INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF AIDS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AfriCASO - Africa ENDA Tiers Monde 54, rue carnot, B.P. 3370, Dakar SENEGAL Contact: Moustapha Gueye Tel.: (221) 823-1935 Fax: (221) 823-6615 E-mail: africaso@enda.sn APCASO - Asia/Pacific Malaysian AIDS Council 12 Jalan 13/48A 51000 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Contact: M. Puravalen/Susan Chong tel: (60-3) 4045-1033 fax: (60-3 )4043-9178 email: apcaso@pd.jaring.my EuroCASO - Europe Groupe sida Geneve 17 rue Pierre-Fatio CH-1204 Geneva, SWITZERLAND Contact: Florian Hübner Tel: (41-22) 700-1500 Fax: (41-22) 700-1547 Email: florian@hivnet.ch LACCASO - Latin America and the Caribbean Acción Ciudadana contra el SIDA – Av. Rómulo Gallegos, Edif. Maracay, 21, El Marqués Caracas 1071 - VENEZUELA. Contact: Edgar Carrasco Tel: (58-212) 232 7938 Tel/Fax: (58-212) 235 9215 Email: laccaso@internet.ve NACASO - North America Canadian AIDS Society 900-130 Albert Street Ottawa, CANADA K1P 5G4 Contact: Sharon Baxter Tel: (1-613) 230-3580 Fax: (1-613) 563-4998 E-Mail: sharonb@cdnaids.ca ______________________________ CENTRAL SECRETARIAT 399 Church St., 4th Floor Toronto, ON CANADA M5B 2J6 Contact: Richard Burzynski Tel: (1-416) 340-2437 Fax: (1-416) 340-8224 E-Mail: richardb@icaso.org www.icaso.org
May 1, 2001
H.E. Mr. Harri Holkeri President of the General Assembly Office of the GA - Rm. C-204 United Nations New York, NY 10017 H.E. Ms. Penny A. Wensley Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations 150 East 42nd Street, 33rd Floor New York, NY 10017-5612 H.E. Mr. Ibra Deguène Ka Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of the Rep. of Senegal to the United Nations 238 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10021
Your Excellencies: On behalf of the thirty-one individuals from not-for-profit organizations and networks from civil society who convened in Geneva recently to review and comment on the draft Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, I have attached our collective comments for your consideration. We commend your leadership and of the members of the General Assembly over these past months, and to your commitment to include the perspective of civil society organizations in the UNGASS on HIV/AIDS process. We offer our comments and suggestions in an effort to improve the Declaration and make it a guide for the future response to HIV/AIDS by governments, organizations and individuals.
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Holker, Wensley and Ka: May 1, 2001
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We will broadly disseminate the document to civil society organizations around the world in an effort to share with them our thoughts from the meeting on the Declaration to-date. We have also requested UNAIDS to assist us to make copies of this document available to Member States. In closing, we strongly urge the General Assembly to consider an interactive dialogue session with civil society organizations during the week of the informal consultations of the plenary scheduled 21-25 May 2001. We look forward to further collaboration with you and Member States, and are willing to provide additional input reflecting the needs of civil society. If you require any further clarification on our input, please do not hesitate to contact me. On behalf of the participants whose comments and analysis are contained in the document, Yours sincerely,
Richard Burzynski Cc: Permanent Missions to the United Nations Enclosure: Comments on the draft Declaration of Commitment for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS from civil society organizations meeting in Geneva 25-27 April, 2001