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AIDS 2012 Summit Program
The aim of universal access to treatment is a mockery if some of the people in need have no place to call home.
-- Winstone Zulu, 2011
Keynote Speakers
Michel Sidibé has been the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations since the beginning of 2009.
His bold vision of a world without HIV infections, discrimination, and AIDS-related deaths has become the end goal of UNAIDS. From the outset, Sidibé has been committed to transforming UNAIDS into a results-oriented organization, one that supports countries in achieving the targets outlined in the 2011 UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. With more than 25 years of experience in public service, he has called for the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015.
His passion for advancing global health began in his native Mali, where he took up the cause of the nomadic Tuareg people, with tireless efforts to improve their health and welfare. Before joining UNAIDS in 2001, Sidibé was at UNICEF in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), overseeing programmes across 10 African countries, as well as serving as a UNICEF country representative.
Housing status is important to achieve a good health outcome, especially for people living with HIV. Housing security improves HIV treatment compliance, reduces mortality and can help lower the risk of HIV transmission. I congratulate the organizers of this critical meeting to discuss strategies to address housing instability, poverty and other social drivers of the global AIDS epidemic.
-- Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS
Stephen Lewis is the co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization that works to promote more urgent and more effective global responses to HIV/AIDS.
Having worked with the United Nations for more than 20 years, Lewis was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from 2001 to 2006 and Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. In between, he was the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF at their global headquarters in New York City from 1995 to 1999.
In addition to his work with AIDS-Free World, Mr. Lewis is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto. He also serves as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
In addition to his work with AIDS-Free World, Lewis is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto and a Commissioner for the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
David Wilson is the World Bank's Global AIDS Program Director and was previously the Bank's Lead HIV Specialist. His work on HIV/AIDS spans almost 25 years. During his career he has worked as a scientist and program manager in over 50 countries and published approximately 100 scientific papers. His interests lie in HIV epidemiology, HIV prevention science and program evaluation. He has developed prevention programs that have been recognized as best practice by the World Bank, WHO and DFID, and have been influential in international HIV prevention science. In addition, he has served as technical consultant and adviser to many international agencies, including USAID, DFID, EU, AUSAID, SIDA, NORAD, UNAIDS, UNICEF and WHO.
Plenary Topics
Examining the evidence: Housing and HIV health outcomes
Housing status as a predictor of HIV risk, treatment access and mortality
Results of housing-based HIV prevention and care interventions
Research findings to support evidence-based policy and practice
Asserting the human right to housing
Overcoming HIV-related stigma and discrimination
Health impacts of forced displacement
Rights-based advocacy for housing as a platform for health
Meeting the housing needs of women and children
Protecting the inheritance and property rights of women
Housing solutions for orphans and street children
Improving health by enhancing economic security
Ensuring safe, healthy housing
Affordable, available and appropriate housing
Housing conditions and HIV health outcomes
Individual and public health in slums and informal settlements
Opening the doors for marginalized persons
Low-threshold housing for drug users, sex workers and street youth
Housing instability following release from prison or jail
Removing barriers that exclude the most vulnerable
Evidence into action: Housing is HIV prevention and care
Funding housing as a global HIV prevention and care intervention
Developing housing resources in low-, middle- and high-income settings
Action strategies and next steps for global, regional and national housing advocacy
Summit program at a glance
8am to 9am - Registration & continental breakfast
9 am to 12:30 pm - Summit speakers and plenary sessions
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm - Networking lunch
1:30 pm to 6 pm - Summit speakers and plenary sessions
6 pm to 7:15 pm - Reception with wine and hors d'oeuvres
