For Immediate Release:	August 16, 2006
For More Information:	Andrea Lanthier-Seymour, CARE, Andrea@care.ca, +1.613.799.7562 Leah Geller, CHF, lgeller@chf-partners.ca, (613) 237-0180 ext. 208
Sponsor Organization:	CHF
“AIDS creates hunger; hunger exacerbates AIDS. It is a merciless interaction.” Stephen Lewis, Race Against Time
Toronto, August 16 – A panel discussion addressing the urgent need for poverty reduction in the fight against AIDS takes place Thursday, August 17 at 10:45 a.m. at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Moderated by Stephen Lewis, the UN’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, the panel focuses on the links between food security, livelihoods and vulnerability to infection by HIV/AIDS, especially in hard-hit regions of East and Southern Africa. It also looks at the vicious cycle of poverty leading to malnutrition and how this cycle affects HIV prevention, care and treatment programs. In addition, the panel will examine how orphans and vulnerable children are particularly affected by the relationship between food and income security, and HIV/AIDS. Panelists include researchers from key international agencies, as well as those working on the frontline in the fight against AIDS in Kenya and Swaziland. Date: Thursday, August 17 Time: 10:45 a.m. Place: Session Room 3, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto Moderator: Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa Panelists: Stuart Gillespie, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI, and Co-founder and Director of RENEWAL Robin Jackson, Chief of the HIV/AIDS Service at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Gabriel Rugalema: Senior Officer, HIV/AIDS and Food Security at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Leonider Amollo Akeye: Founder of Siaya – GROOTS (Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood), CARE Canada partner, Kenya Siphiwe Hlophess: Co-founder, Swazi Positive Living (SWAPOL) - 30 - This panel presented by a coalition of non-governmental organizations and agencies: CHF, CARE Canada, Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Oxfam Canada, World Vision Canada, RENEWAL, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), SWAPOL Swaziland, Siaya – GROOTS Kenya