The Champions for an HIV-Free Generation is a group of former African presidents and other influential personalities, have agreed to meet this challenge by advocating for a renewed and revitalized response from our regional leaders, with a focus on proven HIV prevention measures. It is chaired by Festus Mogae, former president of Botswana. Members include Desmond Tutu, Benjamin Mukapa and others. More details about the Champions are available on their website at www.hivfreechampions.org.

 The letter to the presdent of Uganda’s occupation government is reproduced below:

OFFICE OF THE CHAMPIONS SECRETARIAT

Festus G. Mogae
Chairperson
Telephone: + 267-3914071/3914082 Fax: + 267-3914097
Plot No. 115, Unit 4 Millenium Park Kgale Mews GABORONE
P/Bag 00318 GABORONE BOTSWANA

October 30, 2009

CFHIVG-PR-200910

 His Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni President of the Republic of Uganda
State House Nakasero
P.O. Box 24594
Kampala, Uganda

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the Champions for an HIV -Free Generation, I send you warmest greetings and best wishes.

We, the Champions for an HlV-Free Generation, are on a mission to exchange ideas and encourage stronger and more visionary leadership in response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub Saharan Africa. Our mandate is to promote key policy, legal, cultural and behavioral practices, as well as messages that help accelerate the social outcomes needed to achieve an HIV-free generation.

The first is a draft Bill, the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009,” recently introduced by a private member’s motion in the Parliament of  the Republic of  Uganda. Among the most disturbing  provisions of the bill are: Incarceration for any person convicted  of  ”homosexuality”; a sentencing of death for anyone with HIV convicted  of  ”aggravated homosexuality”; incarceration for “promotion of homosexuality”; criminal penalties that apply to citizens and permanent residents living outside of Uganda; and declaring null and void any “international  legal instrument whose provisions are contradictory to the spirit and provisions enshrined in this Act:”

The second Bill that has come to our attention is the draft “‘HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill,” currently under debate in the Uganda Law Reform Commission. Many positive aspects of the bill exist, including provisions against discrimination of people with HIV and AIDS in schools and at places of work. However, one provision of the Bill stipulates incarceration for offenses related to the “breach of safe practices of HIV prevention.”

Your Excellency, we respectfully express our concern at the provisions referenced in these two Bills and fear that passage of such legislation, which deviates from international best practice and recommendations, could lead to increased stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS and the groups most vulnerable to the epidemic.

The 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS, adopted by all UN Member Stares, emphasized the importance of addressing the needs of those “at the greatest risk of, and most vulnerable to, new infection as indicated by such factors as … sexual practices.” At the 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS, the Member States reiterated their commitment underlying the need for “full and active participation of vulnerable groups … and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against them … while respecting their privacy and confidentiality.” Furthermore, assessments conducted by UNAIDS for the General Assembly have confirmed that stigma, discrimination and criminalization faced by men who have sex with men are major barriers to the movement for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

UNAIDS has recommended that governments respect, protect and fulfill the rights of men who have sex with men and address stigma and discrimination in society and in the workplace by amending laws prohibiting sexual acts between consenting adults in private, enforcing anti-discrimination, and promoting programmes for men who have sex with men who may be especially vulnerable to HIV infection.

With respect to the “HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill”, UNAIDS and other international best practices recommend against HIV -specific criminal laws, laws directly mandating disclosure of HIV status, and other laws which are counterproductive to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support efforts, or which violate the human rights of people living with HIV. Inappropriate or overly­ broad application of criminal law to HIV transmission creates a real risk of increasing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, thus driving them further away from HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Your Excellency, the Champions for an HIV-Free Generation believe that positive action by both government and individual leaders of stature, like yourself, can help create environments that promote HIV prevention efforts and behaviour change. We humbly ask that you take action to halt the harmful provisions in the draft Bills cited in this letter, and by doing so, preserve the rights of all Ugandans.

Yours Sincerely

Mr. Festus G. Mogae

Chairman of the Champions for an HIV-Free Generation and Former President of  the Republic of Botswana

Copied To:
(a) The Champions: Their Excellencies: Kenneth Kaunda, Joaquim  Chissano and Benjamin Mkapa; His Grace, Desmond Tutu; Dr. Speciosa Wandira; Justice Edwin Cameron; Prof. Miriam Were and Ms. Liya Kebede

(b) Chairman, Uganda Law Reform Commission

Below is a statement from Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise executive director, Dr. Alan Bernstein.  The Enterprise (http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org) is a global alliance of researchers, funders, policy makers and advocates that includes the African AIDS Vaccine Program, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), the AIDS Vaccine Asian Network, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology, the Chinese AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD), the Department for International Development, the European Commission, Europrise, Eurovacc, GlaxoSmithKline, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Merck & Co. Inc., the National Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Novartis Vaccines, sanofi pasteur, the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), UNAIDS, USAID, Vaccine Research Center (VRC), Wellcome Trust and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Bernstein is available to speak with journalists to help put the Thai trial results into perspective and to comment on their significance for the future of HIV vaccine research.  To interview Dr. Bernstein, please contact Mark Aurigemma at (212) 600-1960, (646) 270-9451 or mark@aucomm.net; or Jennifer Brunet at (212) 46i-3693 or jbrunet@vaccineenterprise.org.

“This is a historic day in the 26-year quest to develop an AIDS vaccine.  The results of the Thai Phase III HIV vaccine clinical trial of the “prime-boost” combination of ALVAC-HIV vaccine and AIDSVAC B/E vaccine demonstrate that a safe and effective AIDS vaccine is an achievable goal. This trial is the first demonstration in humans that, with more research, it will be possible to develop a vaccine that is fully protective against HIV.

These results represent the most significant advance in HIV vaccine research to date, and a ray of hope for the more than 2.7 million women, men and children who become newly infected with HIV every year across the globe.  Current prevention efforts can lower HIV risk, but a safe and effective vaccine will be essential to ending this epidemic.

We owe an enormous debt of thanks to the people of Thailand, and especially to the more than 16,000 women and men who selflessly participated in this clinical trial. This significant scientific milestone – the first vaccine study to reduce HIV infections in humans – would not have been reached without their engagement and the efforts of the trial sponsors – Enterprise stakeholders including the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and sanofi pasteur – as well as the Thailand Ministry of Public Health and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (GSID).

The reduction in HIV infection risk measured in this study, 31.2 percent, was modest, but raises important implications for future research directions. HIV vaccine researchers, funders and advocates must now continue to work together, as quickly and effectively as possible, to understand why this vaccine regimen worked as it did, how its efficacy can be improved, whether and how it may work in other parts of the world, and how to develop new vaccine candidates that expand on the level of protection achieved here.

This study also demonstrates the importance of global cooperation and collaboration – the central values of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise – in accelerating the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine.  Researchers, advocates, funders and policy makers are working together through the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise process to develop and test new vaccine candidates. Full data from the Thai trial will be presented at the Enterprise’s annual scientific conference, AIDS Vaccine 2009, in Paris on October 19-22. http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/2009/

Finally, these results are an immediate call to action to governments, funders, policy makers, researchers and advocates to dramatically step up our efforts to develop and make globally available a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Stakeholders of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise will continue to lead this fight, but developing a safe and effective AIDS vaccine will require the full and collective efforts of every individual and organization worldwide committed to ending this devastating epidemic.

Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise partners will be working aggressively in the months ahead to address the many scientific questions raised by this study, and to develop and test other vaccine candidates.  The findings of this trial will also help inform strategies outlined in the updated Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan, the global strategy for HIV vaccine research currently being developed by over 150 scientists from around the world, to be released in spring 2010.

We look forward to hosting the ongoing discussion of results of this trial and the discussion of next steps in the journey to find an AIDS vaccine at the AIDS Vaccine 2009 conference in Paris, October 19-22.

Others who have received Edinburgh honorary degrees at the same time as Sebutinde Mr Anthony Bryan Hayward – CEO of British Petroleum, Mr Muhtar Kent – President and CEO of Coca-Cola and Justice Unity Dow – High Court Judge, Botswana.

Sebutinde is married to John Bagunywa Sebutinde of Mmamba clan and they have two children. Additional information on the University of Edinburgh and its Summer 2009 degree awards is available at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/.

Kamanyi, who lives in Uganda, has worked in the public and the private sector over a period of 20 years and has been engaged in social development work at national, regional and international levels for more than a decade. She led one of the pioneer women development organizations in Uganda, Action for Development, and also headed The East African Center for Constitutional Development, a regional organization working on issues of democratic development, good governance and human rights.

“As one of the more experienced peace practitioners in the inaugural class, Judy always took the time to share her practical field experience with the other students and the professors, giving us examples and cases that illuminated our readings and helped us see the difficult choices that have to be made,” said Diana Kutlow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice senior program officer, who graduated with Kamanyi. “Since she left the program, she has worked with the military, police officers, development planners and women’s organizations to consolidate sustainable peace in northern Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. I couldn’t be more proud to consider her a friend and fellow alum.”

After graduating from USD, she returned to Uganda and worked closely with local and international civil society organizations, the government, and development partners, including bilateral and multilateral agencies, on poverty reduction, good governance, peace and conflict resolution and transitional justice. Kamanyi is passionate about gender equality and has interacted with movers and drivers of change in numerous regional and international conferences at which issues of human rights and gender equality have been deliberated. She is currently working as an advisor and consultant in her country.

Other Alumni Honors recipients for career achievement include L. Doug Robert, senior program manager for ITT Corporation; Sandra M. Cassell Farrell, retired marriage and family therapist; Denise M. Boren, a member of the Navy Nurse Corps;  John M. Cappetta, president, Capital Partners, LLC; Leona Makokis, president, Blue Quills First Nations College and Patricia A. Makokis, director of Research and Curriculum Development, Blue Quills First Nations College; Richard M. Bartell, president Bartell Hotels; and Heather Raffo, award-winning playwright of “9 Parts of Desire,” about the lives of women in Iraq.  Zuzana Lesenarova, 1999 NCAA women’s singles tennis champion, will be inducted into the Chet and Margeurite Pagni Athletic Hall of Fame.

USD Alumni Honors, part of the university’s 60th anniversary celebration, is a gala evening of dinner, tributes, and entertainment, honoring outstanding graduates in the areas of career and athletic achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes and volunteer service to USD.

Buganda is divided into 18 counties or masaza: Buddu,  Bugerere, Bulemeezi, Buluuli, Busiro, Busujju, Butambala, Buvuma, Buweekula, Gomba,  Kabula, Kooki, Kyaddondo, Kyaggwe, Mawogola, Mawokota, Ssese, Ssingo (see The Great County of  Kyadondo, Buganda for more on masaza).
The purpose of this and other related articles is to educate our readers about the great counties of Buganda and to showcase the huge success that Kabaka Mutebi and his officials at Mmengo have achieved in their reestablishment. Kabaka Mutebi has appointed hundreds of chiefs to the various official positions and many have been operational for years.

Kyaggwe is one of the frontier counties of Buganda because it has a border, River Nile, with Busoga to the east. And, although the island counties of Buvuma and Ssese are south of Kyaggwe, one can cross directly from Kyaggwe into Tanzania to the south. In the north Kyaggwe boarders with Bugerere. Kyaggwe enjoys abundant rains and heavy vegetation. It is the home of the famous Mabira forest, a sacred forest in Buganda culture. However, thanks to rampant corruption and Uganda government disinterest in the environment since the 1990’s, Kyaggwe is one the Buganda counties whose climate is fast deteriorating.

Bweyogerere, Mukono, Namiryango, Njeru, Kawolo, Namagunga, Seeta, Lugazi,  Kyetume, Mabira, Mbalala and Namawojolo are all places in Kabaka’s county of Kyaggwe. Also, if you know anyone who is from  Kisoga, Banda, Katosi, Mpumu, Nakisunga, Namawojjolo, Matale, Buikwe, Bugoma, Nagojje or Nyenga then learn that they come from Kyaggwe. The natives of Kyaggwe are known as Banakyaggwe.

VITAL STATISTICS

Leadership
Chief’s Title: Ssekiboobo
Current Chief: Hajji K.Y. Mubiru (Acting)
Deputy Ssekiboobo:

Headquarters

Mukono – about 23 Kilometers (14 miles) on Kampala/JInja Road.
Contact: 077-232-9792

Bordering Counties/Nations
Kyadondo (West), Bugerere (North), Busoga Nation (East), Buvuma (South), Ssese (South)

Gombolola Information

Next to come will be Bulemeezi county. Send suggestions, comments or questions to info@bugandapost.com.

Traditionally, Buganda is divided into 18 counties or masaza: Buddu,  Bugerere, Bulemeezi, Buluuli, Busiro, Busujju, Butambala, Buvuma, Buweekula, Gomba,  Kabula, Kooki, Kyaddondo, Kyaggwe, Mawogola, Mawokota, Ssese, Ssingo. Each ssaza is then divided into a variable number of sub-counties or gombolola(s) and each gombolola is then divided into parishes called miluka (singular: muluka). Two or more villages make up on muluka. In his wisdom, Kabaka Mutebi has over the last 15 years given the reestablishment and strengthening of Buganda’s administrative institutions a very high priority.

The purpose of this and other similar articles which will follow is to educate our readers about the great counties of Buganda and to showcase the huge success that Kabaka Mutebi and his officials at Mmengo have achieved in their reestablishment. Kabaka Mutebi has appointed hundreds of chiefs to the various official positions and many have been operational for years. As many as possible will be identified.

Kyadondo is the most central of all Buganda’s 18 counties. Mmengo, Kampala, Lubiri, Kasubi Tombs, Kireka and Banda are all in Kyadondo. Also in Kyadondo are Ntinda, Luzira, Bweyogere, Muyenga, Gayaza, Kiwenda, Kawempe, Nateete, Kagoma, Matugga, Namulonge, Kyambogo.

VITAL STATISTICS

Leadership
Chief’s Title: Kaggo
Current Chief: Tofiri Malokweza
Deputy Kaggo in Charge of Kampala (Kibuga): Hajji Badru Bunkeddeko
Deputy Kaggo, General: Walusimbi Ssengendo

Headquarters
Kasangati – about 14 Kilometers (nearly 9 miles) on Kampala/Gayaza Road.
Contact: 0752-732571

Bordering Counties
Busiro (South, West and North), Bulemezi (North), Kyaggwe (East)

Gombolola Information

Next to come will be Kyaggwe county. Send comments or questions to info@bugandapost.com.

]]> http://www.bugandapost.com/main/archives/250/feed 3 http://www.bugandapost.com/main/archives/223 http://www.bugandapost.com/main/archives/223#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:51:42 +0000 Chris Bijugo Lumu http://www.bugandapost.com/main/?p=223 A scout group in the UK has received a generous contribution from the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM) to help reach its fundraising target of £100,000 – all in aid of helping the scouts’ Ugandan counterparts.

According to a press release by ICM, the Nile 2010 trip to the Jinja, Uganda, is the biggest expedition of any scout group in the English town of Bournemouth so far. It will be made in 2010 by a group of more than 30 youngsters from 38th Bournemouth Scouts & Avon Explorers Group based in Winton and Iford.

The scouts will undertake youth work with Ugandan children, will camp with the Ugandan Scout Association and work on local development projects – including the building of a vocational training centre with the help of a brick-building machine. ICM has donated money to fund the indispensable machine – which accounts for around a quarter of the total money needed for the trip.

Once built, the centre will help Ugandan street children – many of whom have been orphaned by war or HIV/AIDS – who will also be trained on how to use the brick-building machine, and may also be a central point that allows the community access to clean drinking water.

For the expedition to happen, every scout has to raise a total of £2,500 each through sponsored events to help contribute to the total £100,000 that needs to be raised.

Mike Harley, the Group’s scout leader and organiser of the expedition, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the kind offer from ICM to fund the brick-making machine. It is a huge leap forward in our fundraising for which we are all most grateful”.

Dr Alistair Somerville Ford, ICM’s Chairman, said: “I was more than willing to donate to the 38th Bournemouth Scout Group’s trip. It’s such a worthwhile expedition and will contribute so much to the local community within Jinja. And, rather than being a short-term fix, the actions of the scouts will leave a lasting legacy that will enable and empower Ugandans to build a real future for themselves.”

For further information about Nile 2010 visit www.nile2010.co.uk.

According to the ambasaddor, the Republic of China will spend 700,000 US dollars this year, about 1.1billion Uganda shillings to improve the education and health sector in the country. The construction of Kawanda and Kirihura schools are part of school projects in eight areas earmarked by the Chinese government to enhance China-Africa cooperation.

A Chinese construction company, Jiangxi International will do the construction of Kawanda secondary school.  Construction work will be completed in a period of 6 months. The school will have 6 classrooms, 1 ICT Laboratory, 2 science laboratories, a library, 3 dormitories, and a basketball court.

Mawogoola is one of the counties worst hit by the collapse of the Uganda education system over the last 20 years.  President Museveni’s Universal Primary Education (UPE) program has lowered standards to where some children complete 7 years of school without mastering Multiplication and Division in Math. There is a severe shortage of teachers, due to low pay compared to the now popular Iraq security guard jobs. And the ferrying of thousands of Rwandese and Balaalo into the area by Mr. Museveni’s government is creating an artificial explosion of child population in the countty that boarder Ankole.