United Nations Development Programme (New York) - February 14, 2003

At a recent five-day workshop held in Tunisia, UNDP, together with UNAIDS and l'Association Tunisiene de Lutte contre les MST SIDA (ATL MST/SIDA), organized a regional workshop that brought together civil society organizations (CSOs) representatives from 14 Arab countries to develop their leadership capacity and improve networking among them at both the national and regional levels.

"Our goal is to shape our collective resolve into effective leadership in the region. We want CSOs to be equipped and better organized to adopt a more proactive stance as leaders to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. Our region can, and must, avert the devastating impact on development that the pandemic has had in other parts of the world, and it will take a distinctive form of leadership to ensure that," said Walid Badawi, Regional Programme Adviser, UNDP's Regional Bureau for Arab States, in his opening address at the workshop.

At the workshop, Dr. Naziha Esche ck, Tunisian Secretary of State for Public Health, stressed the importance of cooperation, coordination and expansion of areas of partnership between Arab Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). "It is about promoting prevention activities, reducing the spread of this epidemic, and eradicating all practices that favour its emergence." She confirmed the support of her ministry for this approach, through the establishment of an effective framework conducive for coordination between the different sectors and Tunisian associations.

The workshop succeeded in developing a common vision among the organizations present that will help guide their efforts both at the national and regional levels. "If we can speak with a unifying voice, we will be much stronger and more effective advocates for our cause," said one of the workshop participants.

Through the interactive design of the workshop, NGOs were given the opportunity to share experiences and learn from one another. Participants committed themselves to establish and strengthen CSO networks at the country and regional levels and agreed on a final declaration, which clearly outlined their collective resolve.

After working to mobilize governments, NGOs and CSOs in the Arab region for a more expanded response to HIV/AIDS, UNDP continues its work in disseminating the messages and establishing leadership within the Arab world. Further outreach initiatives and workshops are planned to engage opinion leaders, media and arts personalities as well as leading journalists. A specific event targeting this audience is being planned for early March 2003 in Egypt.

Visit the UNDP site for the full text of the Tunis Declaration: http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/FinalDeclaration.doc

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