DAVOS,
News (Updated
January 29, 2012)
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By Boris Bachorz (AFP) –
29 January, 2012
ADDIS ABABA — UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an unusually outspoken declaration on Sunday,
told African leaders they must respect gay rights, an issue that is
controversial in many African states.
"One form of
discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity," Ban said at
an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital.
"It prompted
governments to treat people as second-class citizens or even criminals," he
added.
Homosexuality is outlawed
in most African countries and discrimination against gays and lesbians is rife
on the continent, with
However, previous external
criticism of restrictions imposed on homosexuals has attracted angry responses
from African leaders, who claim it is alien to their culture.
Outgoing African Union
chairman Tedoro Obiang Nguema, speaking before Ban's remarks were delivered,
complained about the external criticism the continent receives.
"
After Commonwealth leaders
refused to adopt reforms to abolish homophobic laws in 41 member nations,
British Prime Minister David Cameron said last year he would consider
withholding aid from countries that do not recognise gay rights.
"Confronting these
discriminations is a challenge, but we must not give up on the ideas of the
universal declaration" of human rights, Ban told the summit.
Gay rights in Africa, most
notably in
Homosexuality is already
illegal in
The proposed legislation
envisages stiffer punishments -- including the death penalty -- for anyone
caught engaging in homosexual acts for the second time as well as for gay sex
where one partner is a minor or has HIV.
Gay rights activists have
blamed an increase in homophobia in
Sexual Minorities Uganda
(SMUG), a group of gay activists based in
"It holds a lot of
weight that Ban Ki-moon has come to this meeting and addressed this issue,"
SMUG advocacy officer Pepe Julian Onziema told AFP by telephone.
"It makes a
difference because it is an issue that the African Union has ignored. We have
pushed them on it but they have shut us out," he added.
The Ugandan government,
however, said that while it did not condone discrimination, it remained firmly
opposed to homosexuality and continued to view the practice as a crime.
"For as long as they
are human beings we respect them but in terms of their practice and orientation
we strongly condemn it," Ethics and Integrity minister Simon Lokodo told
AFP.
While he said he was
unaware of the specifics of Ban's statement, Lokodo said the Ugandan government
strongly rejects any moves it thinks would spread homosexuality.
"We condemn in all
strongest forms anyone who promotes or propagates these practices."
Ban also told leaders that
they should respect democracy, noting that the Arab Spring revolutions that
swept north Africa last year were "a reminder that leaders must listen to
their people."
"Events proved that
repression is a dead end. Police power is no match to people power seeking
dignity and justice," he said.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All
rights reserved.
Thu, Jan 26 2012
By Ben Hirschler
DAVOS,
"These are tough
economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's
poorest," he said in Davos at the annual meeting of the World Economic
Forum.
The Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria announced two days ago that its executive
director, Michel Kazatchkine, was stepping down early following criticism over
misuse of funds and cuts in funding.
The public-private
organisation, which has the backing of celebrities like rock star Bono, accounts
for around a quarter of international financing to fight HIV and AIDS, as well
as the majority of funds to fight TB and malaria.
But it has been forced to
cut back and said last year it would make no new grants or funding until 2014.
The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation is giving $750 million through a promissory note -- a fresh
injection in addition to the $650 million that the Gates charity has contributed
since the fund was launched 10 years ago.
While that will give an
immediate boost, more is needed from governments, which have provided the bulk
of the $22.6 billion that has been raised by the Geneva-based organisation to
date for its work in 150 countries.
The commitment of
governments was shaken last year when the fund reported "grave misuse of
funds" in four recipient nations, prompting some donors such as
Gates, however, played
down the problem and praised the fund's transparency, which he said had exposed
corruption problems that might well have remained hidden at other organisations.
"If you are going to
do health programmes in
"We've looked at
where they've found money that wasn't applied properly and how they tracked that
... the fact is the internal checks and balances have worked."
Recent scientific studies
have shown that getting timely AIDS drug treatment to those with HIV can
significantly cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus,
increasing the case for maximum access to drugs.
So the decision in 2011 to
cancel fresh funding, due to waning political commitment, has alarmed healthcare
activists like Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
"Now that new
scientific evidence shows that HIV treatment itself could be one of the best
ways to turn the epidemic around, it's time for governments to roll up their
sleeves and commit to getting the Global Fund back on track," said Tido von
Schoen-Angerer, MSF's head of access.
By Peter Kenny (AFP) –
27 January, 2012
GENEVA — Set up to roll
back diseases that kill some four million people each year, the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is shifting focus under new leadership even
as it struggles to shake off corruption charges and keep its coffers full.
Founded on January 28,
2002, the Geneva-based fund has grown quickly into a major player in global
health and can take credit for saving millions of lives, mostly in low income
nations.
In 2009 it accounted for
20 percent of international public funding for HIV, 65 percent for TB, and 65
percent for malaria.
But a scandal last year in
which millions of dollars went missing, combined with the economic crisis, have
rattled the widely-praised organisation.
This week the fund
announced a leadership change "to meet the new challenges of our second
decade".
"Our focus is
shifting from an emergency response," to being a "sustainable and
efficient channel for funding to fight AIDS, TB and malaria," it said
following Tuesday's announcement that embattled head Michel Kazatchkine was to
step down.
In November, the fund said
it would not bankroll new AIDS treatment projects until 2014 because the world
financial crisis had curtailed donor country spending.
But the fund got a huge
boost Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos when IT-mogul turned
philanthropist Bill Gates said his foundation would donate an additional $750
million (570 million euros) above its current commitments.
"These are tough
economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world?s
poorest," Gates said in making the announcement.
"The Global Fund is
one of the most effective ways we invest our money every year."
Since 2002, the fund has
disbursed some 15 billion dollars and is currently saving some 100,000 lives a
month, by its own estimate.
In the battle against
HIV/AIDS, it has over that period provided antiretroviral treatment to more than
3.3 million people.
It has also detected and
treated 8.2 million people with tuberculosis, and provided 230 million bed nets
to families to prevent malaria.
Part of its mandate is to
provide grants for projects in developing nations, allocating money provided by
governments and supporters, notably the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Yet the fund has also
faced controversies.
In February last year it
announced it was beefing up its financial safeguards after auditors found that
$34 million (25 million euros) had gone missing or been siphoned off in four
African countries, leading donor
On Tuesday the fund
announced that Kazatchkine, a French clinician and health advocate, was stepping
down.
He said his decision was
triggered by a management reshuffle and planned spending cuts, and dismissed as
unfounded allegations in the French media suggesting favouritism in the funding
of an AIDS awareness project supported by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of
French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Colombian native and
Brazilian citizen Gabriel Jaramillo will take up a 12-month managerial post on
February 1.
Since his retirement as
Sovereign Bank CEO in January last year, Jaramillo has served as an advisor to
the Office of the Special Envoy for Malaria of the United Nations
secretary-general.
Praise for the fund came
from Australian lawyer Peter Prove, heads of the Geneva-based faith-backed
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, which battles against HIV/AIDS stigmatisation.
"We have enormous
respect for the transparency with which the Global Fund has identified, and is
seeking to address, misuse and corruption related to its funding," Prove
told AFP.
The sense of emergency
that enveloped the Fund after the revelations has passed, he said.
"But the fight is not
yet won, and the global HIV response will, for the time being, need continuing
and increasing support," he added.
UNAIDS says that although
new infections show signs of declining, 34 million people were living with HIV
at the end of 2010.
Copyright © 2012 AFP.
(AFP) – 25 January, 2012
LOS
ANGELES —
City lawmakers voted in
favor of the law earlier this month, in the latest move in a battle between AIDS
activists and the California-based US adult film industry.
The measure notably forces
film production companies pay a fee for a film permit to finance inspections.
The AIDS Healthcare
Foundation, which has long campaigned for condom use on porn sets, collected
enough signatures to force LA city fathers either to pass the ordinance, or
organize a costly public vote.
AHF President Michael
Weinstein hailed Villaraigosa's final step to enforce the law, calling it
"a great day for
"After you take all
the shouting and the drama out of it, it's an issue of public health," he
said, adding that he did not know of any other
But Nina Hartley, a
registered nurse and porn actress since 1984, blasted the ordinance.
She said adult film shoots
require sexual intercourse that lasts 30-60 minutes, and that wearing a condom
for that long would lead to chafing, open sores and a greater risk of
transmitting diseases.
"It's a disaster for
health and safety. I know it looks different from the outside, but it will not
work to protect anybody," she said after city lawmakers voted in favor of
it.
Film L.A. Inc., which
issues permits for film companies shooting in the West Coast city, said about
five percent of the 45,500 permit days the agency issues per year are for porn
shoots.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All
rights reserved.
By Max Delany (AFP) – 26
January, 2012
KAMPALA
"We are here to
celebrate and thank God for our beloved friend and human rights activist David
Kato," former Anglican bishop and gay rights campaigner Christopher
Senyonjo told a crowd of around 100 activists and family members.
Kato, former advocacy
officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was found bludgeoned to death at
his home outside
In November, a Ugandan
court sentenced Enoch Nsubuga, 22, to 30 years in jail after he admitted beating
Kato to death with a hammer. Nsubuga had claimed he was reacting to to unwanted
sexual advances.
Gay rights activists
speaking at the event called Kato, 46 at the time of his death, "the
godfather" of the Ugandan gay movement and said that his passing had left a
large void in the life of the country's gay community.
"He always looked out
for all of us even at times when we thought it was too difficult," Frank
Mugisha, director of SMUG, said at the function in the garden of a hotel in
central
Kato's killing drew
worldwide condemnation, coming after a newspaper in
Kato's family members at
the event spoke of the support that they had received from campaigners both in
"It is not easy when
a loved one dies but thanks to all the friends inside and outside
Homophobia is widespread
in
A controversial bill that
calls for the death penalty for certain homosexual acts was recently
re-introduced in the Ugandan parliament after lawmakers failed to debate it
during the last session of the legislative body.
It brings in the death
penalty for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for the second time as
well as for gay sex where one partner is a minor or has HIV.
It also proposes to
criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and would penalise an individual
who knowingly rents property to a homosexual.
Talking at the memorial
event, international gay rights supporters pledged to help defeat the proposed
legislation.
"We will not be
crushed by the (anti-gay) bill, we will not be crushed by other people's
fears," John Talton, a pastor from the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
in the
Homosexuality is outlawed
in many African countries and discrimination against gays and lesbians is rife
on the continent, with
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All
rights reserved.