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Blogs"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest"
by Jacqui Patterson
Thu, 08/21/2008 - 10:13am “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest.” What does this mean to the church? I know scripture isn’t the most common language one would find on a CHAMP blogspot :-) but there it is and here I am, a Christian and a proponent for social justice for all. And I have some questions for my sistren and brethren in the church. I spent the first 3 days of my time in Mexico City at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference where I appreciated some great dialogue with most of my time and energy engaging in discussions around gender, and specifically about patriarchy in the church and gender based violence. I was sad to note an absence of dedicated space on the program for LGBTQQI people and issues/dynamics particularly affecting queer folk, particularly given the early and continued epidemiology of HIV&AIDS as well as the continued proliferation of discrimination against queer communities and individuals. read more » Reaching Youth with Information Communication Technology
by Jessica Greene
Fri, 08/15/2008 - 9:38pm
My colleague Hope Hempstone posted an interesting blog entry on reaching youth with new media based on her attendance at an interesting session on Tuesday of the conference. In a field where it becomes so easy to rely on the same old media channels (or at least using TV, radio and print media in the same old way), it's both refreshing and inspiring to hear about those that are breaking from this norm. Check out her post at: http://psicommunications.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/reaching-millio.html
PEPFAR, you jerk! We know Condoms Work!
by Mimi Melles
Thu, 08/14/2008 - 2:57pm The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has finally been reauthorized for another five years, and it’s time to hold the United States accountable for its work. It’s pretty clear that, under PEPFAR, the rights of women and young people are ignored. The many strings attached to its plan undermine the needs of women and young people and their ability to have ownership over their own reproductive and sexual health. One of the most harmful pieces within PEPFAR II is the requirement that the State Department report to Congress any time a country with a generalized epidemic expends less than 50 percent of its funds to prevent sexual transmission of HIV on abstinence, delay of sexual debut, monogamy, fidelity, or partner reduction. Evidence from best practices indicates that a comprehensive prevention strategy that also includes education about condoms and harm reduction are critical to achieving a substantial reduction in new infections. read more » Sex Workers and Human rights
by Juliana Rincon Parra
Tue, 08/12/2008 - 12:24am
Prejudice and ignorance can go a really long
way towards sustaining injustice, and that is why I believe that sessions like
the one on sex workers rights at the Human Rights Networking Zone was
completely necessary. A student activist's take on the IAC
by Caiti Schroering
Sun, 08/10/2008 - 5:37pm
As a committed SGACer and activist, the experience of going
to the International AIDS Conference in Heading back to the U.S.: Thoughts from William Smith of SIECUS
by Julie Davids
Sat, 08/09/2008 - 7:05pm hello everyone -- here's a note below that Bill Smith of SIECUS asked me to post to the blog: He writes: "As we pack up and head back to the U.S., advocates, scientists and civil servants from our country working on HIV/AIDS are returning to a place where the empirical face and scope of HIV has changed. While here, our own government released HIV surveillance data confirming that our epidemic is worse than we thought, with 40% more new infections each year than previously estimated. That is 16,300 more Americans who became HIV positive annually. From a numbers perspective, it is alarming, but the rate of new infections was something experienced by AIDS service organizations across the country during this same time frame. For them, it is confirmation that the constant clarion call for a real investment in stemming the epidemic was warranted and now embarrassingly long overdue. read more » The Pilgrimage
by David Munar
Sat, 08/09/2008 - 2:29pm  The Nigerians sitting behind me on the early morning bus
ride to Centro Banamex passionately debated human rights for commercial sex
workers and men who have sex with men.
Others on the bus shuffled papers and thumbed the program book in preparation for their long day ahead. Today is my last day in Mexico City and I'm tired and filled with emotions. read more » Continucacion -- Salida de Mexico..
by Anne-christine dAdesky
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 7:33pm Reflections on IAC- continued: Still in airport- so a few more reflections to share on the week, and what is on my mind... As I started to say: the issue of MSMs and the failure to date for the big agencies and the global community to really address the stigma of homophobia in Africa broke open at this conference. I haven't see Jorge Saavedra's presentation, but I understand the 'evidence' he provided of how little money has been given to programs for MSMs, compared to the brunt of infection and suffering suffered by MSMs in many countries has helped convince agencies and even govts that maybe they can approach this via a public health strategy, which seems to help them get over their deeply entrenched homophoia. I stopped by the Gay Africa booth in the global village to congraluate their group for leading this charge. I'm going to look at their work and their members and give profile to this in my own journalism in the coming months... read more » Adelante.. de Mexico
by Anne-christine dAdesky
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 6:58pm Mexico Airport, 5:30 -- I thought I'd slip in a quick departing hello and some reflections on the week, as I plan my return stateside. I remarked to a few colleagues this week on what seemed to be a collective experience: for those of us who've been attending these conferences for many years, for some reason this conference was the most exhausting of all. I think it's because we have learned what we want to do at these conferences and so we're primed to be effective, whether it's reporting, presenting, demostrating.. and if we've been around, chances are that people link us to issues, and ask us to opine on them, or present our work, so we cram in more than humanely possible. The result: on Wed night, I felt like i really could not leave the conference. I was simply unable to manage another long haul down the corridors. I described the Mexico conference -- well all the International AIDS Conferences -- as 'Disney World on crack -except about AIDS.' Not that it was so insane - in fact, the conference was run incredibly smoothly from my view as a participant and presenter, but the scale and the sheer number of people and the mix of cultures. When we went to leave at night, it really felt like a grown up version of waiting to get into the litttle boats to tour 'It's a Small World After All' -- complete with the many-cultures theme. But of course the work and activity and passion was for a serious cause, and I duly took note of the big themes that jumped out for me: Thanks to all our AIDS2008.com bloggers, hosts and readers!!!
by Julie Davids
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 6:22pm As many of our fantastic AIDS2008.com correspondents prepare to leave Mexico City, I want to thank everyone for all your hard work at the International AIDS Conference, and for finding the time in a very very hectic setting to share your experiences, thoughts, ideas and resources with people around the world on the blog. We hope that your travels go smoothly, and that you will continue to share your post-IAC wrap-up thoughts with the blog -- and hope to continue to work with all of you as we continue the fight for HIV prevention justice. Thanks to the AIDS activists of Mexico City for welcoming and hosting us, and for the opportunity to join together in solidarity in the weeks, months and years ahead. And thanks to all of our readers -- please feel free to continue to share your thoughts as comments on our posts!
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