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Speeches and Documents
December 5 2008
 Champions Trip Report for the 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA)
Executive Summary
Professor Miriam Were, chairperson of the Kenya National AIDS Control Council, and Liya Kebede, WHO Goodwill Ambassador and international supermodel from Ethiopia, called for stepped-up leadership in the response to the AIDS epidemic during a panel discussion at the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Dakar, Senegal, on December 4th, 2008.
The panel, entitled “African Leadership and Reinvigorating Prevention,” was chaired by Dr. Debrewerk Zewdie, director of the Global HIV/AIDS Program at the World Bank. It was part of a special series of leadership sessions at ICASA. Two members of the Champions Secretariat also traveled to ICASA to handle logistics, mobilize participants for the panel session and to network with sponsors and potential partners. About 130 people attended the panel discussion. The discussion covered the role of the Champions and the uniqueness of the new initiative, challenges African leaders face in responding to the epidemic, the push for leaders to fulfill commitments and the need to recognize “local champions” for the good work being done at the grassroots levels.
Panel Discussion
Panelist
- Professor Mairiam Were, Champion
- Liya Kebede, Champion
- Dean, Abdousalam, Dakar, University, Republic of Senegal
Summary
Professor Were emphasized that good governance and accountability remained an important goal for leadership on the African continent. Commitments made, including promises under the Abuja Declaration calling for 15 percent of national budgets to be spent on health programs, should now be delivered.
Both Were and Kebede said part of their role as Champions was to provide peer support to African heads of state and other leaders to provide more visionary and evidence-based solutions to the AIDS epidemic. With a focus on proven HIV prevention practices, the Champions can speak freely and independently about the issues that need to be discussed, both publically and behind the scenes.
They emphasized that global responses should also reflect the evidence and burden of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa through mobilization of the international community and its resources.
Asked how a supermodel and acknowledged celebrity would play a role in the Champions effort, Kebede responded that she planned to Champion issues around child and maternal health. “As a woman and a mother, I can speak to issues of importance to mothers and children, and being a Champion allows me to speak to these issues at the highest levels,” she said.
Kebede noted that young girls are the most affected by HIV but still have less access to education – a problem that leaders should respond to. She further wished to see the Champions advocate for communities to support young girls capacity to say no to sex without consequences.
Prof. Were spoke on behalf of the other Champions and made clear the mission to mobilize high-level leaders for stepped-up prevention. She challenged the audience, especially the youth, to stop waiting for the Champions to DO SOMETHING for them and instead become their own “Grassroots Champions” for the causes near to them. “The youth of today are not only leaders of tomorrow, but are also leaders of today,” she said. In this context she gave an example of Kebede, the supermodel who became a Champion and a leader while still in her youth. |
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