Africa-Press – Botswana. HIV remains an urgent call that brings everyone together, hence Botswana’s continued prevention, treatment, care and support efforts as the country strives towards ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
First Lady Neo Masisi said this over the weekend in Tlokweng where she officiated at the Centre for Youth of Hope’s (CEYOHO) 21 anniversary.
She said the organisation’s founder and director, Ms Kesego Basha-Mupeli, broke the tough landscape of HIV/AIDS at the time there was much stigma around HIV/AIDS and uncertainty about the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS owing to the fact there was shortage of resources and very little research had been done on HIV/AIDS.
Ms Masisi said once threatened with extinction from HIV/AIDS, as aptly put by former president, Dr Festus Mogae a UN meeting, Botswana managed to scale the wave due to concerted efforts from organisations such as CEYOHO.
“CEYOHO even extended their mandate in the areas of women and young people,” she added.
Ms Masisi said despite challenges CEYOHO survived 21 years of uninterrupted operations.
She said CEYOHO did not only fulfil ambitions of Vision 2036 under Human and Social Development aim, but also helped to position the country for realisation of the UN’s 2030 goal.
“We congratulate you for your resilience over the years mainly because of the commitment of the founder and team members, “ she said, adding CEYOHO members were courageous in the face of stigmatisation, and resolute in putting a human face to HIV and AIDS.
She said as part of efforts to annihilate stigma, CEYOHO held activities whereby they re-educated people.
These included among others, Miss HIV pageant, and youth empowerment programmes by way of life skills coaching. UNAIDS country representative, Dr Alankar Malviya said after all the years CEYOHO’s robustness in the fight against the pandemic must be celebrated.
He said once a case study as the hardest-hit country globally, Botswana was now considered a success story having reached the 95-95-95 target which stipulates that 95 percent of people with HIV should know their status, 95 percent of those be on treatment and 95 percent of those on treatment be HIV undetectable.
That, he said, was possible through collective effort by the government and civil society. However, he warned: “The challenge is not yet over and prevention is not as successful as we want. This is an unfinished agenda.”
Dr Malviya said it UNAIDS remained committed to supporting civil society organisation in all efforts, as it considered them a critical member of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
For her part, Ms Basha-Mupeli, said the organisation, which was registered in 2001, had grown in leaps and bounds despite setbacks and challenges.
She said CEYOHO was established at the peak of stigmatisation but managed to soldier on. She applauded organisations such as BONELA, BONEPWA and NAHPA, among others, for their support.
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