Toronto 2006

In spite of the commitment of various countries and civil society organizations to reduce and slow the spread of the pandemic between now and 2015, as agreed to in the 6th Millennium Development Goal, approximately 38.6 million [33.4 million–46.0 million] people around the world were living with HIV in 2005. In that year alone, around 4.1 million men, women and children [3.4 million–6.2 million] were newly infected with HIV, and an estimated 2.8 million [2.4 million –3.3 million] lives were lost due to AIDS.

From an international perspective, the primary response to the AIDS epidemic almost always comes from HIV-infected individuals, their friends and families, who organize themselves to provide assistance to those in need. Nevertheless, such initiatives as the XVI International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Toronto from August 13 to 18, is an opportune time for Uniterra, the voluntary action program of the CECI and WUSC, to work with other players on the international scene to inform the Canadian public about this issue. It also provides its Uniterra partners from Botswana, Malawi and Burkina Faso, as well as those of the CECI from Haiti, an opportunity to call upon you to become informed about related initiatives in both the North and South.

The objective of these activities is to mitigate the pandemic in order to reduce and combat the harmful effects of AIDS on those infected, their families and communities, institutions and, in certain cases, economies and social networks. The first thing you can do to help is to find out more. => More...

Uniterra partners participating in the conference are:

Burkina Faso:

Responsabilité-Espoir-Vie-Solidarité (REVS+)

Réseau des Associations de Lutte contre le VIH/SIDA de Bobo (RALIS/B)

Association Solidarité et Entraide Mutuelle au Sahel (SEMUS)

Association pour le développement des initiatives de prévention santé/solidarité (ADIPS)

Malawi:

Malawi Network of AIDS Service Organisations (MANASO)

Botswana:

Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Programme (BOCAIP)