Solutions: A Gallery of Alternatives in Good Faith

Emal Wahab, Peter Geissert, Maki Karakida, Nadia Alazri

Recommendation 1: Trade, Debt, and Aid

Trade – Cancel Agricultural Subsidies Expansion of the Jubilee Coalition to focus on

agriculture. Debt – Cancel the $200 billion in African debt

$40 billion debt cancellation at Gleneagles is a modest start

Aid – Current aid targets too Low Doubling aid from $25 billions to $50 billions/year by 2010 not

sufficient HIV/AIDS alone will require $22 billions/year Year by year accounting of ODA from each G8 country Increase G8 aid to Africa by $50 billion/year by 2010 Western countries must live up to the commitment of

contributing 0.7% of GNP

Recommendation 2: Plight of Women

Guarantee 50/50 split in employment by 2015 Create an international agency on behalf of women

Amalgamation of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) into one UN agency

Funded to a similar level as UNICEF; something close to $2 billion/year

If formation resisted by member states, it should be created by outside NGOs and then folded in later

Potential difference maker Empower women leaders to network, plan, share with

colleagues in other countries Transform community activism into a mass movement

Recommendation 3: 3 by 5

Must maintain momentum around Three by Five – WHO's design to put 3 million people in treatment by the end of 2005

3 by 5 challenged governments, corporations, and the UN to scale up access to antiretroviral therapy (who.int)

Although goal was not reached by 2005, nearly 1.5 million people received treatment by 2005 and nearly 3 million by 2006. This proves that setting goals is one of the best strategies.

3 by 5 was launched in 2003 and between then and 2005, the number of people receiving antiretroviral treatment increased by 800% in sub-Saharan Africa

Has raised the importance of prevention Helped deem the term “Universal treatment

Recommendation 4: Global Fund G8 Summit will have to confront the shortfall in revenue for the Global

Fund (GF) to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Global Fund was created in 2002 to fight AIDS, TB and

Malaria. By 2005, GF was operating in 127 countries; however, by 2010 approved funding for $21.7 billion for more than 600 programs in 150 countries (theglobalfund.org).

No other international financial institution that deals with AIDS in so many diverse countries and that supports grass-roots

U.S. is the most serious obstacle by offering $400-$600 million when it should be closer to $1.2 billion

Lewis proposes that the private sector needs to play a larger role and terms it their corporate social responsibility

Lewis proposes that self-selected members of the Global Coalition on HIV/AIDS contribute 0.7% of pre-tax profits to the GF to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria

Recommendation 5: Feed the Hungry

There is greater reluctance to provide funding for food, which makes the MDG goal to cut hunger in half by 2015 less likely to occur

Lewis argues that while funding for AIDS can be difficult due whether to spend finances on prevention, treatment or care, providing food should be simple.

World Food Programme (WFP) has been supportive of orphans in child-headed households and groups living with AIDS

School feeding programs – guarantees one solid meal a day to impoverished communities. Without this program, many children would starve.

Lewis proposes that a new and definitive program should be available for the purchase of food whenever needed

UN's Food and Agriculture Organization could play a role by focusing on small agricultural developments

Recommendation 6: Social Change

Millennium Development Goals (MDGS)

Rebuild health care, education, transportation, communications, nutrition, water, sanitation, and agriculture

Next step – collaborating with government to reach socioeconomic terrain of each African country

Recommendation 7: Preventive Technologies

Vaccines Help end millions of new infections 10 or more years away – virus mutationMicrobicides Prevent transmission of the virus

Having access is the key (advance preparation is underway) Educate vast numbers of rural women about how to use a

microbicides Increase the distribution of vaccines for awaited people More trials should have in place for the better prospects for

discovery

Recommendation 8: Schools

School fees and other related cost should be abolished The entire onus should be on the World Bank and the IMF 

Going to school – fundamental, urgent human rights for every child

Schools can contribute to MDGS by: Being natural centers for immunization, deworming, lunch

programs, and the distribution of malarial bed-nets a water point for the village and a model for a community garden

Recommendation 9: Orphans

• There is no equivalent historical precedent for the magnitude of the orphan crisis.

• Two generations of children are growing up without parents.• Disorganized response.• The Burden is falling on women in communities, particularly

grandmothers.

• Suggestions:• Creation of a social security scheme to provide for the survival

of grandmothers caring for orphaned children.• Establish a system of compensation, and expand number of

caregivers.

Human Capacity

• “Capacity building” is a misnomer

• Need for “Capacity Replacement”

• Suggestions:• UN must step into a leadership vacuum• Development of a plan to address human capacity• Training

“Matters of Controversy”

Within the UN there is significant “self censorship”. There is a political price to be paid for leveling criticism at other countries. The magnitude of the epidemic necessitates setting aside this diplomatic propriety.

The UN must be comfortable pointing out when member nations' efforts are compromised by political, economic, or moralistic stances.

The UN must broker agreements that engage the governments of African nations in the fight against AIDS, and hold them accountable when their actions do not measure up to their commitments.

Silence is complicity.

Discussion Questions

Do you think these goals are too general to be achieved or should they be more specific?

What are the advantages/disadvantages to using school facilities as part of the MDGs?

How can we make western countries live up to the commitment of contributing 0.7% of GNP?

How can the United States be given incentives to provide more to the Global Fund?

References

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (2010). About the global fund. Retrieved from http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/about/?lang=en

World Health Organization (2006). Progress on global access to antiretroviral therapy: A report on “3 by 5” and beyond. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/hiv/fullreport_en_highres.pdf