The session was unanimously of the view that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is cutting deep into all sectors of our societies and is destroying Africa's most valuable resource - its human resources. It is undermining development gains achieved over the last three decades.

Although national policies are important instruments to define broad directions, locally led action is a fundamental complement to reduce the spread of HIV and its impact on development. The impact is particularly felt at local government due to increased demand for social services in an environment where capacity to generate resources is greatly reduced. This in turn has an impact on the capacity of government at the local level to respond to the needs and priorities of its citizens.

Moreover, the municipal workforce is being seriously affected due to illness and deaths related to HIV.

People live in families and communities and these forms of organisational units constitute the most appropriate entry points for an effective response.

These statements provided the context for the discussions and the platform for presentations by three African mayors on their local experiences and interventions.

The symposium brought together members of the Alliance of Mayors and other partners to review progress since the launch of the Alliance in Abidjan at Africities 1998. Three municipalities presented their experiences - Abidjan, Manzini and Dodoma. These presentations showed how African Mayors and local authorities are translating intentions into actions. They are demonstrating political will, social responsibility and partnership with civil society.

These national launches of Alliance Chapters under the auspices of the Mayors' Alliance, and with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme, UNAIDS and other partners have mobilised all local authorities in these countries in support of an intensified national effort to address the epidemic.

As more and more local authorities join the Alliance and develop local actions there is an increasing demand for building capacity and mobilising additional resources.

The Mayors felt that the changing international environment, e.g. the UN Secretary General's call for an international partnership The meeting also realised that scaling up the effort would require an enhanced capacity of the Alliance to intensify the response to implement concrete actions.

The meeting unanimously adopted the African Mayors' Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at Local Level (AMICAALL) strategy as the key strategy of the Alliance. A working group was established, to report back in 6 months, on how to strengthen the programme support mechanism of the AMICAALL programme.

It was considered essential for the success of AMICAALL that a permanent Secretariat be established. The meeting accepted the most generous offer by the Government of the Republic of Namibia to provide the facilities and initial support for the establishment of this permanent Secretariat.

From the participants there was a clear message that more Municipalities needed to become active members of the Alliance to ensure its effectiveness. The Alliance currently comprises 60 municipalities in 15 countries. In view of the many municipalities that were not members, there was a strong call from the floor for municipalities to join the Alliance. During the session, 27 municipalities joined.

While there was a clearly recognised need for external financing, the meeting participants realised the need for Africans to take ownership and join the commitment to find resources.

The participants warmly thanked UNDP for its support in establishing the Alliance, facilitating national launches and assisting in resource mobilisation. They considered the continuation of UNDP's technical and catalytic support essential to the success of the endeavour.

The Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Namibia closed the meeting and reminded the participants that "The Alliance demonstrates that Africans are not just sitting idly by, but are conscious and committed to ensuring that HIV/AIDS does not stifle our development initiatives and plunge us back to yester-years."

The Prime Minister also reminded the meeting that "if you cannot be faithful to one partner, use condoms!"

The meeting endorsed that it is possible to make a difference and move from

Despair to hope
Stigma to support, and
Discrimination to inclusion.