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Program on AIDS-Impacted Societies (PAÍS)
Either we inch along making piecemeal
progress, or we now turn the full weight of our knowledge, resources
and commitment against the epidemic.
-Dr. Peter Piot, Director of UNAIDS
An aggressive and multisectoral campaign against HIV/AIDS must
be mounted in West Africa to avoid the tragic scenarios that have
unfolded in Southern and Eastern Africa. This campaign will depend
on effective interventions tailored to the complex cultural, political
and socio-economic environments that characterize this region.
Such an informed and thorough response is possible, but it will
require an international effort to increase the quantity and quality
of multi-disciplinary research, generate better models, data and
explanations of the course of the disease, execute new modes of
scholarly collaboration, and expand local research capacity.
In 2004, the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University
created the Program on AIDS-Impacted Societies (PAÍS).
During its first phase, PAÍS will address “Improving
Responses to HIV/AIDS in West Africa”, and focus its attention
on an interconnected sub-region of West Africa that is experiencing
rising infection rates: Ghana, Western Nigeria, Benin, Togo and
Côte d’Ivoire. Drawing from Northwestern’s departments
and professional schools, PAÍS will marshal the array of
intellectual resources needed to understand the political, cultural,
and economic factors that have hindered effective responses to
the epidemic. Teams of researchers that include Africanist social
scientists, local experts, and HIV/AIDS experts from the public
health and medical fields, will conduct multidisciplinary research
on the factors driving the epidemic, analyze current response
strategies, and generate recommendations that reflect specific
country environments.
During this first phase of April 2004 through December 2006,
PAÍS researchers will compile a Country Situation Analysis
for each target country and execute research projects on the following
priority themes:
1. Governance Systems and Institutions
2. Regional Security and Conflict Management
3. Improving Methods of Communication
4. Differential Community Responses
5. Distressed Economies and Societies
Utilizing its strong networks within the target countries, PAÍS
will disseminate findings and recommendations directly to the groups
and individuals responsible for shaping HIV/AIDS programs. An Annual
Forum on HIV/AIDS, as well as web reports, publications, and workshops,
will facilitate the dissemination of PAÍS findings to wider
audiences in the Chicago area and HIV/AIDS researchers internationally.
A Review Committee at Northwestern and an external Advisory Committee
will assume primary responsibility for the monitoring and evaluation
of PAÍS. The Program of African Studies at Northwestern
University is well-placed to execute this agenda. It is the oldest
and strongest African Studies program in the United States and
is thus able to draw on 56 years of experience, expertise and
networking in the target region. Given Northwestern University’s
strong commitment to this initiative, PAÍS will benefit
from the contributions of numerous departments and professional
schools and wide support from the university administration.
Activities
2003
Annual HIV/AIDS Experts Forum
Report from Forum held June
10, 2003
Full Text of Keynote
Address
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