Text of Joan Holmes, speaking on the July 7th Global Conference Call launching the 2001 Africa Prize 

I'm thrilled to be with you as we launch the campaign for this year's Africa Prize for Leadership. As you know, this year we devote the Africa Prize, one of our most visible and influential initiatives on the African Continent – to honor the courageous individuals on the frontlines of the struggle to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

This year, we will honor leadership in four categories:

• An individual woman who is infected with HIV, and who has demonstrated the courage to speak out publicly on this issue.

• A leader from the religious community who has used his/her exalted moral position to break the silence on HIV/AIDS and to educate the public on how to prevent it.

• An institution of public health and/or public policy which has taken bold and effective action to halt the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

• An organization committed to examine and transform the traditional definitions of man-hood that encourage risky sexual behavior, which drives the spread of this epidemic.

Given the importance of the leadership that is needed on this issue, this year's total prize will be $200,000.

And, as you can see from the nature of this year's Africa Prize – this is a complex and critically important issue. We want to be clear THP is not changing its mission. Our mission has been, is now, and will continue to be the end of hunger. At the same time, and as you will hear on this call, it is not only possible, but essential for THP to include in its work measures that would make a difference to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. This call is timely in that the United Nations has recently completed a 3-day world conference at which it addressed the issue of AIDS.

This is the first time in the history of the world that a health issue has caused such devastation, surpassing even the devastation caused by the bubonic plague in Europe in the 14^th century. The devastation is so great that it is now viewed, as the UN conference made clear, as a political, human rights and economic threat.

This epidemic has begun to receive unprecedented global attention. The AIDS epidemic is a priority at both OAU and G-8 summits. The UN General Assembly has held a special session. The UN Security Council has met four times, treating AIDS as a threat to "peace and security." It is therefore strategically important that this year The Hunger Project award the Africa Prize for Leadership to courageous individuals on the frontlines of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

While we are focused on Africa today, where the epidemic has hit the hardest, HIV/AIDS is threatening every part of the world and especially those countries where hunger persists. India, for example, is the country with the second largest number of HIV/AIDS infections.

It is imperative that each of us who stand for the end of hunger, who stand for the wellbeing of the global family, who stand for a new future for humanity engage powerfully with this issue. This is the purpose of our being together today.

Let me tell you what we will accomplish on today's call.

• First, we will examine the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.

• Second, we will examine the strategy required to stop this epidemic.

• Third, with this background, we'll look at the contribution The Hunger Project can make and the strategy for this year's Africa Prize for Leadership.

HIV/AIDS is one of the key issues shaping the world today and now has priority on the list of human concerns. A list that includes ending hunger -- peace -- and the environment.

Imagine a scenario in which every child and adult in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston and the next 46 largest US cities were either dead or infected with a deadly condition for which no cure or vaccine exists. Such a catastrophe would still fall short of what is happening in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Let's look together at the facts:

• 36 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world, 25 million of these live in Africa.

• 22 million have died worldwide due to AIDS, 17 million were African.

• 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, 12 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• It is estimated that by the year 2010 there will be 40 million AIDS orphans in Africa. Let me give you one example of what this means in human terms. In Uganda there is a girl named Kevina. Kevina lost both her parents and her aunts and uncles to AIDS. She is 14 years old, and must care for 4 younger brothers, 3 younger sisters and her blind 84 year-old grandfather.

We used to think of HIV/AIDS as a health issue. Today, HIV/AIDS can no longer be confined to the health or social sectors. In Africa today, HIV/AIDS is a health crisis and an economic crisis. AIDS is turning back the clock of development, and threatening political stability.

• 80% of those dying of AIDS are vital, productive people in their prime, between the ages of 20-50 years. We are beginning to see societies where there are only the very young and the old.

• In some countries, teachers, doctors and nurses are dying faster than they can be replaced. In the first ten months of 1998, Zambia lost 1,300 teachers to the epidemic -- equivalent to 2/3 of all new teachers trained annually.

• One-third of all rural households affected by AIDS experience a 50% reduction in agricultural output.

• Today and every day there will be 11,000 new infections in Sub-Saharan Africa. This means that there is a new infection every 8 seconds.

• More that 2000 Zimbabweans die of AIDS each week.

• Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world in which more women than men are infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.

• The average rate of infection of teenage girls is 5 times higher than of teenage boys due to an imbalance of power and lack of knowledge.

We must confront the harsh reality that experts predict that we have seen only 10% of the illness and death that this epidemic will bring. The real impact on people -- communities and economies is still to come.

What goes into stopping the spread of AIDS is - in large measure - what goes into strategies for the end of hunger. Let us look at 8 critical elements of that strategy:

1. What's missing is leadership at the highest political level. Leaders must break the silence and overcome the taboos to speaking about AIDS. This issue cannot be delegated to the health ministry. Top political leadership is needed to mobilize an effective, strategic, multi-sectoral response. The key factor that makes a difference in fighting AIDS is decisive action by governments. Strong governmental leadership has kept the infection rates at 2% in Senegal, and significantly reduced infection rates in Uganda.
   
2. What's missing is a fundamental change in gender relations. Women, who for biological reasons are more vulnerable than men to HIV/AIDS, are also at special risk to HIV because they lack the power to determine how, when, and where sex takes place. That's only part of the story. The truth is, both women and men are going to need to change their behaviors for societies to effectively deal with this issue. Women are going to need to gain the freedom, the opportunities, and the power to control their own sexual lives.

Men are going to need to come to understand that the widely accepted unexamined and outdated concepts of masculinity that under-pin their sexual behavior are now not only inappropriate, but actually endanger the health, vitality, and with increasing frequency, the very existence of themselves, their family, their community, and their nation. In epidemiological terms, this means that persuading 10 men with several partners to engage in safe sex has far greater impact than enabling 1,000 women to protect themselves from their only partner. The 10 men are at the beginning of the chain of infection; the 1,000 women are its last link.

Therefore, an important part of the effort to curb the AIDS epidemic must include challenging harmful concepts of masculinity, at the same time, challenging a patriarchal system that denies women the opportunity to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Both men and women are needed to be at the forefront of change, responsibility and leadership if this plague is to be stopped.

If there is a positive side to AIDS, it is that it provides proof that the very unequal relationship between men and women, plus the unexamined and outdated concepts of masculinity are a threat to the human race.

3. What's missing is social acceptance. People infected with HIV/AIDS need to know the truth, that they are valued, respected and contributing members of society. People need to come to understand that people infected with HIV can lead positive lives.

Social stigma and people's reactions to the person infected can be, in a way, more deadly than the disease itself. One woman, Gugu Dlamini from South Africa, admitted on television on World AIDS Day that she had AIDS. When she returned to her home she was beaten to death by the villagers.

4. What's missing is breaking the silence and overcoming the taboos to speaking about HIV/AIDS. What's needed is accurate, potent and accessible information. People need to know what causes HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves and others.
   
5. What's missing is active involvement of community and religious leaders in prevention activities. Religious leaders need to use their exalted position to let people know that speaking about sexual issues is not only morally acceptable, but fundamental to responsible living.
   
6. What's missing is the widespread provision of services. People must have access to vital services, including condom supply and distribution, blood safety programs and voluntary HIV testing and counseling. To date, only 5% of Africans know whether they are infected or not.
   
7. What's missing is health-related strategies and care services. There is an immediate need to invest in health strategies and infrastructure for both prevention and care. To date, Africa lacks the infrastructure to treat diseases that plague HIV/AIDS sufferers like tuberculosis - which can cost as little as $1 per month. Government field workers, traditional healers, home-based caregivers, and other practitioners must be trained and mobilized to ensure these services are provided.
   
8. What's needed is International solidarity and partnership, including the mobilization of international resources. You and I are seeing the growing international mobilization around this issue in the newspapers everyday. Clearly, the conference at the United Nations took important steps in the mobilization of world opinion on this issue.

We in THP support and endorse raising a multi-billion dollar fund for the global diseases of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, headed up by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. We support the all out international efforts to develop a vaccine. We support and endorse pharmaceutical companies who are lowering their prices and looking to make remedies available to the developing countries. We support and endorse having debt relief for all African countries.

We support and endorse Coca-Cola, Unilever, AOL Time Warner and Viacom for joining in the commitment to fight HIV/AIDS. We applaud the corporations that have taken this initiative, and we encourage other companies to become involved. We support and endorse The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for contributing one hundred million dollars to the new global fund for AIDS.

The fact that, governments, corporations and foundations are joining together in the fight of this epidemic means, this is not business as usual.

At the same time, no amount of international finance, political or technological support will result in the reduction in the rates of HIV infections across Africa if there is not the outspoken, courageous and bold indigenous leadership, particularly that of the top political leaders. What's needed now is courageous leadership in every sector and at every level of society working together within a strategic framework for an effective prevention, care, treatment and support campaign.

So, what does this all mean for the work of The Hunger Project?

Bottom line – anyone working in Africa today must seriously take on the commitment to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Unless this crisis is addressed, no other programs can succeed, and – in fact - it is possible that social disintegration of whole societies will be of a magnitude that the world has never seen.

Please know that The Hunger Project in Africa has already introduced AIDS awareness in the health component of our work. However on October 13^th, we will formally launch a campaign to resource, refocus and expand these programs to reach far more people far more powerfully.

We will carry out campaigns to enable people to know the facts, to know what to do to protect themselves and others, and to remove the social stigma surrounding the disease – a stigma that keeps people silent and powerless.

We will make the information clear, compelling and accessible. Further, we will infuse all of our education, training and advocacy activities with campaigns to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. This commitment also extends to our work in other developing countries, which are at risk for AIDS, specifically India, which now has the second highest number of people infected with HIV/AIDS.

Today, to be a leader in Africa is to include in your leadership - stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. Any other definition of leadership is insufficient. At the same time, to be an authentic partner with Africa, to stand in solidarity with Africa, to stand for the end of hunger in Africa, is to stand for the stopping of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Year after year, when you come to New York, you're asked to take on, support and invest in a critical, strategic initiative for the future of humanity. To date, this has produced a new definition of leadership on the continent of Africa; the expansion of Strategic Planning in Action; the African Woman Food Farmer Initiative; and the South Asia Initiative. Through these programs, hundreds of thousands of people are leading healthier and more productive lives. Tens of thousands of women have gained access to credit and literacy. Thousands of grassroots women leaders are being trained and empowered as effective change agents in their villages.

This year, I'm asking you to come to New York to reaffirm your stand for Africa. This year, I'm asking you to come to New York to reaffirm your stand for Africa, in the face of the devastating tragedy of HIV/AIDS.

This year, I'm asking you to come to New York to express your solidarity with the individuals who will be awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership for their courageous work to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. These individuals do their work in the face of ridicule, enormous social stigma, and sometimes, even danger to their lives. By coming to New York, you send a signal to Africa and the world that this is the kind of leadership that is needed to stop this epidemic.

This year, I'm inviting you to New York to hear President Museveni of Uganda, an Africa Prize laureate. He is the one president on the African Continent to have turned this major epidemic around. In 1986 the infection rates were as high as 30%. Under President Museveni's leadership the infection rate now is 8%. This is a president who has proven beyond doubt that when the right policies and leadership are brought to bear, the AIDS epidemic can be stopped. This is - after all - a preventable disease.

This year, I am inviting you to come to New York to be informed, educated and empowered.

You, who by your stand for the end of hunger -- you, who invests your love, your commitment and your financial resources in the end of hunger have the moral authority and the vision to express your commitment to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. As a Hunger Project investor, you are on the cutting edge of what must happen for humanity to have a sustainable future. It is therefore incumbent on you to be at the Hilton in New York on October 13^th. You cannot not be there.

Many times, I've invited you to a celebration. This is not a celebration. This is a confrontation with the worst disease in modern history. In the country where you live, this disease may not be out of control – but in your human family, it is. And where it is the deadliest is in Africa. If Africa ever needed partnership, solidarity and authentic commitment -- the time is now.

You -- you need to be in New York. And I ask that you give everyone you know the opportunity to be here also.