By Meg Davis
At 5 pm, the crowd began to assemble
on the square in front of the Messe Wien convention center. Some handed out
signs reading “Broken promises kill” or “we are watching” over photos of giant
eyeballs. Others wrestled in the wind with a black-and-white banner reading “No
retreat, fund AIDS.”
On July 5th, China convened the first meeting of the Red Ribbon Forum,
a gathering of government officials, NGOs and experts to discuss AIDS and human
rights concerns. Mark Heywood, the chair of the UNAIDS Theme Group on HIV/AIDS
and Human Rights, delivered a speech calling for more space for civil society. During
an intense – and in China, unprecedented – discussion period, civil society
representatives raised frank concerns about a range of human rights issues,
including ongoing restrictions on civil society, and demands for compensation
for the blood scandal that transmitted HIV to thousands of villagers. The full
text of Heywood’s speech follows.
We’re proud to sign onto the Vienna Declaration, which calls on governments and the UN to end the criminalization of drug users and the disastrous international “war on drugs”. To understand why, read the declaration below — and please add your name to ours.
In English: https://www.viennadeclaration.com/the-declaration.html
By Marcus Swanepoel
Marcus and his wife, Amina Evangelista Swanepoel, are in the
early stages of founding a new reproductive health NGO in the rural
Philippines, Roots of Health. This is one in an occasional series of blogs
about their experiences.
“Who can tell me the answer….
Marcus?” I hear the voice of my second grade teacher calling on me to answer a
question to which I have no answer. The feeling of humiliation that I’d feel
still haunts me today. In class I would always sink into my seat when my
teacher uttered those dreaded words. At that point of my life, school was
stressful for me, and I didn’t like going. My negative experiences regarding
school however, pale in comparison to those of the children at Pulang Lupa [in
the Philippines].
