Πέμπτη 20 Δεκεμβρίου 2012

UNEP survey on Major Groups and Stakeholders participation (7-31 December) / Consulta del PNUMA sobre participacion (7-31 de diciembre) / Enquete du PNUE sur la participation (7-31 decembre)

This message is available in English, French and Spanish.
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is currently undertaking an online survey with Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGS) in order to collect feedback on UNEP’s current engagement system and inputs on new models of participation that can respond to the needs of all stakeholders.
 
The objectives of the survey are to:
i)     Map out the gaps in UNEP’s current engagement systems;
ii)    Document cases of best/good practices within other multilateral organizations;
iii)   Identify potential avenues for engagement and new models of participation. 
 
The outcomes of the survey will inform UNEP’s response to the implementation of the Rio+20 Outcome Document and the related General Assembly decision.
 
The survey provides a number of multiple choice and open-ended questions related to stakeholder engagement. The survey takes approximately 25 minutes to fill out. Please note you are required to indicate whether you are contributing on behalf of an organization or in your individual capacity. 
 
The survey will be open from 7 – 31 December 2012. Interested organizations and networks, including those who do not yet engage with UNEP, are invited to participate in the consultation here:
 
The survey is also available into French and Spanish on the following links:
 
You are encouraged to share this information with your networks.
 
Best regards,
NGLS
 
_______
 
Chers collègues,
 
Le Programme des Nations Unies pour l’Environnement (PNUE) mène actuellement une enquête en ligne sur les modèles et mécanismes de participation des groupes d’acteurs principaux et des parties prenantes de la société civile auprès du PNUE.
Les objectifs de cette enquête sont les suivants:
 
i)        Cartographier les lacunes des systèmes actuels d\\\'engagement du PNUE;
ii)      Documenter les bonnes pratiques dans d\\\'autres organisations multilatérales;
iii)    Identifier les voies potentielles de l\\\'engagement et de nouveaux modèles de participation.
 
Les résultats de l’enquête viendront contribuer à la réponse du PNUE à la mise en œuvre du Document final de Rio +20 et la décision de l\\\'Assemblée générale afférente. 
 
L\\\'enquête compte un certain nombre de questions à choix multiples et des questions ouvertes liées à l\\\'engagement des parties prenantes. L\\\'enquête prend 25 minutes environ à remplir. Merci d’indiquer si vous contribuez pour le compte d’une organisation ou à titre personnel.
 
La consultation sera ouverte du 7 au 31 décembre 2012. Les organisations et réseaux intéressés, dont ceux qui ne se sont pas encore engagés avec le PNUE, sont invités à participer à l’enquête ici: 
 
L’enquête est aussi disponible en anglais et en espagnol sur les liens suivants:
 
Nous vous encourageons à partager cette information avec vos réseaux.
 
Cordialement,
 
SLNG (Service de liaison des Nations Unies avec les organisations non gouvernementales. 
 
_______
 
Estimados colegas,
 
El Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA) está llevando a cabo una encuesta en línea con los grupos principales y otros actores relevantes (MGS por sus siglas en inglés) con el fin de recabar información sobre el sistema de participación actual con el PNUMA y dar entrada a nuevos modelos de participación que puedan responder a las necesidades de todos los interesados.
 
Los objetivos de la encuesta son los siguientes:
i)    Identificar los déficits en los sistemas actuales de participación con el PNUMA;
ii)   Documentar buenas prácticas de participación en otras organizaciones multilaterales;
iii)  Identificar las posibles vías y modelos de participación con el PNUMA.
 
Los resultados de la encuesta informarán al PNUMA a la hora de implementar el Documento Final de Rio+20 y la resolución correspondiente de la Asamblea General.
 
La encuesta propone preguntas con múltiples opciones y preguntas abiertas relacionadas con los grupos de interés y toma aproximadamente 25 minutos para ser completada. Por favor, indique si está contribuyendo en nombre de una organización o a titulo personal.   
 
La encuesta estará abierta entre el 7-31 de diciembre de 2012. Las organizaciones y redes interesadas, incluidas las que todavía no trabajan con el PNUMA, están invitadas a participar en la consulta en el siguiente enlace: 
 
La encuesta está disponible también en francés y en inglés en los siguientes enlaces:
 
Le animamos a compartir esta información con sus grupos de contacto.
 
Saludos cordiales,
 
SENG (Servicio de Enlace con las Organizaciones no Gubernamentales)

NIH Statement on World AIDS Day 2012

Date: November 29, 2012
Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Author: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
URL: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2012/Pages/WAD12.aspx

December 1, 2012

Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Jack Whitescarver, Ph.D., Director, NIH Office of AIDS Research
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., NIH Director

The International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., this past summer energized HIV/AIDS researchers and focused on the potential benefits of broadly implementing scientifically proven HIV prevention and treatment tools. 
On World AIDS Day, the National Institutes of Health joins with our global partners to maintain this momentum toward a world without AIDS. 
As the world’s leading funder of HIV/AIDS research, NIH is vigorously pursuing promising research in therapeutics, prevention (including efforts to develop a vaccine), and work toward a cure, while also studying how best to deliver these interventions to people who need them.

NIH-funded researchers have contributed to the development of the more than 30 antiretroviral drugs and drug combinations currently available, which have saved millions of lives. 
Additionally, NIH partners with pharmaceutical companies to identify optimal treatment regimens. 
We continue to pursue the development of new antiretroviral drugs that are longer acting, simpler to use, and less toxic than currently available therapies.
NIH also supports studies on how to improve HIV treatment outcomes and how to manage and reduce the incidence of diseases and complications associated with long-term HIV disease and antiretroviral therapy.
But with 2.5 million new HIV infections in 2011 alone, we must not only treat people living with HIV but also continue efforts to prevent new infections. I
n collaboration with our partners in the U.S. government, other governments, nongovernmental organizations, and scientists around the world, NIH is leading the effort to further develop a robust combination of HIV prevention strategies that could bring about the end of AIDS.

To that end, we have learned that the treatment of HIV-infected individuals with antiretroviral drugs can — by lowering the level of virus in the treated individual — also prevent HIV infection of sexual partners, as the NIH-supported HPTN 052 clinical trial demonstrated last year. 
Yet less than a third of HIV-infected people in the United States are being treated successfully for their infection such that the virus is fully suppressed, and similarly low percentages have been observed in other countries. 
To address this problem, the NIH-funded HPTN 065 study  in the United States is assessing the feasibility of widespread HIV testing, immediately linking HIV-infected individuals to care, and providing incentives to suppress the virus through treatment. 
Beginning in 2013, the NIH co-funded HPTN 071 study will examine whether the implementation of a comprehensive set of HIV prevention strategies including universal, voluntary HIV testing and linkage to care can reduce the annual number of new HIV infections among 1.2 million South Africans and Zambians.
Other landmark studies funded by NIH and its partners have tested and proven the effectiveness of powerful HIV prevention strategies. 

These include using antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus; performing voluntary adult medical male circumcision; and taking a daily oral dose of one or two antiretroviral drugs as pre-exposure prophylaxis. 
We have long known that correct and consistent condom use can prevent sexual transmission of the virus, but the success of many proven HIV prevention modalities now rests to a great extent on how well we can promote adherence to them. 
Consequently, NIH supports a substantial portfolio of behavioral research to achieve these goals. 
In addition, NIH is partnering with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, on implementation research to determine how best to put scientifically validated HIV prevention and treatment tools into use on an increasingly wider scale.

One key HIV prevention research challenge is to build on the progress made in developing and testing microbicides — that is, substances that can be applied topically to prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection. 
Such tools would be particularly helpful to women by giving them control over HIV prevention. 
This year NIH launched the multinational ASPIRE clinical trial to test whether the drug dapivirine can safely prevent HIV infection when continuously released from a silicone cervical ring replaced once a month. 
The ring was designed to reflect women's potential preference for a device that is more convenient and easier to incorporate into their lives than a gel that must be applied daily or before and after sex.

A major remaining HIV prevention research challenge is the discovery and development of a safe and effective vaccine. 
Widely implementing combinations of existing scientifically proven HIV prevention strategies and introducing a highly effective HIV vaccine would cause the annual number of new HIV infections to plummet, according to mathematical models. 
This year, NIH-supported scientists studying specimens and data from the landmark RV144 clinical trial discovered that participants who produced relatively high levels of a specific antibody after vaccination were less likely to get infected with the virus than those who did not. 
In addition, NIH scientists and grantees have discovered powerful antibodies that can neutralize a broad range of HIV strains and are working to design vaccines that can elicit such antibodies in HIV-uninfected people.

Along with a vaccine, another key remaining HIV research challenge is to find a cure for the 34 million people infected with the virus. NIH-supported scientists are pursuing two strategies: 
eliminating HIV from the body, and suppressing HIV to the point that medication is no longer needed.

The International AIDS Conference of 2012 generated heightened awareness worldwide that although HIV/AIDS is still with us, the end of AIDS may be within reach. 
NIH will build on this pivotal moment in science by continuing to support the research essential to turning the tide in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 
Now is the time to accelerate our commitment to ending the pandemic.

http://aidsinfo.nih.gov/news/1307/nih-statement-on-world-aids-day-2012