May 24, 2004

Based on its more than twenty years of helping USA mayors meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS and its Mayors- Mission to Africa in September 2003, the Conference of Conference has pledged to raise international awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially the plight of the victims of AIDS in Africa.

As part of this goal, United States Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran participated in the workshop "Local Governments Fighting AIDS and Promoting Healthy Cities" on May 4 in Paris. This workshop took place during the merging of two European-based organizations, IULA and UTO, into a new organization, United Cities and Local Governments.

In his remarks, Cochran emphasized the critical importance of having the issue of HIV/AIDS elevated within international associations: "The subject of this workshop, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, needs to be highlighted and discussed in the plenary sessions as well as in workshops," he pointed out. "AIDS needs to get into the big room discussion," he said.

Cochran described Conference of Mayors- more than twenty year commitment to facing the challenges of AIDS in the United States, and its continuing partnership with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which enables the Conference to direct funding to community groups throughout the United States to combat AIDS.

"Mayors of all nations must be out front on this issue," he said. "It will take the effort and commitment of mayors of the United States and around the world to meet its challenges. They must raise this health challenge to their central governments."

Cochran described the Conference of Mayors Mission to Africa in September 2003 in which a delegation of nine mayors, led by Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner, visited Uganda, Namibia, Swaziland, and South Africa. He informed the workshop that the Conference of Mayors is producing a video of the Mission to Africa, which will be shown at the Conference's Annual Meeting in Boston, June 25-29.

Pointing out the interconnectedness of the world and its vulnerability to pandemics because of air travel and other factors, Cochran stressed the importance of raising the awareness of local officials everywhere to excellent strategies for AIDS prevention. He noted the effectiveness of some nations in meeting the AIDS challenge, such as Thailand, in which aggressive governmental strategy has led to about 90 percent of the use of condoms among the population. He also expressed deep concern about India and the denial and challenges that are within the country.

In his remarks, Cochran also called upon the participants and the meeting to send a formal communication to the governing body of the new association to ensure that it will highlight the importance of HIV/AIDS in the international community. He was supported by the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS (AMICALL) in this request.

Other panelists included one of the mayors whom the U.S. delegation met during the Mission to Africa in September 2003 — Her Worship Nokuthula Mthembu, Mayor of Ezulwini, Swaziland. In addition, one of the international guests at the Denver Meeting in June, Fisho Mwale, former Mayor of Lusaka, Zambia, and Cofounder of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS (AMICAALL), was the facilitator of the panel.

Her Worship Mthembu described the epidemic in her nation of Swaziland as one of "unacceptable levels." She noted the challenges of "fear, secrecy, and denial that permeate all levels of society" as major challenges to dealing effectively with the AIDS challenge.

Mayor Mthembu pointed out that in response to the epidemic, African mayors formed AMICAALL in 1997, which has been of great importance in implementing effective policies, coordinating responses, and sharing information. She also noted the importance of local teams that are responding to the AIDS epidemic, bringing together faith-based organizations, women and youth groups, government, business, and mayors to build the capacity of local governments.

Capacity-building is taking the form of developing institutional structure, imparting tools and skills, information'sharing, and monitoring of how the communities are responding to the AIDS epidemic, she noted. "The existence of urban local governmental response has added value to the national response to AIDS," she stated.

Other panelists were Roberto Miguel Lifschiz, Mayor of Rosario, Argentina; Pierre Schapira, Deputy Mayor of Paris; H. Buijing, Councillor for Leiden, The Netherlands, and Michael Cohen, International Program of the New School for Social Research, New York.

Cohen pointed out that mayors "can never solve just one problem at a time. You need to connect different issues." He described efforts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for example, in which each time any citizen interacts with local government, he or she receives information about HIV/AIDS. "Strategy and tactical questions [on such challenges as the AIDS epidemic] need to be considered as a whole," he noted.

Mina Mauerstein-Bail, Director of UN-AMICAALL, was instrumental in putting the panel together. His Worship David Wakudumira, Mayor of Jinja, Uganda, one of the mayors whom the U.S. delegation worked closely with on its Mission to Africa 2003, was also in attendance at the workshop.

Other U.S. mayors at the Founding Congress included Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., who addressed the Plenary Session devoted to the issue of "Cooperation and Diplomacy: A Challenge for Our Cities and Communities;" Bart Peterson, Mayor of Indianapolis, who was a panelist in the "Local Management of Water" workshop; and Clarence Anthony, Mayor of South Bay, Florida. Don Borut, Executive Director of the National League of Cities, was also in attendance at the meeting.