1,500 Converge on Addis Ababa for African development forum 2000

Abstract

More than 1,500 delegates are converging on Addis Ababa this weekend to attend the African Development Forum 2000 (ADF 2000) which is place at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 3 - 7 December 2000 under the theme 'AIDS - The Greatest Leadership Challenge'. Its overarching objective is to generate the highest level of scientific, technological, traditional and intellectual leadership commitment possible, at all levels of society and the development community, towards addressing the pandemic and mitigating the devastating impact it has already registered on the continent. Some 1,500 African leaders and policy makers, civil society organizations (including people living with HIV/AIDS and academia), young people, private sector and development partner representatives will seek to address concrete roles and responsibilities for leaders at all levels so as to galvanize an African-led response to the pandemic. The programme of work consists of pre-Forum meetings, plenary sessions and additional special sessions where participants will meet with experts, participate in roundtables, debates, benefit from skills-building workshops and discuss the main theme, issues and background papers. The core element of ADF 2000 is analysis of leadership roles in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.