Start :

30 November 2009 

End  :

03 December 2009 

 Hosted by :

SAHARA

Venue :

Gallagher Estate, Midrand, Gauteng

SAHARA plans to hold a 4-day conference on 30 November – 3 December 2009 in Gauteng province, South Africa. The conference was to have been held in June 2009, but due to funding constraints has had to be postponed.

The conference will be held in collaboration with major partners including the HSRC, UNAIDS, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), SADC, UNESCO, and AU institutions (including NEPAD).

The 2007 SAHARA conference held in Kisumu, Kenya highlighted the fact that there are vastly different opinions on issues such as male circumcision and homosexuality. The 2009 conference will thus have the theme “socio-cultural responses to HIV” in order to explore these controversies. 

Objectives

The overarching objective of the conference is to share information and best practices relating to the social aspects of HIV/AIDS.  Specifically, it seeks to:

• Share the outcomes of social research and the results of interventions implemented in different African countries in order to identify the determinants of HIV/AIDS and the impacts of the epidemic with a wide range of partners, and inform future approaches to HIV/AIDS.
• Create awareness of obstacles to the application of what is known.
• Share approaches to contextualising imported or imposed intervention models.
• Define and identify effective packages and approaches for further action.
• Suggest relevant policies to provide the enabling environment for scaling up effective programs and innovations.
• Reinforce cooperation and coordination within research networks operating in Africa in order to make them efficient tools and alliance platforms of partners involved in producing quality research for the achievement of appropriate policy responses.

Participants

About 500 delegates from around Africa and the world are expected to attend, including: 

• Policy makers
• Programme planners
• Researchers in universities and science councils
• Civil society organisations
• Community groups
• Donors and multilateral agencies
• Students.

Conference website: conference.sahara.org.za

More Information

Why this conference?

The SAHARA conference has a very specific focus, the social aspects of HIV – that is the social and cultural aspects of the epidemic (as opposed to the bio-medical ones).

An important feature of the conference is its strong Africa focus. So often, Africa is analysed and spoken about by people outside the continent. A real effort is made to provide a forum for African voices, and for local responses to be highlighted.

The networking opportunities at this conference are thus unique in that it provides a platform for African scholars to interact.

The 4th conference highlighted the fact that there are vastly different opinions on issues such as male circumcision and homosexuality. The 2009 conference will thus have the theme “socio-cultural responses to HIV” in order to explore these controversies.

Call for abstracts

SAHARA is now calling for abstracts. Authors should submit abstracts online by 18 September 2009.

All abstracts will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee. Thereafter confirmations of acceptance for oral or poster presentations will be made.

Tracks:

Track 1:  HIV surveillance (Dominant and alternative approaches)

Track 2:  Drivers of the epidemic: (Including socio-cultural determinants)

Track 3:  Prevention (Including facilitating and inhibiting social and cultural factors)

Track 4:  Treatment, care and support

Track 5:  Application of research evidence

Dates

30 November to 3 December 2009:
   •   30 November: Skills building workshops and conference registration
   •   1 – 3 December: Main conference

Venue

Gallagher Estate, Midrand, South Africa.

Registration

The conference registration fee is R3,200 + VAT for South African delegates, and US$420 for non-South Africans.

Please visit the conference website: http://conference.sahara.org.za  to register.

Conference Organisers

Tamlynne Wilton, Foundation for Professional Development
Telephone: +27 (0) 12 816 9000
Fax: +27 (0) 12 807 7191/ 7153
Email: tamw@foundation.co.za