www.HARPAS.org - Al Jazeera Channel: HIV reality in the Arab Region

Latest Events
Palestine: A training Workshop for Community Leaders on AIDS Bethlehem: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Program of Assistance to the Palestinian people convened a training workshop on means of effective responding to AIDS through development of leadership skills of Palestinian community leaders. Proceedings of the workshop took place in Bethlehem (Occupied Palestine) from 5 to 7 July 2010 in cooperation with UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS). A Training Workshop for Palestinian Media Professionals on AIDS Bethlehem: UNDP Program of Assistance to the Palestinian people convened a training workshop for more than twenty Palestinian media professionals on means of effective responding to AIDS as a developmental challenge facing the Arab region. Saudi Arabia: Leadership for Limiting Risky Behaviors Among Youths Jeddah – 17 June 2010: For three consecutive days from 14 to 16 June 2010, the Charity Association for AIDS Patients in Saudi Arabia organized, in cooperation with the HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS), a training workshop under the title of "Leadership for Limiting Risky Behaviors among Youths". The 7th Annual UNDP HIV Focal Points and Project Officers Meeting Ain El Sokna ( Egypt): On 4-6 May 2010, the Cairo-based UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS) held its 7th Annual HIV Focal Points and Projects Officers Meeting for the Arab States in Egypt. Chahama’s Steering Committee holds its seventh meeting in Cairo Cairo – April 15th 2010: Members of Chahama’s Steering Committee discussed the strategic plan of the network for 2010 and 2011, the most significant achievements of the network, and the challenges it faced in the past two years. They also addressed future challenges and ways to overcome it. This meeting took place in Cairo (April 10th-12th 2010).

Latest Events

Palestine: A training Workshop for Community Leaders on AIDS

Bethlehem: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Program of Assistance to the Palestinian people convened a training workshop on means of effective responding to AIDS through development of leadership skills of Palestinian community leaders. Proceedings of the workshop took place in Bethlehem (Occupied Palestine) from 5 to 7 July 2010 in cooperation with UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS).

A Training Workshop for Palestinian Media Professionals on AIDS

Bethlehem: UNDP Program of Assistance to the Palestinian people convened a training workshop for more than twenty Palestinian media professionals on means of effective responding to AIDS as a developmental challenge facing the Arab region.

Saudi Arabia: Leadership for Limiting Risky Behaviors Among Youths

Jeddah – 17 June 2010: For three consecutive days from 14 to 16 June 2010, the Charity Association for AIDS Patients in Saudi Arabia organized, in cooperation with the HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS), a training workshop under the title of "Leadership for Limiting Risky Behaviors among Youths".

The 7th Annual UNDP HIV Focal Points and Project Officers Meeting

Ain El Sokna ( Egypt): On 4-6 May 2010, the Cairo-based UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS) held its 7th Annual HIV Focal Points and Projects Officers Meeting for the Arab States in Egypt.

Chahama’s Steering Committee holds its seventh meeting in Cairo

Cairo – April 15th 2010: Members of Chahama’s Steering Committee discussed the strategic plan of the network for 2010 and 2011, the most significant achievements of the network, and the challenges it faced in the past two years. They also addressed future challenges and ways to overcome it. This meeting took place in Cairo (April 10th-12th 2010).

latest News

Domestic Violence forces more women into the HIV/AIDS circle

Hadeer Hassan, Ahmed Balah: ”I used to see him sitting among his peers in an open circle, taking drugs while sharing one syringe. I advised him a lot, fearing for him, but he often beat me refusing any advice. I used to ask him to visit the doctor, but he kept refusing until the symptoms started. Then the doctor asked me to do the tests and the surprise came that I was HIV positive.

Saudi global partnership for studying HIV/AIDS epidemiology among vulnerable groups

Ahmed Balah – 3 August 2010 The HIV/AIDS research chair of the King Abdulaziz University, Jedda is currently collaborating with the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in a research study on HIV/AIDS epidemiology among vulnerable groups.

HIV/AIDS Updates from the International AIDS Conference, Vienna

Dr.Ghazi Bin Abdullatif Jamjoum wrote: Each year the world looks to the International AIDS Conference for news about new discoveries to help curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic which has so far killed 25 million and infected more than 70 million, of which 33 million are now living with HIV/AIDS. Despite the great and continuous progress in developing AIDS treatments, preventive measures are still very limited.

Vaginal cream reduces the risk of contracting HIV

Vienna- 30 July 2010: A group of scientists have announced that a vaginal cream could reduce the risk of HIV transmission by half, according to a study conducted in South Africa.The study has been carried out by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA). The results were announced in the 18th International AIDS Conference, held in Vienna from 18 till 23 July 2010, and published in the American Science magazine.

Latest Initiatives
- Religious Leaders Initiative A successful response to HIV/AIDS is one that needs the true involvement of the whole community acting together as one force complementing and supporting each other. A key influential actor in this Arab community is the religious leaders; their impact is one that cannot be neglected. They have legitimacy, a durable presence and even more than that; they help shape the social values and norms of people ... - Legislative Initiative The second event conducted in Algiers, Algeria 29-31 Oct. 2007 is part of a series of sub-regional workshops. Organized by UNDP/HARPAS in partnership with UNDP Algeria, ILO, and UNHCR, it gathered 60 parliamentarians from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. It built up on a previous initiative organized in November 2005, "The Legal Framework for HIV/AIDS ... - Private Sector Initiative HIV/AIDS impacts are likely to concentrate on young adults in their most productive years. Thus, AIDS is projected as having the potential to become the second major cause of death among adults of working age in the world - including the Arab world - posing a serious economic threat. The epidemic is eroding productivity just at the time when developing countries, including most of the Arab countries, need to become more competitive to cope with rapid globalization... - Media and Art Initiative From the 8th to the 11th of September 2007, HARPAS has organized a regional training workshop co-facilitated by UNDP and the Reuters Foundations employing UNDP's transformative leadership and development enhancement methodologies that have generated highly effective responses to the epidemic in the region, in synergy with the Media professional expertise of the Reuters Foundation... - Women's Rights NGO Initiative Women in the Arab world are often discriminated against and facing numerous violations of their human rights, as identified in the Arab Human Development Report 2002 women's empowerment is one of the three deficits the Arab World is confronted with and if progress in the region is to be achieved, addressing gender inequalities is definitely one area where UNDP is targeting its efforts...

Latest Initiatives

-
Religious Leaders Initiative

A successful response to HIV/AIDS is one that needs the true involvement of the whole community acting together as one force complementing and supporting each other. A key influential actor in this Arab community is the religious leaders; their impact is one that cannot be neglected. They have legitimacy, a durable presence and even more than that; they help shape the social values and norms of people ...

-
Legislative Initiative

The second event conducted in Algiers, Algeria 29-31 Oct. 2007 is part of a series of sub-regional workshops. Organized by UNDP/HARPAS in partnership with UNDP Algeria, ILO, and UNHCR, it gathered 60 parliamentarians from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. It built up on a previous initiative organized in November 2005, "The Legal Framework for HIV/AIDS ...

-
Private Sector Initiative

HIV/AIDS impacts are likely to concentrate on young adults in their most productive years. Thus, AIDS is projected as having the potential to become the second major cause of death among adults of working age in the world - including the Arab world - posing a serious economic threat. The epidemic is eroding productivity just at the time when developing countries, including most of the Arab countries, need to become more competitive to cope with rapid globalization...

-
Media and Art Initiative

From the 8th to the 11th of September 2007, HARPAS has organized a regional training workshop co-facilitated by UNDP and the Reuters Foundations employing UNDP's transformative leadership and development enhancement methodologies that have generated highly effective responses to the epidemic in the region, in synergy with the Media professional expertise of the Reuters Foundation...

-
Women's Rights NGO Initiative

Women in the Arab world are often discriminated against and facing numerous violations of their human rights, as identified in the Arab Human Development Report 2002 women's empowerment is one of the three deficits the Arab World is confronted with and if progress in the region is to be achieved, addressing gender inequalities is definitely one area where UNDP is targeting its efforts...

Al Jazeera Channel: HIV reality in the Arab Region

Basic facts about HIV might scatter away in the midst of ignoring the issue, claiming that we are immune to HIV infection, and in the midst of stigma and discrimination against PLWH.

On December 7th 2009, Al Jazeera Satellite channel hosted Dr. Ehab El Kharrat; HARPAS senior advisor and two persons living with HIV. Dr. Ehab spoke about these facts and other related issues on the show.

Dr. El Kharrat stressed - in the interview - on the role that HARPAS plays in spreading awareness about HIV, and confronting stigma and discrimination against PLWH, especially the exceptional work that has been done with influential societal leaders like religious leaders and members from the media community which improved HIV response in the region.

Dr. El Kharrat referred to the Religious Leaders’ Cairo declaration (Muslims and Christians) which called for total support of PLWH, and confrontation of the culture of stigma and discrimination in all Arab societies. He also mentioned the training that religious leaders and preachers in Morocco received on HIV. He also emphasized that PLWH need legal protection, and support groups. He pointed out that day to day living with PLWH does not transmit the virus.

On the other hand, two persons living with HIV showed how much stigma they had to endure even from their closest relatives who boycotted them. They mentioned that they have been expelled from their jobs several times because of their HIV status. They emphasized the role that NGOs play in supporting PLWH, and the role of government to provide access to HIV treatment .. Watch entire show