Documents Speech of H.E. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of The Republic Of Indonesia Declaration on the Response to HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific AIDS Ambassadors and Champions See also: More about HIV and AIDS All Stories

 

9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), Bali, Indonesia, 9 - 13 August 2009

Bali (Indonesia) - The 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) was held from 9-13 August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia, bringing together people from various backgrounds in Asia and the Pacific region to meet and share knowledge, skills, ideas and research findings related to HIV/AIDS. Through this, ICAAP9 aimed to promote scientific excellence and inquiry; provide a forum for meaningful dialogue; foster accountability; encourage individual and collective action in addressing HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific; and ensure the sustainability of the response.

"Empowering People, Strengthening networks":
For more than 20 years countries around the world have faced the AIDS epidemic more or less alone. Best practices have been documented to help countries deal with their specific epidemics, but as the world becomes more globalized and country borders become more fluid, interventions that address mobility, migration and global and regional responses become more important.

For this reason, the theme for the Congress was "Empowering People, Strengthening Networks". This refers to the importance of empowering people (both HIV-positive and HIV-negative vulnerable to HIV), and of strengthening networks and international cooperation, in order to counter the barriers presented by this increasingly globalized and interconnected world to a successful response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at 9ICAAP: In the context of HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is responsible for coordinating and providing effective leadership and technical support in the areas of injecting drug use, prison settings, and trafficking in human beings.

UNODC Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific was involved in the following key events during ICAAP9:

• Symposium: Scaling-up harm reduction services towards universal access in Asia: Models of good practice, organised by the United Nations Regional Task Force on Injecting Drug Use and HIV/AIDS for Asia and the Pacific
• HIV/AIDS Asia Regional Programme (HAARP) 3rd Communication and Collaboration Forum
  As the principal implementer of the HAARP Country Flexible Programmes in Myanmar and Lao PDR, UNODC participated in the 3rd HAARP Coordination and Consultation Forum held 7-9 August 2009 in Bali. The forum provided an opportunity for the Regional Technical Coordination Unit to report on activities and outcomes at the regional level and to share progress of each of the 6 HAARP country flexible programmes (Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines and Viet Nam). Copies of presentations from the Myanmar and Lao teams are available here. The forum served as an opportunity to agree on targets for the work in each country and develop a strategy for moving towards scaling up the country flexibile programmes. Technical assistance needs were identified, and monitoring and evaluation plans adjusted.
  
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• Abstract driven session: Specific Population - Who is Doing What?: presentation on Compulsory Drug Treatment Centres in Southeast Asia: Rights and Effectiveness
• South East Asia (SEA) Court of Women on HIV and Human Trafficking: from Vulnerability to Free, Just and Safe Movement

Exhibition Booth: UNODC displayed its selected publications and related materials at the Joint UNAIDS Exhibition Booth at the 9th ICAAP, Bali, Indonesia.