"Pan-African Movement" <[log in to unmask]>



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From: "Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem" <[log in to unmask]>

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Sent: 13 November 2003 1:49 PM

Subject: TAJUDEEN's THURSDAY POSTCARD NOV 13 2003





>

>

> THURSDAY POSTCARD 13 NOVEMBER 2003

>

> There is so much publicity about HIV/AIDs that many people think that

they know all that is there to know. If this is true then the rate of

infection should be going down but instead it is going up in many parts of the world especially in Africa that is already devastated by the scourge in the past two decades.

> The figures being bandied around are not just frightening, if they

come close, as being 50% true then HIV/AIDs would achieve a successful

genocide against Africa. What slavery and colonialism could not achieve in

terms of wiping out the peoples of Africa could easily be secured if the

exponential infection rates across the continent continue.  On present scales it may not be apocalyptic to suggest that certain countries will simply evaporate, cease to exist not because of war and armed conflict but AIDS devastation claiming the younger generation and most of the labour force thereby turning the countries into a grave yard for exhausted Old people and children orphaned by Aids.

>

> There is certain defensiveness by us when it comes to these figures.

Too many of us are still engaged in statistical gymnastics arguing that

it can not be true, it is exaggerated and there are even those who will deny out rightly that Aids is a big problem at all.  They point at the fact

that malaria and other diseases continue to claim more lives in Africa

than death due to Aids. For me all of these arguments are as interesting as

suggesting 'the bottle is half empty or the bottle is half full'. The brutal truth is that Aids is claiming millions of lives of our people   and it is affecting all our lives and will change the socio-economic and political structure of our societies.

>

> The common mistake about HIV/AIDs even in countries like Uganda where

there is more enlightened political leadership on these issues, public

openness, general awareness and relative success in arresting the upward

mobility of the disease is to treat it as a health and related care and welfare issue.

> While treatment action, care and general welfare of the victims are

> important the campaign cannot stop there. The impact of HIV/Aids is

manifest in every facet of our existence and it is therefore important to

mainstream it (as Gender activists are succeeding for Gender issues) if we are to deal with it comprehensively.

>

> Take for example the impact on the national Defence and security

> establishment of a country whose Officer corps and other ranks have a

high level of HIV infection. Is that an army or a moving coffin show. Some

of the corruption in the army of some countries are partly the direct result of lack of proper medical facilities to treat infected people and also fear that when they die there will be no statutory provisions to look

after their offspring, widows and other dependents.  Consequently they help

themselves to whatever resources available for diversion to their immediate

needs for

> treatment and security against future eventualities. One is not

excusing corrupt practices but the example merely illustrate how lack of clear policy framework and implementable provision to meet the needs of all

concerned can serve as fertile ground for all kinds of subversion of public good.

>

> Take another example of a parliament in one of the AU member states

where infection rate is put at between 20 and 30 %. This may mean that

between 10-15 % of the parliamentarians may die in the course of a 4-5 year

term. Imagine the cost of bye-elections, the impact on administration and

> governance of being forced to re elect representatives in such

rapidity.Or think of another country where some statistics show that 25-35%

of teachers are either HIV positive or living with AIDs. With all the

will and resources in the world it is not possible to replace 40% of teachers in a short time. The calamity calls for a fundamental rethinking of the whole structure of schools and educational governance in the country. How do you sustain a high level of access and quality of education in the face of these huge gaps in the pool of teachers available?

>

> These examples suggest the need for a comprehensive governance

response to the challenges posed by HIV / Aids pandemic.

>

> The search for such comprehensive perspective to provide effective

> governance intervention (s) was behind a Justice Africa project on

> Governance and HIV /AIDs in Africa about two years ago. So original

was the idea that it did not take long before it got positive response from

Dr KY Amoako, Executive Secretary of the ECA who decided to house the

project.With the support of the UN secretary General, it has since become the Commission on HIV/Aids and Governance in Africa, which was recently

> inaugurated in Addis.

>

> But our believe that HIV/Aids affect everybody and everything means

that it cannot be left to UN and governments alone necessitated the convening of an African Civil Society Governance and Aids Initiative (GAIN) to shadow the CHGA and other initiatives on HIV/Aids. This group met in a planning meeting in Johannesburg early in October  to  agree aims and objectives and programme of research and advocacy and policy engagement activities that will sensitize Governance and Democracy groups across the continent to the impact of HIV/Aids and also mobilize the socio-political movement necessary to take on the scourge with the same determination that

Africans resisted slavery and colonialism. Nothing short of that united front locally, nationally, regionally and internationally can inspire the

kind of proactive action necessary to defeat the scourge. Otherwise it will

become another guilt industry that few dollars are thrown at to assuage the

> conscience of the rich and the powerful. Yet charity alone cannot

provide adequate response because the wider issue is about Justice for the

victims and for ourselves.

>

> [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

>

> Visit JUSTICE AFRICA at www.justiceafrica.org for more information on

GAIN,CHGA and other activities related to joining the growing movement to

Make HIV/Aids a matter of concern to all of us regardless of our HIV

status.

>

>> "Forward Ever Backward never" Kwame Nkrumah



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