AIDS Watch Africa Experts’ Consultative Committee Meeting

Published on Wednesday, 28 May 2014 13:53

On 27-28 May, 2014, the AU Convened the AIDS Watch Africa Experts’ Consultative Committee Meeting in Mauritania which was inaugurated by a Representative of the Minister of Health, Mauritania. The AWA Experts comprised of senior officials from RECs and national AIDS control organisations across Africa. UNDP and its partners of the Africa Forum on HIV and the Law were invited as observers to the 2-day deliberations. In addition, UNDP RSC made two critical presentations for consideration by the Experts Consultative Committee. These were titled (a) “Integrating HIV and gender into environmental impact assessment processes in Africa” and (b) “A report on progress towards achieving law & human rights goals within the African Union (AU) Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, TB and Malaria Response in Africa (2012-2015)”. The AWA Experts’ Consultative Committee considered the two reports and made two specific recommendations addressing concerns raised in the two UNDP reports, in the final Report of the Committee’s deliberations which will be presented to Heads of State and Government in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) in June 2014. The suggested recommendations are as follows:

The AWA experts recommended that countries take advantage of the current unprecedented expansion of infrastructural development taking place in Africa, and ensure that EIAs contribute to expanding access to HIV, TB, malaria, health and gender interventions and mobilise additional resources to contribute to domestic health financing.
Continued prioritization of rights based responses to HIV, TB and Malaria in the law, in access to justice and in law enforcement, including the prioritisation of the needs of people living with HIV and key populations as well for people suffering from TB and Malaria in the Post-2015 development agenda.
Develop and adopt strict medicines quality and anti counterfeiting laws that clearly distinguish between generic formulations of high quality and efficacy from sub-standard and poor quality counterfeit products.

For more information, visit: http://www.aidswatchafrica.org/awa-consultative-member-states-experts-committee-meeting