International Conference on the Social Sciences and HIV/AIDS in Africa: New Insights and Policy Perspectives
On November 20 2006 OSSREA hosted a two-day international conference on the Social Sciences and HIV/AIDS in Africa: New Insights and Policy Perspectives at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference was jointly organized by OSSREA, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Social Sciences and Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-NET), and the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS).
The Ethiopian Minister of Health, Honourable Dr Kebede Worku, officially opened the conference on behalf of the Ethiopian Government. The Minister told the conference that it is estimated that globally more than 15 million children under the age of 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS; no less that 12 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is currently estimated that 9 percent of all children have lost at least one parent to AIDS. Consequently, the very fabric of society has been greatly damaged, in most African countries poverty levels have worsened in affected families and entire communities and countries have thus been impoverished the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Dr. Grace Kalimugogo Head of AIDS watch Africa (AWA) Division of the African Union delivered the keynote address in which she argued that despite the commendable efforts during the last two decades of the epidemic, particularly since 2000, the challenge of HIV/AIDS still remains overwhelming and the future is made bleak by the fact that prevalence rates are still increasing in Africa.
According to Dr. Kalimugogo: "Our youths are still at high risk of contracting the virus while the elderly and children get forced to care for families when they lack capacity, and are themselves in need of care. The public and private sectors are getting depleted as it is not easy to replace those who have succumbed to the virus over the years."
She ended by saying that the main challenge for Africa was not lack of policies, strategies, action plans or frameworks, but rather, poor or inadequate implementation mainly because of the lack of political will and commitment, limited resources, or in a number of countries, civil strife and armed conflicts. Unless the challenges to effective implementation were identified and addressed collectively, she argued, defeating HIV/AIDS in Africa would remain a pipe dream. She stressed the need for regional integration to be prioritised in order thereby to maximize the impact of available resources and provide Africa with a stronger voice in international dialogue.
The main reason why the four organisations organized this conference is that despite the many studies on various aspects of HIV/AIDS; its impact on society, methods of combating it, and the various lessons learned from the struggle against the pandemic so far, little focused attention has been paid to detailed studies on the socio-economic consequences of HIV/AIDS. The conference thus gave members of the African social sciences community an opportunity to discuss current trends and emerging issues in the study of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Participants studied policy perspectives, suggested crucial areas of intervention, and highlighted opportunities and potential pitfalls in the various attempts to use social science and other research results to inform policy and action against HIV/AIDS.
Africa currently stands out as the epicentre of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Of the more than 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, no less than 75 percent live in Africa. African youth between the ages of 15-45 are the worst affected and since this is the most productive section of society, the economic and social consequence of increasing illness and death of young people in African countries are too ghastly to contemplate. Already life expectancy at birth has declined by almost 20 years in some countries. Needless to say, both social scientists, medical specialists and policy makers will have to work extra hard to understand the changes now occurring in society as a consequence of the pandemic and to ensure that the general public are better informed and adequately resourced in order to facilitate the essential behaviour change and other strategies that will bring HIV/AIDS under control. At the end of the conference, the following statement was released to sum up the main points emanating from the deliberations.
Participants of the International Conference on Social Sciences and HIV/AIDS in Africa
Emerging Issues from the International Conference on the Social Sciences and HIV/AIDS in Africa: New Insights and Policy Perspectives
Introduction
The International conference on the Social Sciences and HIV/AIDS in Africa,
organised by a network of African Institutions (OSSREA, CODESRIA, SOMA_NET and
UAPS) to explore new insights and policy perspectives was attended by over 100
participants drawn from governmental and non-governmental organisations,
academic and research institutions, members of the diplomatic community and
donors. The over 54 papers presented under thirteen sub-themes constituted
the basis on which the reflection groups worked to arrive at a numbers of
observations, reflections and suggestions.
The conference provided an opportunity for new insights into the HIV/AIDS in various parts of Africa. Various success stories were reported and it is self-evident that the prevention of the pandemic would well nigh depend on innovative methodology. Consequently, the complexity of human behaviour most especially in the context of HIV/AIDS inevitably implies that the key to good data for intervention would depend on a multidisciplinary and trandisciplinary orientation. This construed as bringing biomedical and social scientists to work side-by-side.
Second, African families are in transition and crises. Various actors, - grand parents, parents, extended family, significant others etc have a role to play in prevention of the pandemic. There are still various myths and misconceptions about sex and human sexuality. Also, the research so far has merely scratched the surface largely because they are driven by the researchers rather than by the community and also by the failure to make ethnographic method the centrepiece.
Another observation is the fact that there has not been much of a dialogue between the producers and users of research outcomes. This lacuna has failed to make research a tool in policy making and programmes development aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS.
The quality of the presentations has shown quite clearly the necessity of young and senior scholars working closely and permitting the learning of the ropes of the trade.
General Recommendations
Overall, the key issues that require immediate action and further reflections can broadly be sub-divided into three areas:
The need to strengthen, purposeful and constructive collaboration among researchers and research institutions.
The first and third are interrelated areas.
a. This conference is a historical starting point for collaboration among scholars from diverse institutions, disciplines and geopolitical sub-regions of Africa, name possible by OSSREA, CODESRIA, UAPS, and SOMA-NET. The Network should be strengthened and sustained as a platform for sharing knowledge across Africa. This will promote complementary research endeavours, thereby helping to eliminate duplications.
b. While the Network has through this conference facilitated interaction between scholars and policy makers, it is desirable strengthened this relationship by involving policy makers in the entire process planning, development of data gathering tools, report writing, and presentation of outcomes. The policy makers could therefore be made to play proactive role in the process, as this would engender ownership, participation, and ultimately make it possible for the outcomes to be utilised in shaping policy and programmes. Consequently evidence-based interventions become better realised.
c. It is proposed that a further way to promote an accustomed relationship between researchers and policy makers is for the Network to sponsor regular dialogue every two to three years. In this way policy makers are made aware of on going research in different countries. This will also permit researchers to listen to the targeted priority areas that are of concern to policy makers. In addition, the Network should engage NEPAD and African Union by keeping them abreast of new findings.
The need for innovative theorising and research that is grounded in sound established and new methodologies.
a. African scholars need to adopt conceptual/methodological approaches that ground their research in ethnographic reality. This means utilising both the established and new research methods to generate information for theorising. For example, large scale surveys are important to give a broader picture but so also are the Participatory approaches that involve communities in the processes of research planning, execution and analysis and use of findings. This is intended to make beneficiaries of research projects stakeholders in research endeavours. But it is desirable to strengthen the skills of researchers in the use of the ethnographic and participatory method as well in theorising.
b. The sharing of knowledge among African scholars is a problem that conferences like this help to address. But the real challenge to African scholarship is capacity building and strengthening through the mentoring process. It is undeniable that the young scholars have been the focus of capacity building. However, the collaboration among junior/young and senior level scholars offers the latter opportunities to promote network as well as develop research skills and potentials of the former. The Network should develop a mechanism for mentoring by drawing on the expertise of senior African scholars not only from local universities but also from the rank of those who have retired or in the Diaspora.
It is our conviction, the network must mobilise resources in order to achieve the above suggestions for the way forward.
The need to build on the gains of the conference and to seize the opportunity to establish a sustainable mechanism for sharing research outcomes with policy makers.
The conference was officially closed by Ms. Thokozile Ruzvidzo, Officer-in-Charge of the African Centre for Gender and Development representing the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Ms. Ruzvidzo congratulated the four organisations for organising a successful conference focusing on the social, cultural and economic aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. She also highlighted some of the initiatives the ECA is undertaking in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.