A Periodic Bulletin Highlighting

Alliance/AMICAALL Events and Activities

Issue No. 3 - March 2003


Summary:
  • TANZANIA AMICAALL PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT
  • ORT IC AND UNAPP PARTNER
  • CITY TO CITY PARTNERSHIPS
  • UNAPP RETREAT
  • ALLIANCE COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEETS IN WINDHOEK
  • ABOUT JOSEPH

TANZANIA AMICAALL PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT
An AMICAALL plan of action is under development in Tanzania in collaboration with key development partners as part of an effort to revitalize the Tanzanian chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Mayor of Tanga, who is also President of the Tanzania chapter of the Alliance, has called for greater action in HIV/AIDS at the local level to complement steps taken at national level.

ORT IC AND UNAPP PARTNER
The Organization for Educational Resources and Technological Training International Cooperation (ORT IC) and the UN AMICAALL Partnership Programme are working together to develop job skills training programmes, targeting orphans, in collaboration with the private sector and groups addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on young people. A three-city pilot programme is under preparation in Namibia.

CITY TO CITY PARTNERSHIPS
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), working in collaboration with the UN AMICAALL Partnership Programme, is providing support to expand city to city partnerships between the USA and Africa. In February, a CDC mission visited cities in three countries (Namibia, Swaziland and Uganda) in Africa where national AMICAALL programmes are being implemented. This mission provided an opportunity for the CDC to better understand local needs and realities and to identify concrete ways and means of supporting city to city partnerships.

UNAPP RETREAT
UNAPP organized a retreat in Windhoek, Namibia in February. The retreat was hosted by the Alliance Secretariat and brought together national AMICAALL Coordinators and Focal Points from 9 countries, representatives from the Alliance Secretariat, the Alliance Coodinating Committee, representatives from UNAIDS, World Bank, UN and other development agencies. The retreat provided an opportunity to review progress, identify constraints and priorities for 2003-2004 workplans for UNAPP and the Alliance Secretariat.

ALLIANCE COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEETS IN WINDHOEK
A two day Coordinating Committee Meeting was held in Windhoek, Namibia in February. Mayors from 9 countries attended this meeting. Invited guests included representatives from UNAPP, UNAIDS, CDC, Cities Network in S. Africa and other development agencies. The Coordinating Committee reviewed Alliance Secretariat operations, country level and regional activities, partnership development, resource mobilization and preparations for the next Alliance General Assembly, set to take place in Cameroun in December 2003, in conjunction with the Africities Meeting. Priorities for 2003-2004 were identified and will be reflected in the Alliance Secretariat work programme.

ABOUT JOSEPH
In January of this year, we lost a colleague and friend, Joseph Scheich. Joseph was the manager of the STOP AIDS NOW! Foundation, based in the Netherlands. It was here that he conceived and gave life to numerous innovative projects and partnerships, including the partnership between the Association of Netherlands Municipalities and the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS . Joseph put a human face on HIV/AIDS. It was a great honor to have had the opportunity to know and work with Joseph. He put a smile on peoples’ faces and inspired them to do more. He will be missed.

The Alliance is a network of local government authorities and mayors.  Established in 1998, it was formed to promote an expanded, multi-sectoral response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the local level.  The Alliance works in partnership with government, civil society organizations, the private sector and local communities. National chapters of the Alliance have been launched in nine countries:  Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.  The Alliance Secretariat is located in Windhoek, Namibia.

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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