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THE CONFERENCE:
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November 8-9, 2002, the International Conflict Research Group hosted
"HIV/AIDS as
a Threat to
Global Security." AIDS not only presents the most serious health
crisis of our time but also destroys families, social groups and national
institutions. It hampers economic growth and incapacitates local police,
military and international peacekeeping forces that uphold security around
the world. In hosting this conference, ICRG sought to promote greater
awareness of and critically examine the often-ignored international
security implications of the AIDS pandemic. Three panels respectively
examined the causes and dimensions of HIV/AIDS, regional case studies and
policy challenges and solutions.
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CLICK
HERE FOR A MORE DETAILED SCHEDULE AND LIST OF SPEAKERS |
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CLICK HERE FOR THE POST-CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS |
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Panel Descriptions
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| Panel 1 -
Causes
and Dimensions of HIV/AIDS: The
Global Security Threat Explained |
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on arguments from various fields of study, this panel examined four
specific factors that make HIV/AIDS a threat to international security.
Panelists addressed how HIV/AIDS has affected national police and
armies as well as international peacekeeping forces, and the relationship
between these forces and the spread of the disease.
Panelists also examined how HIV/AIDS has caused a severe drain
on economic resources and crippled the workforce and economy in countries
with high rates of infection. They also discussed the collapse of
social and power structures from the basic family unit to national
institutions.
Finally, this panel explored the status of the pandemic among
refugee and migratory populations, and the way their movement has caused
the disease to transcend borders, destabilizing host states. |
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| Panel 2 -
Regional Case Studies: Evolution of the Security
Threat in Different Regions of the World |
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In contrast to the broad overview of the pandemic provided in the first
panel, this panel sought to provide a more critical and focused examination
of the issue through regional case studies. In these case studies, panelists from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America discussed the effects of HIV/AIDS on individual countries within their
respective regions as well as the larger intra-regional concerns.
This panel contrasted the issues in each of these regions in
order to gain a more comprehensive and global perspective on the security
threat the AIDS pandemic poses. |
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| Panel 3 -
Solutions
and Policy Challenges: Problems and Answers for the Future |
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panel concluded the conference and looked at the complexities of the
problems still at hand while proposing possible ways to overcome them in
the future.
In order to practically address the breadth of the issue, the panel
was composed of a wide range of panelists from inter-governmental and
non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and think tanks,
national institutions, and groups working at the grassroots level. The
panel served to tie together the major themes of the conference and
both create and elaborate on possible solutions to the HIV/AIDS security
threat. |
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| Sponsors:
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© Copyright 2003 ICRG All rights reserved
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