Campaign to put AIDS permanently on the G8 agenda
World AIDS Campaign works with the Global Unions Programme on AIDS to ensure that the G8 keep its promises on AIDS. The G8 Summit in July 2006 renewed its commitment to tackle HIV/AIDS, along with tuberculosis and malaria. The G8 also promised to regularly review progress made by G8 nations on AIDS. Most significantly, the G8 committed to supporting current efforts for Universal Access to treatments, care and prevention. World AIDS Campaign (WAC) is campaigning with a broad alliance of partners to ensure the G8 keeps its promises on AIDS.
WAC is committed to keeping AIDS on the G8 agenda annually. The G8 must be held accountable for its commitments on HIV and AIDS. This is particularly true in relation to international efforts for Universal Access on AIDS treatment, care and prevention. This will require robust new surveillance and monitoring strategies, with strong technical support. For the last couple of years WAC has worked together with the Global Unions Programme on HIV/AIDS to push for G8 accountability.
World AIDS Campaign and the Global Unions are convinced that nothing short of a built-in mechanism that regularly and systematically reviews progress on G8 commitments on AIDS will ensure that they become a reality. This could be through the establishment of a high-level permanent G8 working group – our preferred option – which creates an ongoing and coordinated entry point for advocacy on a variety of AIDS-related issues. Other alternatives include designating AIDS-related issues as a standing item on the G-8 agenda; or through a mechanism that outlines policy options, based on monitoring and reporting, to the annual Health Ministerial meeting preceding the G8 Summit that in turn provides policy recommendations for the G8 principals to make good on their previous commitments.
Beyond our demands for accountability from the G8, the WAC Support Team does not have the capacity or mandate to develop specific advocacy positions in relation to the G8. Our fundamental mission is to help civil society campaigns to make sure that the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment and Universal Access becomes reality. So within the broad themes of these commitments, accountability, and the importance of civil society input, any G8 positions will have equal validity to WAC.
Most of the current demands from civil society partners to the G8, from those relating to intellectual property rights to a focus on health systems reform, resonate with our mission to support campaigners around the world on holding leaders to account on AIDS promises.
WAC recognises that there is strength in numbers, and that if we campaign together on some key issues we are more effective. Many organisations will have their own campaigning objectives in tackling the G8 and this is to be encouraged. Yet where WAC does hope to add value is in facilitating discussions between diverse groups of campaigners in developing common messaging. It is our objective to take whatever shared messages emerge from civil society G8 discussions and to work with large campaigning organisations to take these forwards.
Click below for further details of our work with the Global Unions on G8 Accountability. .
G8jtstatementdft29-09-06 final.pdf (26.81 kB)