Civil society takes the stage at national HIV/AIDS conference

HANOI, December 3, 2010 - Pact and partners contributed to an unprecedented civil society presence at the 4th National Scientific Conference on HIV/AIDS, attended by 1,500 delegates from December 1-3 in Hanoi. The highlight of the event for Pact came from national television and radio spots profiling our emergence as key players in Vietnam's response to the epidemic. On health channel O2TV, Pact Country Director Matthew Tiedemann articulated Pact's role in unleashing local solutions: "We believe that after the initial support from Pact, civil society groups will be better positioned to endure and grow, continuing to meet their communities' needs."

During the conference sessions, Tiedemann co-chaired the presentations on stigma in care and treatment, and Project Officer Nguyen Thi Hiep introduced Pact's model for mobilizing civil society groups to prevent HIV in the "hidden world" of men who have sex with men; Vietnamese partner COHED (Center for Community Health and Development) spoke on gender mainstreaming in care and treatment. Save the Children also used Pact funds to support interaction with children and parents in the session on stigma in education. At Pact and our partners' seven booths, COHED attracted the largest crowd of the event by inviting singer-songwriter Tran Tien to perform original songs about people living with HIV/AIDS.

At the December 3 closing ceremony, the Ministry of Health and World Bank presented Pact's partner VICOMC (Vietnam Community Mobilization Center for HIV/AIDS Control) with two awards. Out of a field of nearly 200 community initiatives across Vietnam, VICOMC took home one of 30 HIV/AIDS Innovation Awards, which provides full funding for the winning entry, plus one of 10 runner-up prizes for a second project. VICOMC Director Dr. Dang Van Khoat gives credit, in part, to "the fundraising skills we built through Pact."

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong underscored the need for such growing civil society action in his closing conference remarks, by affirming Vietnam's goal "to unite the whole community involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS."

To view this spotlight story as a printable one-pager with full photos, click here (PDF, 551 Kb).

Browse Vietnam's other spotlight stories here.