by Nigel Marsh - Hope Communications

BARCELONA, July 11, 2002 World Vision is already discussing with other faith-based partners how the faith community agenda for HIV/AIDS can be better presented and driven at the Fifteenth International AIDS Conference, scheduled for Bangkok from 11 to 16 July 2004.

Members of the World Vision team in Barcelona met with other key figures from like-minded organizations yesterday and today to discuss how Faith-Based Organization concerns can better be brought forward at future conferences. Strong political currents flow under the surface in the events, with gay rights groups and activist organisations commanding considerable attention on one hand, drug companies exerting heavy financial pressure on the other, and UNAIDS and some governmental bodies dominating the main directions of the core events.

"There is a general feeling among the faith-based groups that in Bangkok we need to take a higher profile than we have here in Barcelona," said Ken Casey, leader of the World Vision Hope Initiative.

"We may need to get a satellite meeting set up to have the faith-based community voice heard, with World Vision taking a substantial role in organizing it. There's a sense in which some key messages are underplayed here, like the promotion of abstinence and faithfulness, concern for vulnerable children, and the need to improve access to medical care in the developing world.

"It's also obvious that most people don't understand the opportunity that is presented by working with the church, and indeed hostility toward the church from some quarters. We need to present the results we are getting, and by 2004 we will have plenty from our new programming to demonstrate."

The Fifteenth AIDS Conference will be jointly organized by the International AIDS Society, the Thai Ministry of Public Health, UNAIDS, and local and international community organizations. The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, HE Pongpol Adireksarn, has taken a personal interest in the conference. A martial theme has been adopted: "The Fight Continues - Marching Forward Into Battle To Win The War For Humankind".

The event will take place at the Bangkok Impact Exhibition and Conference Center, and the main tracks have already been agreed; they will be basic science, clincal science, epidemiology, social sciences, human rights and politics. As with this year, the community program will be prominent. There will again be a commercial and NGO exhibition, with invitations to take part going out in July 2003.

Invitations to participate in main sessions, and a Call For Abstracts, will be made in the third quarter of 2003, with a deadline of 2nd February 2004. In view of past experiences and the need for quality control at the high-profile international event, World Vision requires that all proposals for abstracts and other contributions to the programme in World Vision's name should be notified to Milton Amayun, the Partnership HIV/AIDS Technical Advisor. He can also help offices with suggestions for abstracts who need to know how to proceed.