His Excellency Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, Minister of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Arab Health Ministers' Council, is inaugurating the First Saudi Forum for “Uniting Arab Countries to Combat AIDS” on Monday night (Nov. 28th), at the Prince Sultan Grand Hall of Al-Faisaliah Hotel. This forum is held under the umbrella of the Arab League, and continues for five days. It is the first forum to engage official representatives of the Arab countries, experts in the field of AIDS-fighting, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and activists of AIDS-fighting.

Dr. Sana' Flimban, Supervisor-General of the MOH's Program to Combat AIDS, stated that the forum is expected to be attended by: Dr. Ibrahim Al-Kerdani, an expert from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Hameed Reda, Regional Advisor to the UNAIDS. The two of them are going to submit a paper on the epidemiological situation of AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa. Also, the forum will be attended by Christine Stigling and Enrique Restoy, from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. They will take part in a workshop on the risk of the HIV, and the rights-based approach of AIDS-fighting, in addition to the inclusion of this approach in the strategic plans.

Among those expected to attend, also, is Dr. Al-Tayyeb Al-Amin, Regional Advisor to the UNAIDS. He will submit the chart sheet based on the components and results of the various plans. Also, Mr. Elie Aaraj, President of the Regional/Arab Network Against AIDS (RANAA), and Mr. Azooz Al-Toussi, member of RANAA, will outline the Partner Paper with non-governmental organizations, meant to foster and activate the AIDS-fighting throughout the Arab States.

Under the theme: “From Commitment to Implementation: An overview on the regional and international commitments and initiatives,” Mrs. Hend Al-Khatib, Regional Director of the UNAIDS, will brief on the outcomes of the Political Commitment 2011, and the other regional initiatives. In addition, Dr. Ziad Memish, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine in Saudi Arabia, is going to submit a paper entitled: “From the Gulf Initiative to the Arab Initiative for Combating AIDS.” On the other hand, Mrs. Jumana Hermes, from the Regional Office of WHO, is going to submit a paper on the regional strategy for activating the response of the health sector.

Among the attendants, also, will be the Goodwill Ambassador of the UNAIDS, and the Goodwill Ambassador of the UNICEF. Also, Mrs. Lina Nikanin, from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, will be presenting a discussion with the title: “The Inclusion of the Right-Based Approach in the Strategic Plans: Programs and activities”, in addition to a paper on the inclusion of rights and gender equality principles in the framework of the monitoring and evaluation activities, and another paper on the method of cost estimation, budgeting, rights and equality.