• NATIONAL CHAPTER LAUNCH IN ZAMBIA
• ALLIANCE ACTIVITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
• UNAIDS NAMIBIAN BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP MENU
• AMICAALL SWAZILAND RECEIVES GRANT
• AMICAALL SWAZILAND PARTICIPATES IN THE WSSD

THE MAYORS OF BARCELONA AND WINDHOEK ADDRESS HIV/AIDS TOGETHER
In September, the mayor of Barcelona, Joan Clos I Matheus, and five city officials, were the guests of the mayor of Windhoek, Matheus Shikongo. This followed up an initial meeting between the mayors at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona in July, which was facilitate by the UN-AMICAALL Partnership Programme as part of its efforts to promote city-to-city cooperation.  The result of this latest meeting was a formalised twinning agreement between the two cities. Barcelona will assist Windhoek in three areas: the AMICAALL Namibia Programme, orphans and tourism.

NATIONAL CHAPTER LAUNCH IN ZAMBIA
On August 24th Zambia became the ninth country to launch a national chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa. As part of the launch, an HIV/AIDS declaration was issued by the Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) and endorsed by most local authorities. The Minister for Local Government and Housing, Mr. Michael Mabenga, who represented the President, His Excellency Mr. Levy Mwanawasa, gave the keynote address.  Local authorities, and other partners, are now working to develop an AMICAALL programme for Zambia. The event was attended by the UN community, members of the diplomatic corp., NGOs, government officials, civil society organizations and Mayors and municipal leaders from all over Zambia.

ALLIANCE ACTIVITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
During July the Alliance, in collaboration with USAID, undertook a preparatory mission to  develop an AMICAALL programme in South Africa. The South African Local Government Authority (SALGA) expressed interest in leading the AMICAALL programme in South Africa. The South African Cities Network, a network of cities and partners encouraging the exchange of information and best practices in urban development and city management is also interested in collaborating with an AMICAALL programme in South Africa. They see AMICAALL as a natural partner in their HIV/AIDS programme with a specific focus on information sharing and networking. The Alliance is collaborating with SALGA, UN partnerhs and USAID on prgramme development.

UNAIDS NAMIBIAN BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP MENU
The Alliance Secretariat assisted in set up of the UNAIDS Namibian Business Partnership Menu.  Through the Partnership Menu, the Otjiwarongo Care Center is receiving a US $3300 grant from Namdeb, a joint-venture (Government of Namibia and DeBeers) diamond mining company.  The Center supports disadvantaged youth—especially the growing population of orphaned children due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

AMICAALL SWAZILAND RECEIVES GRANT
The AMICAALL Swaziland programme received a grant of $300,000 from the National Emergency Response Committee on HIV/AIDS.  This is a government contribution to the programme, for the 2002/2003 fiscal year, on behalf of the local authorities.  These monies will go toward a variety of programme activities, including capacity building at the municipal level and community projects. Initial funding for the AMICAALL Swaziland programme came from the African Capacity Buiding Foudation. The programme has also accessed resources from the private sector and UN partners.

AMICAALL SWAZILAND PARTICIPATES IN THE WSSD
The AMICAALL-Swaziland programme participated in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August 2002. The AMICAALL-Swaziland National Coordinator and three local coordinators presented a paper on the national AMICAALL programme.This was part of their on-going efforts to share information and to promote public/private partnerships at the local level.

AMICAALL (Alliance of Mayors? Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level) is the strategy for translating the goals of the Alliance into concrete actions in countries.

The UN-AMICAALL Partnership Programme was established in April 2001 to support development of the Alliance and its country programmes.

For more information, visit AMICAALL website:  www.amicaall.org
Or contact the UN-AMICAALL Partnership Programme Director Mina Mauerstein-Bail:   mina.mauerstein-bail@undp.org

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