This year’s World AIDS Day focuses on Leadership. In his call for leadership towards taking responsibility for the fight against HIV and AIDS, the UN Secretary General appealed to Governments and World leaders to keep the issue of HIV/AIDS up high on their agenda. This is important but it can only be fully realized if communities and people living with and affected by the disease are part of that leadership.
There seem to be a global recognition that a pandemic like HIV which has no cultural, religious or regional barrier affects the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of the society everywhere in the world. And therefore, we must recognize that the best way to effectively address this crisis is to empower these groups with knowledge, skills, resources and authority to make informed decisions. They must become active stakeholders in the intervention plan.
It is an irony that even after over 10 years of global recognition that ‘Greater involvement of people living with HIV’ is key in the fight against this problem, there is still no visible leadership from amongst this group. People living with HIV are still afraid, ashamed and continue to live in isolation in most part of the world.
It is heartening to note that this year, for the first time, many people living with HIV in Naga society are coming together to stand in solidarity with one another, to speak out their issues and concerns in public and to create a safe and open environment for those hidden in isolation to join the movement. Their forum will no doubt cause a ripple effect in creating a massive awareness that while some people talk about HIV once in a year, particularly on the First of December, many people live with it every day of their life. It is time that people and communities living with the disease be given the opportunity to take the lead in the fight against this epidemic. They should no longer remain recipients of programs but they should direct the programs to focus on where it would be best effective.
Taking leadership would require not just enhancement of skills and knowledge but active participation and critical thinking in every aspect of life; and most importantly, making decisions. After all HIV is not just about health. It is in fact, turning out to be the most serious social and economic problem. Access to health care is but a requirement. The greater need is in ensuring dignity, justice and equity for all, especially for the poor and marginalized. The fight against HIV must go beyond access to services and resources; it must be driven by a passion for social, political and economic justice. Leadership is not about having the power to mobilize resources; it is indeed, having the integrity to facilitate decisions that would transform human lives and relationships.
HIV has become a feminized problem. More than half of people living with HIV in the world are women. Those who are not infected, live with HIV affected spouses and children that they have to care for every day. Women all over the world have take on the challenge of AIDS with conviction and creativity. In Naga society, when HIV was first detected in 1990, it was the mothers who came together and form a caring community. They led the way in ensuring that prevention programs reached every home and that people affected have a safe and caring community to live in. We must ensure that women and mothers continue to take the lead in this fight. They too must realize that the battle is not yet over and that there is still along way to go.
HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest challenges facing the youth of today. Everywhere young people remain at the center of the epidemic not just in terms of infection rates but also because of their potential for change. There is a pressing need to build youth leadership and to listen to the voices of young leaders fighting HIV and AIDS in their communities. Young people have a strong sense of solidarity and belongingness towards each other. When given an opportunity, they can easily influence masses towards positive, healthy and productive life. They must be given their space to do their part in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
As long as the HIV/AIDS movement in Naga society is project oriented, leaders will not emerge, because leaders are not developed in an environment of dependency. So long as those living with the disease are not given due recognition and empowered to make decisions that effects their life and future, leadership roles will always be assumed by people from outside the community. And so on this solemn occasion, where the world once again unites in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it is crucial that people themselves must take ownership of the process, so that true leadership can then be empowered and developed.
Leadership in the fight against HIV is not just for those in political, religious or government positions……….
