HIVAN / WCRP Forums - The HIVAN / WCRP Forum has a new partner - the US Consulate. They have come on board to help sponsor more workshops, as well as enabling our members and colleagues to meet with some of their very interesting visitors. We had more than 14 Forums this year, including five Youth Peace Forums, and a special celebration for International Peace Day. Every forum has 60 to 90 people participating and the YPFs have over 1000 young people at theirs.
16 Days of Activism - WCRP and HIVAN joined with Diakonia and the KZN survivors of violence for a very successful 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women. The E-campaign of “Ring the Bell! Stop the Violence!” also saw articles in the press, a march, a wonderful T Shirt campaign at the City Hall preceded by a beautiful service at Emmanuel Cathedral .

The Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) and the South Coast Hospice held an HIV/AIDS Forum on 01 November 2006, in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.

Professor Nigel Rollins, of the Paediatrics and Child Health Department of the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN presented on HIV and Nutrition.

To view Prof Rollin’s Presentation, please click here.

HIVAN has a networking team dedicated to facilitating contact, communication and collaboration within and across the higher education, public, private, faith-based, non-government, and community-based sectors. HIVAN’s website, database, newsletters, reviews, and fora are all intended to enable and encourage these interactions. These fora are attended by community workers, volunteers and representatives from NGOs, FBOs, CBOs and government. They create a context for people and organisations to network and build contacts outside of the usual networks, raise knowledge levels and expose people to relevant and timely issues surrounding HIV and AIDS and creates dialogue between groups that don’t normally come in contact with each other. HIVAN’s networking fora are:

• The MRC KZN AIDS Forum
• Faith-Based Leaders and HIV/AIDS Researchers Forum
• Youth Fora
• Capacity-building Workshops
• Home-Based Care Workshops
• Contentious Issues Panel Discussion
• The HIVAN North and South Coast Communities Fora
• SHAPE
• The Public Health HIV/AIDS Journal Club Forum
• Internal HIVAN Forum

HIVAN partners with the Verulam Child Welfare Society and other community stakeholders to host the North Coast Communities Forum Series. HIVAN partners with the South Coast Hospice to host the South Coast Communities Forum Series.

In a context where the Indian segment of the population is hardly mentioned in relation to HIV/AIDS, HIVAN and various community stakeholders have joined forces to facilitate bi-monthly meetings of NGOs, CBOs and FBOs to discuss practical HIV/AIDS issues affecting the Indian community. Similar initiatives are planned in other parts of the province. These fora are attended by about 40 participants on the South Coast and about 60 on the North Coast.