Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Nations Development Programme (New York) - March 17, 2004
While southern Africa represents only about 2 per cent of the world's population, it is home of more than 30 per cent to the 40 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS.
Microsoft and its CEO Bill Gates are partners in the initiative, noted Mr. Malloch Brown, helping develop ways to use the power of information and communications technology to enable governments to upgrade services, including distance learning and telemedicine. The initiative will also draw on the skills of national and international UN Volunteers.
"The aim is to build capacity on all fronts," said Mr. Malloch Brown.
UNDP is opening a new regional centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, to provide advice to governments, civil society groups and the private sector in nine countries in the region and develop networks of expertise and best practices.
This includes setting up systems to help manage the large-scale anti-retroviral treatment programmes supported by World Health Organization's 3 by 5 Initiative to provide HIV/AIDS treatment to three million people in developing countries by 2005.
Mr. Malloch Brown said that SACI will also reach out to civil society as part of efforts to re-model government services. "We need a much greater use of civil society as a fully enfranchised partner for the delivery of essential public services," he said.
One example is the Salima HIV/AIDS Support Organization (SASO) that he visited in Malawi. Set up by the late Catherine Phiri, winner of the UNDP Poverty Eradication Award in 2000, SASO raises public awareness about HIV/AIDS and provides support for people living with the disease through community volunteers.
Mr. Malloch Brown told the Malawi Global Compact Network, which includes business and civil society leaders, that the public and private sectors should take collective responsibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS, since the scourge poses severe challenges to both.
Meeting with Willie Samute, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, he pointed to Malawi as a pioneer in decentralization, devolving authority and resources to district and local assemblies.
The Administrator briefed Botswana's President Festus Mogae and the Government's Permanent Secretaries on the initiative and visited the Coping Centre for People Living with HIV/AIDS, where he met with Executive Director, Helen Ditsebe-Mhone, winner of the 2003 UNDP Poverty Eradication Award.
At the Ben Thema Primary School in Gaborone, he saw a UNDP-supported project that has used Brazil's experience in HIV/AIDS education to create "Talk Back," an interactive television programme the brings life-saving information to teachers and students.
In Zambia, Mr. Malloch Brown met with President Levy Mwanawasa and signed an agreement on SACI with Minister of Finance and National Planning Ng'andu P. Magande. He also visited a project supported by the former president's Kenneth Kaunda Foundation that provides low-cost, nutrition-based support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
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