Empowered to Succeed
Youth Incentive
ZOE Zimbabwe Orphans through Extended Hands

Cathy Crawford
Cecelia Beckwith
Danielle Klemp
David Knight
Dr Gail R. Pool PhD
Dr Mary Ann Davies
Dr. Mihranian Hermon
Ergeba Sheferaw
Gail Pool
Gottfried Wellmer
Jack Lewis
Konjit Meshesha
Lauraine Vivian
Louise Cooke
Marion Evans
Mervyn Susser
Mindy Jane Roseman
Phyllis Orner
Rob Evans
Stacia Nordin
Susan Holland-Muter
Frederick Nunes