Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in Higher Education Institutions

Even though the levels of HIV/AIDS mainstreaming in the most institutions varies slightly, all of them endorsed AIDS policies. Now what boggles the mind is , have any of the institutions established HIV units in their organisational structures and assigned full time staff? Have they conducted risk assessments and prepared comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention plans and allocated budgets? Are there any AIDS resource centers established for students and the university community to access up-to-date information and learning materials on HIV/AIDS?

The presence of an education sector AIDS policy, the establishment of a higher education institution partnership forum and the conducive environment in the universities and colleges should be set up. Yes there are organisations like SayWhat that try to tackle sexual rights and reproductive issues at tertiary institutions but that is just not enough. External forces cannot solve matters affecting the internal.  

Lack of dedicated staff members and less coordination with surrounding communities are major challenges , in addition to the absence of HIV as a core activity and inadequate support from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.More Governmental and institutional activities have to be done so that HIV/AIDS at Institutions of Higher learning is curtailed.

 

Beyond the MDGs: HIV and the Post Development Agenda

In September this year, world leaders will agree on Sustainable Development Goals to follow  on from the eight Millennium Development Goals targeted for 2015.What then is important for HIV and AIDS beyond 2015?

As far as the fight against HIV and AIDS, The MDGs did a splendid job. A specific goal was set aside in an effort to wipe out HIV/AIDS. Goal number six of the MDGs aimed at “combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases was used to perhaps end AIDS.  Can you ever be more precise than that?

      

With the lapse of the MDGs comes the post development agenda through the very broad SDGs. The visibility of Aids has been weakened through issue as most people call them, of “Health and population.” In this vein, this could impact negatively the verve and energy of the national and global response to HIV and AIDS. We are talking about:

1. All the efforts, gains and achievements being undermined.
2. A possible reduction of HIV and AIDS related funding for treatment, research, awareness and the fight.
3. A likelihood of HIV and AIDS being reduced to “any other disease”.
4. The bid to address the link between Sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV/AIDS being ignored.

There are just no two ways about it, HIV and AIDS must remain a priority for the global community in the post-2015 development agenda.

 The MDG on combating HIV/AIDS meant establishing a cure not just a decrease in AIDS related deaths or a plunge in the number of people living with HIV. It goes deeper. It meant finding a cure, after which people can rest and focus on other serious and life threatening diseases.

Before the Open Working Groups endorses it as “Health and population”, there are a few items that it must consider as Regina Maria Barbosa  put it:

• The need to ensure support for innovation in terms of care and affordable ways to get treatment, of developing new treatment and prevention technologies, while  reaching key populations. Private sector alliances were brought to the centre of the discussion. Aid programmes must be based on performance and efficiency, strengthen advocacy and meaningful knowledge to ensure that government do the right thing.
• The requirement of inter-sectorial work, broadening ways to think about health as a technical as well as a political issue
• To stress universal health coverage as the  path to achieve the control of HIV/AIDS  and maintain the health of people bringing AIDS to the health architecture
• To shift from short term responses to long term and human rights based responses, addressing both poverty and AIDS. The importance of working through human, social and economic development perspectives in order to achieve sustainable  development.
• The need for more inclusive development agenda – with shared responsibility between countries, as in the Brazil and Caribbean collaboration regarding treatment. This political perspective means that civil society, scientist, administrators, health provider and government must work together.
• The need to eliminate discrimination, no matter what.

That way, an SDG that will target the complete end of AIDS by 2030 will go a long way in keeping up the momentum of gains already achieved. What was unfinished in the mdgs should come to an end somehow through the start of the SDGS.

From here, let’s arise Hinc Orior!!

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Light at the end of the tunnel

The present development agenda is centred on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were officially established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations (UN) in 2000. The MDGs summarised eight globally agreed goals in the areas of poverty alleviation, education, gender equality and empowerment of women, child and maternal health, environmental sustainability, reducing HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, and building a global partnership for development.

 

As the target date of the MDGs, 2015, is upon us, a debate on the framework of international development beyond 2015 has started. As such, 192 UN member states agreed at the Rio+20 summit to kick start a process of designing sustainable development goals, which are “action-oriented, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities”.


The Rio+20 outcome document, “The Future We Want”, also calls for the goals to be integrated into the UN’s post-2015 Development Agenda. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) refer to an agreement of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20), to develop a set of future international development goals.

The UN General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals on 19 July 2014 forwarded to the Assembly its proposal for a set of SDGs. The proposal contains 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues, including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.

In the Rio+20 outcome document, member States agreed that sustainable development goals(SDGs) must:

1. Be based on Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
2. Fully respect all the Rio Principles.
3. Be consistent with international law.
4. Build upon commitments already made.
5. Contribute to the full implementation of the outcomes of all major summits in the economic, social and environmental fields.
6. Focus on priority areas for the achievement of sustainable development, being guided by the outcome document.
7. Address and incorporate in a balanced way all three dimensions of sustainable development and their interlinkages.
8. Be coherent with and integrated into the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015.
9. Not divert focus or effort from the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
10. Include active involvement of all relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, in the process.

It was further agreed that SDGs must be:

• Action-oriented
• Concise
• Easy to communicate
• Limited in number
• Aspirational
• Global in nature
• Universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

The outcome document further specifies that the development of SDGs should:

• Be useful for pursuing focused and coherent action on sustainable development
• Contribute to the achievement of sustainable development
• Serve as a driver for implementation and mainstreaming of sustainable development in the UN system as a whole
• Address and be focused on priority areas for the achievement of sustainable development.

As the curtain of the MDGs comes down, more developmental activities and projects are lined up. More like an upgrade, we can only hope for the best. The loopholes and setbacks that hindered the MDGs from fully being achieved should not be witnessed with the SDGs.

Aluta continua!

Let's get down to business

I really cannot blame anyone for the  somewhat long break. Be guaranteed that we continue from were we left. We continue to analyse the great strides that the country takes in the fight against HIV and AIDS in relation to what other countries are doing. After all, it's a global village and Zimbabwe should not fall short of the benefits.

Owing to my absences, articles will be posted daily. There is so much catching up to do. Hope the journey will be worth the while.

Happy 2015!