To understand how we have "turned the tide" and to be ready to face new challenges of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Cambodia, KHANA organized a special conference to generate new ideas and share lessons leant from both national and international health policy makers and practitioners nationwide. The two-day event "Looking Back to Move Forward: Stakeholders Conference on the HIV/AIDS Response in Cambodia" was held on February 22-23 at Phnom Penh hotel.

Mr. Tony Lisle, UNAIDS Country Coordinator and Chair of KHANA Board of Directors said the conference aimed at learning "from other players to look beyond our normal sphere of influence and to seek to bring new and innovative actions to benefit the communities and individuals affected by HIV & AIDS". KHANA, he said, over the last five years has successful conducted the Frontier Prevention Progamme which supports the most vulnerable, marginalized and stigmatized groups such as MSM, Sex Workers, People Living with HIV, and Drug Users. "KHANA has helped bring the voices of these individuals and communities to the forefront and made the government realize that including key populations in our programming is essential to success," he added.

Echoing Tony, Mr. Jonathan Ross -- Deputy Director of the Office of Public Health of USAID in Cambodia -- said the conference really provides an important opportunity to stakeholders to "look back in order to move forward." As 2007 is the 10th anniversary of USAID's partnership with KHANA, he said, KHANA is still USAID's key implementing partner. "KHANA has grown into an independent Cambodian NGO which ensures HIV/AIDS programs are truly rooted in communities they serve," he said. Jonathan also affirmed that it's time, after 10-year partnership, to "consider what we want for Cambodia in another 10 years".

Cambodia has "turned the tide" - the HIV/AIDS epidemic is no longer growing. But now it is faced with new and different challenges: moving beyond meeting basic needs and think of "living, not only surviving; assuring that every program is well governed and accountable and that the Cambodian people have equal access to a range of opportunities to ensure their health and well-being.

Since its establishment in 1997 and with support from many donors: USAID, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Global Fund, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNFPA, JICA, EU , NZaid and WFP, and in close cooperation with its stakeholders, KHANA has been a major player in the response to HIV/AIDS and worked with over 100 NGO partners nationwide.

Dr. Oum Sopheap, KHANA Executive Director, said the main task of KHANA is focusing on home base care and prevention for vulnerable groups like PLHA, OVC, Sex Workers, Drug Users and MSM. Providing home based care and meeting people's socio-economic needs, he said, are the priority for people living with HIV/AIDS. He also shared KHANA's achievements and challenges in 2006 among which were the high numbers of people being reached and the great diversity of activities and services carried out.

Speaking in the opening remark, H.E. Prof. Eng Huot, Health Ministry Secretary of State, said Cambodia is one of only a few nations in the world that has successfully reduced its HIV/AIDS prevalence and KHANA is a "good example NGO" working closely with the government since 1997. "Through home based care, KHANA shows its close cooperation with the government in all levels -- from the national to the community levels -- which is able to increase the access to health service and support for people living with HIV/AIDS," he added.

The World Food Programme is also a key player in providing food support to HIV/AIDS affected households, orphans and vulnerable children through KHANA's home based care approach since 2003. As Ms. Coco Ushiyama, WFP Deputy Country Director, said WFP food serves as an important income transfer that allows poor families to cope with the crisis and to avoid harmful coping mechanisms such as selling productive assets and taking children out of school. Participants also agreed that food support is vital as integrated part of HIV/AIDS program because it improves ARV adherence, builds trust, encourages participation, improves school attendance, improves overall financial security, and has great benefit for overall health. The participants also expressed concern over food supply interruption and the need for sustainability. Everyone agreed that it is necessary to continue these discussions, to develop self-sustaining responses like home-gardening, and to mobilize other donors/ suppliers and private sector.

During the two-day conference, some 200 participants from GOs, NGOs and donors, including media, heard the progress and the plans such as good governance -- accountability in finance and management -- and good monitoring -- accountability in programs. During discussions in both plenary and breakout sessions, KHANA officials and other speakers from government institutions, donors and stakeholders presented good practices with strong M&E systems, income generating projects, economic and food security, and mainstreaming of HIV and development. The first-ever conference concluded that the stakeholders need to listen to what is happening at the communities and to collaborate with each other, including across sectors -- health, social, business, finance, and nutrition. It also indicated that the stakeholders' responses need to follow their visions and reach high desires so that they can bring hope to the communities.

Speaking in his closing remark, H.E. Dr. Mean Chi Vunn, Director of NCHADS, expressed his support for conference saying that the conference topic is really significant making GOs, NGOs and other stakeholders to "carefully look back in order to move forward in the right tract". He said that after the conference all institutions concerned must continue working together in a larger scale to fight against AIDS because "AIDS never forgets human. Only human forget AIDS".