12 July 2002

Barcelona, Spain: Volunteers play a significant role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, participants in a panel discussion at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona concluded. The panel -- a side event organized by the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who are working together in a coalition, which is also supported by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) -- received much interest from conference participants and the media.
Panelists highlighted contributions that volunteers can provide to contain and combat the pandemic. They called for the involvement of a larger number of volunteers to provide care to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and to support networks of self-help groups at the community level.

"Involving people in building local initiatives against the spread of HIV/AIDS can help sustain human development worldwide", said UN Volunteer Inma Mendoza from Spain. Inma Mendoza and her husband Miguel Goyanes are HIV-positive. They now devote their lives to support people who are infected by the epidemic, like themselves. They founded the "Grupo Clara", a non-governmental organization (NGO) that aims at increasing public knowledge about HIV/AIDS and at improving the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic.

Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro, President of IFRC, underscored that the Federation and UNV both "want to promote a major effort to raise public awareness against HIV/AIDS," adding: "We should intensify our campaign calling for more volunteers to help address the disease."

The former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, who volunteered his services to UNV as Eminent Person for International Year of Volunteers 2001, also participated in the panel. "The pressure has to come from the masses," said Rawlings, ecouraging "all groups and individuals, regardless of their social status to take part in the war against AIDS". As an Eminent Person, he was engaged in fighting to contain HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa. He visited Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Swaziland and Tanzania -- delivering powerful speeches on HIV/AIDS prevention to large audiences. As participant to the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Brussels, Belgium, Rawlings had highlighted the importance of volunteer action in HIV/AIDS response.

At present, nearly 100 UN Volunteers devote their time and expertise to give care to people infected or affected by the epidemic. The involvement of volunteers who are themselves HIV-positive, like Inma Mendoza and Miguel Goyanes, has been an effective means of building networks among people living with HIV/AIDS and strengthening the capacity of self-help groups in dealing with the social and economic impact of the epidemic at community level.