At a three day Meeting from the 24th to 27th of August 2011 at The Willow Park Conference and Resort centre outside Johannesburg, South Africa with Thirty three (33) decision making delegates and from Member organisations, Associates and Partners from different parts of the world within the Kicking AIDS Out! Network gathered together, to discuss where the Kicking AIDS Out! Network boat should be "rocked and captained".
This meeting was a follow up from last year’s Kicking AIDS Out! Network Biennial meeting that was held in Pringle Bay, South Africa, where a Working Group of seven people (7) was selected to come up with the way forward for the Network.
The members were in consensus that the Network shall be a semi-formal structure governed by the Biennial General Assembly that constitutes of members (Implementing, Associate and Funding). An Advisory Committee of seven (7) people was elected to be a guide to the Secretariat in relation to the strategic direction in between the Biennial General Assemblys.
A new Mission for the Network was developed; ’’To provide a platform for sharing, learning, cooperation and visibility among organizations that use sport to empower and positively influence the lives of young people’’.
The delegates did not only engage themselves with governance issues and strategic planning, there were Presentations by representatives of various organizations delivered to members of the Network. The presentations shared exciting developments and news within the network.
David Thiru from MYSA presented (Nishauri – Mobile Counselling), currently being trailed with MYSA and the communities they work with. This is a partnership with Stanford University and MYSA, in developing a mobile counselling service which seeks to connect counsellors trained in HIV/AIDS and STI prevention to hundreds of youth seeking answers from a safe private source. By harnessing existing local capacities of community counsellors, Nishauri brings confidential, reliable, and timely information on sexual health and other sensitive topics to a broader cross-section of youth at risk, who may otherwise be reluctant be seek any in-person advising.
The guiding principles on addressing violence against women in sport were shared by Lombe Mwambwa from NOWSPAR. These principles have been developed in collaboration with NIF and Women Win to provide a policy framework for the sports sector to keep gender based violence on the agenda as well as develops practices that protect women and girls especially.
.JPG)
Dedan Wafula from CHRISC Kenya presented the creation of the East Africa Community Coach Education System (EACCES) that aims to enhance the standardisation, recognition and support for multi-sport community level coach education and development within East Africa.
Andre Collins from TTASPE updated the Network on the progress with their preparation to host the Next Step Conference at Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in Trinidad and Tobago from the 7-12 November. The theme of the conference is Global Partnerships for Development.
Zambia being the Mother of the Network, all Zambian members Organisation in partnership with the Kicking AIDS Out! Secretariat has formed a Working Group to coordinate the preparations for the 10th anniversary of Kicking AIDS Out! Network Celebrations in Zambia. These events aim to raise the public understanding of the work of Sport and Development organizations and of Kicking AIDS Out! Network Programmes. Michael Mwango director of Edusport narrated.