Highlights of World AIDS Day activities in Europe and Central Asia
Again in 2009, numerous NGOs in Europe and in the rest of the world have organised activities and events to increase awareness; raise funds; remember those we have lost; celebrate the successes of our work; and advocate for future action. This edition of our e-news is fully dedicated to World AIDS Day activities that have been organised by some member organisations of AIDS Action Europe. We received lots of input from various countries, varying from Belgium to Romania and from Tajikistan to the Czech Republic. Enjoy reading and let these stories inspire you for World AIDS Day 2010!
Table of contents:
WAD themes, from past to present
The first World AIDS Day took place on 1 December 1988. Since then, December 1st is internationally recognised as the event to raise awareness about the HIV pandemic. Each year, World AIDS Day focuses on a specific theme that is chosen with great care by the World AIDS Campaign. The theme should guide experts and stakeholders in their campaigning activities. Not only on World AIDS Day, but all year round.
Since 2005 the theme has been “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise”, with each year a different sub-theme. In 2009 the focus was on “Human Rights and Universal Access”. Access for all to prevention, treatment, care and support is a fundamental human right that is impossible to decouple from the discussion of how we tackle HIV and AIDS now and in the future.
Underscoring the importance of human rights in the response to AIDS, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently reported to the UN General Assembly that reduced access to essential HIV services and commodities were occurring in many countries as a result of laws and policies that were inconsistent with their commitments to human rights. He stressed that where human rights were promoted to protect people living with HIV and members of vulnerable groups, there were fewer infections, less demand for antiretroviral treatment and fewer deaths.
2010 will be a milestone for the Millennium Development Goals - encouraging a high level review of what has, and has not, been accomplished in the aim to achieve access for all to essential care by 2010.
Denis Burke – World AIDS Campaign
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Open your heart! I am the same as you – Romania
The Alaturi de Voi (Close to You) Romania Foundation is a Romanian NGO developing programs and projects in the field of HIV/AIDS, with the national headquarters in Iasi and branches in Constanta and Targu Mures. A presentation of our programs and projects can be found at www.alaturidevoi.ro.
Each year, our foundation is developing specific events to mark World AIDS Day. In 2009 we organized two events in two of our branches. The Constanta site organized on November 27 in front of a local Mall the event marking World AIDS Day under the slogan of the national campaign “Open your heart! I am the same as you!”. The participants, including high-school pupils and volunteers joined hands in making a human ribbon as sign of solidarity with HIV/AIDS-infected and affected people, lit candles in the memory of those who are no longer with us and held a moment of recollection in their memory. After the event was over, volunteers of the Constanta site gave passers-by (250 people from the community) metal red ribbons, urging them to wear them as symbol of solidarity with HIV-positive people.
The event organized in Iasi was somewhat more special, in that we attempted to break a world record. The documentation for the homologation of this record will be sent in to Guinness World Records at the beginning of January and we are hoping for the best from this. The record attempt we developed on December 11 2009 is the result of four years in which we developed similar events in the local community, but never at this level and with the involvement of so many partners. We were happy to see our request for partnership was answered and most of all, to see that people who had not signed a partnership agreement came to join the event and the human ribbon. The previous largest human awareness ribbon involved 3,640 participants for an event organized by AIDS-Hilfe Frankfurt e.V. in Frankfurt, Germany on 29 June 2007. At the event organized in Iasi we had approximately 4800 participants, people from the local community, from neighbouring counties, from all over the country.
Angela Achitei - Alaturi de Voi (Close to You) Romania Foundation
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Three-day WAD festival in Athens – Greece
 Center for Life (www.kentrozois.gr) is a Greek NGO for the support of people living with HIV/AIDS. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, the Center for Life and Multitrab Productions organised a festival at the most central metro station in Athens "Syntagma Sq." from 27 to 29 November. The events included:
- Center for Life Big Fashion Bazaar selling high quality clothing, accessories and cosmetics at very low prices. All products were offered by well-known Greek and foreign firms, as LAK, D&G, Moschino, Burberry, Bluemarine and many others.
- The International Festival of Digital Arts & New Media in Greece: the ‘Athens Video Art Festival’ which has dynamically presented impressive views and installations.
- Several unplugged concerts from artists such as Transistor & Monitor; Stavros Dadoush; Los Tigainos & Rous; and the Callas & Ska Bangies.
- DJ show from the producers of Best Radio & En Lefko.
Elena Giamma – Center for Life
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Together we are close –Tajikistan
 Public Organization‘Center for Mental Health and HIV/AIDS’ held a charity event under the motto "Together we are close!" on World AIDS Day with the participation of representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as international agencies. The purpose of the charity event was to support people living with HIV, reducing stigma and discrimination and improving awareness on HIV/AIDS among the population of Tajikistan, mostly migrants and young people.
More then 300 people participated in the action. Documentaries about the history of life of HIV infected people, about the life of migrants and role of religious leaders in HIV prevention activities in Tajikistan were shown.  In addition, an interesting quiz was held by volunteers. It is gratifying to note that the youngest participant of the quiz was a 10 year old schoolboy. And he correctly answered the question about the transmission of HIV. It showed we could begin working on HIV prevention at an early age, and with the right approach, children, even 10 year old, can properly and adequately perceive the information. Moreover, the musical group "Avesta" participated in the event. They were very committed and expressed their willingness to continue to participate in actions of this kind, by using their beautiful music and making a treasure in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Financial and technical support in organizing the event was provided by: the Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan, international partners such as ACT Central Asia, PSI and USAID, AFEW and the Global Fund.  PSI, AFEW and the Global Fund provided information and promotional materials that were distributed to all participants. Funds raised from ticket sales have been transferred to the City of clinical infectious diseases hospital for support and treatment of HIV-infected people. This is not a big sum, but all participating partners have showed that we could actively work to attract funding and address the problems. This event helped raise social responsibility of the general population, which is a big achievement.
Manizha Haitova - Center for Mental Health and HIV/AIDS
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Red Ribbon Awards and human rights film festival - Moldova
World AIDS Campaign International joined the organization of two events dedicated to World AIDS Day 2009 in Moldova as co-sponsor and co-organizer. The Red Ribbon Awards and the Human Rights Film Festival took place around the date of December 1st, 2009.
For the first time in Moldova a UNAIDS initiative, the Red Ribbon Award competition and ceremony has been organized in partnership with a range of national and international partners. AFEW Moldova, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, League of people living with HIV of Moldova, UNAIDS Moldova, UNESCO and World AIDS Campaign united their efforts to celebrate WAD and offer awards to people active in the HIV/AIDS response from Moldova. WAC joined the organization of a national Red Ribbon Award competition, launched in October 2009 and closed in November 2009. The competition was advertised on www.aids.md, www.ccm.md, www.youth.md, the population of Moldova could vote both online and by submitting votes by mail to the UNAIDS office in Moldova. The contest, developed during the period of October 22-November 25, 2009, was open to all citizens of the Republic of Moldova, through nomination of individuals or institutions/organizations both governmental and non-governmental involved in the national response to AIDS. Individuals/organizations which accumulated the majority of nominations were awarded. Nominations were done through www.aids.md. On November 30th, a national ceremony took place to present awards to winners of two national competitions – the Red Ribbon Award and an award for Arts and Culture contribution. The ceremony gathered national stakeholders from HIV/AIDS and the arts field. The awards related to arts and culture response to HIV/AIDS was offered on behalf of AFEW and UNESCO. Red Ribbon Awards were offered on behalf of UNAIDS Moldova and WAC.
Denis Burke - World AIDS Campaign
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Many lights for human rights – Kazakhstan
Public Foundation ‘Challenge’ focussed its World AIDS Day activities around 2 international projects: Dance4Life and Candlelight Memorial. Within the framework of these projects, volunteers of ‘Challenge’ organised a get-together at a lyceum in the city of Pavlodar in which they gave information about HIV/AIDS and its transmission. During the session, red ribbons were disseminated and participants were encouraged to talk openly about HIV/AIDS. The students were also tested on their knowledge about HIV/AIDS by doing several quizzes and games. Moreover, a short film called ‘Candlelight’ was shown in memory of those who have died of AIDS. At the end of the event, all participants were introduced to the Dance4Life project and learned how talents and strength of young people can contribute to the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Helen Bondareva – Challenge
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The stars Factory 3 – Ukraine
"You are young, healthy and successful - does it mean you're protected from HIV? Your status is not a guarantee. AIDS is closer than you think". The new campaign of Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation in Ukraine is targeting youth, most vulnerable for HIV/AIDS group. This story is about the chain of relationships, which cannot be fully controlled or kept up with. Each of us has already been at the risk group. "Your social status doesn't guarantee you're protected from AIDS. You are in danger!"
 On December, 1, on World AIDS Day, participants of the "Star Factory 3", one of the most popular TV shows in Ukraine, discussed this topic with their HIV-positive guest, who was invited by Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. Fedor has been living with HIV for 5 years. He knows like nobody else how dangerous it is to undervalue the risk of HIV-infection. The participants of the show were inspired by this meeting and decided to perform together with Fedor a song dedicated to AIDS problem at the gala-concert on December, 6. "Star Factory 3" musical producer Konstantyn Meladze supported them totally and wrote a song. The whole week Fedor spent in the Star House together with its inhabitants. They talked, rehearsed and prepared for their hour of triumph. For the first time in the history of Ukraine an HIV-positive person took part at the live broadcast of a top rated TV show. For the first time the song devoted for the fight against AIDS was created by such a top-level author as Konstantyn Meladze. The same day and the same show Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation presented its new social TV spot "Chain". That TV spot and presence of a special guest inspired project' participants and music producer of "Star Factory 3" Konstantyn Meladze to create and perform a single. Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation launched the ‘Chain’ TV spot on Novy, ICTV, STB, M1 and QTV channels on December, 7.
The single and TV spot ‘Chain’ can be downloaded from http://www.antiaids.org/en/about/news/8016. Here you can also find more information including pictures and videos about this successful project.
Olga Rudneva – Elena Franchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation
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Calling for political leadership across the EU – Belgium
On the World AIDS Day, the European AIDS Treatment Group organised and took part in different initiatives, in particular:
Floriane Gloaguen – EATG
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Testing Millions - Estonia
The Estonian Network of PLWHIV organised several events on the occasion of World AIDS Day. The network collaborated with different partners, including AHF, National Institute of Health Development and two Tallinn hospitals. On the morning of World AIDS Day, activists of Estonian Network of people living with HIV with doctors of the Merimetsa infectious hospital lighted tolerance candles. After that a large-scale rapid-testing event was organised in Tammsaare Park. In total 333 people were tested in two days. HIV-infection was revealed with 6 persons. The testing took place in a heated tent with 3 testing stations where nurses performed rapid testing. It became evident that people do want to know their HIV status – this was a very clear message for everybody. People were standing in line for 45 min -1 hour to get tested in spite of wind, rain and cold weather. This was unprecedented to Estonia. Unfortunately many people were not tested due to limited capacities of the tent. The success of the event was also confirmed by the media-attention that it received. All national and Baltic TV stations included information about this mass testing in their news, including popular prime time morning and evening programs, and there was a wide coverage in main newspapers and radio.
   
World AIDS Day ended in Tallinn with an evening concert with participation of the Estonian and foreign actors of the NEW BEGINNING. The concert was broadcasted on the Estonian ETV1. A picture story was made by the photographer of Estonian Network of PLWHIV - Viktoria Melnikova.
Latsin Alijev- Estonian Network of PLWHIV
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HIV awareness activities and events to shatter the stigma and silence on HIV - Ireland
Founded in 1997, Open Heart House is Ireland's largest peer support network of HIV+ people. Warm and welcoming, Open Heart House provides a wide range of programmes and services to support our members as they continue the journey to empowerment and face the challenges of living with HIV. Open heart House in solidarity with our HIV Positive membership network, colleagues and friends, has supported a number of HIV Awareness activities and events as we continue to shatter the stigma and silence on HIV:
 Corporate banking HIV awareness day at Open Heart House: A team of 25 volunteers from Barclay’s Bank engaged in a refurbishment project at Open Heart House - HIV and Human Rights - radio panel discussion
Open Heart House joined colleagues in a live radio discussion on HIV and Human Rights, which included an Irish and International flavour.
- Lightening it up! A private dinner for Open Heart House members and volunteers with guest appearance from some of Irelands leading comedians.
- Fig trees. Screening of ‘Fig Trees’: ‘Fig Trees’ won a Teddy Award at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.
 This highly original documentary takes aim at the outrageous greed of pharmaceutical companies that allowed millions to die when they could have lived. The central protagonists of Fig Trees are two of the leading figures of AIDS activism: Tim McCaskell, a founder of the Canadian AIDS Action Now, who has been living with AIDS for 25 years, and Zackie Achmat of Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa, who went on a treatment strike in 1989, refusing to take anti-retroviral drugs until they were made generally available in South Africa. For further information visit http://www.irishfilm.ie/cinema/dispfilm_07.asp?filmID=6597&Date=30/11/2009&PageID=15
This is just a selection of the events that took place. Other events included the Open Heart House Awareness and Fundraising event; Dublin AIDS Alliance Open Day; Ceremony of Light and Remembrance of those affected by HIV and AIDS; Gay Poz Club; and a forum on HIV science and criminal prosecution of HIV transmission. Moreover, Ireland’s Gay Health Network (GHN) launched a booklet ‘Living with HIV+ Sex’. See also www.ghn.ie.
Hagan Bolger – Open Heart House
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Demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Health in memory of the victims of AIDS – Hungary
 On the eve of World AIDS Day, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union organized a demonstration in front of the Hungarian Ministry of Health to light candles in memory of the victims of AIDS. The demonstration was also to demand that the Ministry of Health and the National AIDS Commission fulfil their mandates as outlined by international documents and the National AIDS Strategy; and to communicate that the present favourable epidemiological situation should not be left to mere luck, but be the result of a well-planned and delivered strategy.
You can watch the video online at the website of the HCLU: http://tasz.hu/en/hiv-aids-en/december-1-world-aids-day-video
Ferenc Bagyinszky - Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
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Preventive Tram and Art for life - Czech Republic
There were a lot of events related to 1st December in the Czech Republic. Instead of going into detail about all the events that were organised, we highlight two: the Preventive tram and Art for life.
 The Czech AIDS Help Society (CSAP) organised its recurrent ‘Preventive Tram’ in both Ostrava (30 November) and Prague (1 December). By means of this traditional stand the CSAP distributed information leaflets, disseminated condoms; offered personal counselling and provided entertainment with some samba music.
The CSAP was also involved in several activities related to ‘ART FOR LIFE’, which is a free association of citizens who are not indifferent to the increasing numbers of HIV-positive in the Czech Republic and feel the need to re-open the public discussion on prevention and care, ways of transmission, living with HIV and behaviour towards HIV-positive fellow citizens. Around 1st December several events were organised for ART for life. These vary from exhibitions to theatre and from fashion to sports. One activity worth mentioning is the ART for Life bowling event. Find out about the other ART for life activities at www.artforlife.cz!
Ivo Procházka – Czech AIDS Help Society
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AIDS Action Europe Contact Information
Executive coordinator: Martine de Schutter
Communications Coordinator: Martine van der Meulen
Program Assistant: Iti Westra
Keizersgracht 390-392
1016 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
T. +31 (0)20 62 62 669 F. +31 (0)20 6275221
office@aidsactioneurope.org
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