The Ministry of health representative thanked the UNDP for its efforts in responding to HIV/AIDS, and spoke about the importance of media in communicating correct health information to the public, and the nature of risky behaviors that exist in the society. He also pointed out that illiteracy; poverty and gender gap are major factors in fueling the AIDS epidemic in Yemen.

He also added that the Health Ministry had bad experiences with some Yemeni media outlets, which led to some mistrust between the ministry and the media, and it is about time for the media and the ministry of health to cooperate in getting out the right message about HIV to create fact-based and positive messages about the status of HIV in Yemen, and to tackle the whole issue more deeply and responsibly .He urged the media to fight stigma and promote tolerance for PLWH.

Mr. Younes El Nazza’a, The Ministry of Media representative, emphasized that not all members of the media community only seek incitement. He mentioned that the media’s role must be primarily preventive and awareness promoting, so it leads to lower prevalence rates. He stressed that the media should show the humanitarian aspect of HIV and the suffering of PLWH in terms of stigma and discrimination. He finally applauded the criticism from the Ministry of Health to the media community, and said it is helpful and essential in improving the work of media in Yemen.

Dr. Abdul Hamid El Suhaibi; the National AIDS Program’s manager in Yemen stressed that media community should focus on HIV awareness without manipulation or creating more panic in the society. He also assured that Yemen has a low HIV prevalence.

He also mentioned that some estimates indicate that there might be 23,000 PLWH in Yemen. He added that it’s much easier to detect HIV cases among males because they travel a lot, and they do mandatory HIV blood test when they travel to certain countries, but this does not mean that HIV prevalence is lower in women, simply because we don’t have enough information.

He also explained the strategy that was put forth by the Yemeni government. He mentioned that this strategy focused on the following:

· Unifying a positive religious message with regards to HIV.

· Encouraging people to do voluntary counseling and testing.

He said that Yemen has 17 VCTs right now, and that HIV hotline is advertising for this service across the country.

He added that 1st HIV case was found in 1987 in Yemen, and then he referred to the fact that the HIV a strategy was amended twice in 2006, and 2009.

Dr. Fuad El Sabri; HARPAS project officer in Yemen also pointed out that the media has the biggest role in the society to change how people view HIV. He added that media should communicate correct messages about HIV, or else the society will be terrified or keep the silence about HIV, which will cause more infections. He concluded with “Silence brings death “

Dr. Fuad presented basic facts about HIV, methods of transmission, prevention, and misconceptions about HIV. He started off by saying:” How many of us in this room know if they are HIV positive or not?” he also added:” Can we voluntarily do the HIV testing?”

He stressed that members of the media community should go to public hospitals and see how PLWH are treated by medical staff and doctors. Dr. Fuad also talked about FGM and its relation to HIV infection.

Dr. Fuad concluded that the dialogue between authorities and all other sectors of society should be an ongoing process to finding the best way to protect the population and also the human rights of PLWH at the same time.

Amal; an announcer in Soute El Arab Radio, shed some light on the history of HIV, life cycle of the virus, risky behaviors attached to it, prevention methods, and statistics of HIV prevalence both regionally and globally.

She also spoke on the way Arab media approaches HIV , then explained the stigma scale (1-5) used in a study, designed to measure the language used in the press concerning HIV, and how accurate it is. She also gave examples of some headlines published in 2007. The study covered about 200 articles.

She also presented Dr. Hamdi Hassan’s study entitled “Press in response to risks”. The study showed effective press writing styles that can reflect media’s responsibility towards societal challenges. HIV was used as in example in this study.

Participants engaged in a conversation right after this session, and suggested innovative ways for media coverage in HIV context that can help the fight against HIV stigma and discrimination.

Mohamed, who found out that he is HIV positive in another Arab state he lived in for a while, spoke about his life experience and his shock of knowing that he is HIV positive.

He expressed all feelings he had through this period, how he felt when he was told he is an HIV positive, how he was stigmatized and excluded, and how he fell into despair to the extent he tried to take his own life several times.

Participants showed great understanding of Muhammad’s story, especially that he had successfully become in control of his life. He talked about how he tried to get back to his normal life. He currently works as a Taxi driver, and almost has a normal and stable life.

Ayman; an Addiction Expert, spoke about addiction, its nature, kinds, characteristics, and ways to diagnose it. He also spoke about famous people from around the world who fell victims of addiction of all kinds be it drugs, sex, alcohol, prescription drugs, and so on.

Ayman was able to convince everyone that a journey of an addict is something that everybody should know, and realize, because many people think that addicts are criminals or villains. He spoke about his own experience with addiction as an addict for 20 years, as he recovered for six straight years so far.

Ayman was an ex-addict himself, which made the participants totally convinced that rehabilitation works, and people can change and become better persons. He said that addicts are best reached out by ex-addicts, and he emphasized that addicts need sympathy and help, because they are helpless, and they don’t deserve punishment and exclusion.

He also spoke about ways that parents can use to know if their kids are in trouble or not, and how can they spot out a drug problem that their kids might face. He spoke about the necessary communication skills that parents should have to be able to get their kids out of the addiction vicious circle, rather than trying useless ways that won’t get them anywhere.

He also gave a quick over view about 12-Steps; a Drugs Rehabilitation Program, and how successful this program had become.

Prof. Sudhir Kumar, an international public health expert, spoke about mutual cooperation and programmes between UNDP and Global Fund in Yemen. He also stressed that partnerships between different stakeholders like WHO and UNAIDS, and other local NGOs is very important.

Mr. Khaled Al-Magead talked about main achievements of UNDP in Yemen.

Sherif Abdel Aziz; an Egyptian Blogger argued that HIV/AIDS can be viewed in the center of what makes the forbidden triangle (Politics – sex – religion) in the Arab world.

He stressed that HIV is considered a national security issue in many Arab states, it’s considered a sexual matter because of its “sexual reputation” and its connection to homosexuality, and it also considered a religious matter since it’s connected to immoral acts and perceived as punishment from God by many.

He mentioned that by approaching HIV as a developmental challenge will help unite all sectors of society in response to HIV

Sherif – in another presentation – shed some light on blogging as a global phenomenon in general, and in the Arab world in particular. He referred to HARPAS workshop (May 2008) that was held in Cairo to train about 70 Arab Bloggers and independent media community members on HIV.HARPAS believes that Bloggers have the potential to spread awareness about HIV.

Sherif also spoke about SARAHA initiative that was created by Arab Bloggers right after the workshop and as a result of it. The bloggers launched a facebook and Blogging campaigns to dispel stigma and fight discrimination against PLWH in the Arab Region.

Heated discussions took place several times throughout the workshop. Many participants demanded that there should be a way to get regular update on HIV in Yemen. Many demanded that the correct prevalence rate should be announced, and UNDP’s work in Yemen should be more proactive.

Dr. El Suhaibi (NAP in Yemen) pointed out that negative practices by some members from the media community in Yemen, triggered more Bureaucracy in response to media demands and needs.

Nabil Ahmed, a Yemeni Blogger also shared a story he wrote about a person living with HIV and the hardship he encounters day to day to be accepted in the society .

Participants showed great involvement in a conversation with the presenter, after showing the award-winning movie “Blood Brothers”; a story of two men who carry identical names and both had their blood tested at the same time in the same clinic, and how the results were mixed. The movie then shows how stigma can be self made by the person living with HIV in response to society’s imposed stigma against PLWH, and how lack of correct information on HIV can spread ignorance and misconceptions.

This movie contributed to one of HIV awareness campaigns in India to promote the rights of PLWH and fight stigma and discrimination.

“Compassion in action” documentary was played, showing the religious leaders initiative history, and HARPAS work with the religious communities and its impact on HIV response.

“I Love Life” Series was shown as well. This series is starred by famous Arab actors and actresses who presented real cases of PLWH and told their stories.