The Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) hereby invites African countries wishing to host the next International Conference on HIV/AIDS and STIs in Africa in 2011 (ICASA 2011) to send in their application to the SAA Secretariat in Abuja on or before October 1, 2008.

ICASA 2011 would be the 16th International Conference on HIV/AIDS and STI to be organized by the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) since its inception.

Any African country is eligible to be considered to host ICASA. However, certain criteria must be fulfilled to qualify for selection.

The procedure for application is as follows:

STEP 1

Interested country should write a letter of intent to the SAA Secretariat backed up with detailed evidence of the following information:

a. Strong Government political will to host the conference.

b. Strong financial commitment of the government to the conference. (Usually not less than 20% of what the total cost would be.)

c. Availability of standard hotel to accommodate up to 5,000 participants as well as conference venue(s) with standard conference facilities.

d. Good transportation network within the country.

e. Good tele-communication network within country with links with other African countries and international communities.

f. Presence of cohorts of scientific leadership, civil societies, organized groups of PLHIV, private sectors, youth organizations oriented towards HIV/AIDS related activities.

g. Easy access by air and maybe by road where needed.

h. Recognizable presence of Government organ/body responsible for HIV/AIDS coordination in the country.

i. Good security network to protect participants’ safety.

j. Guaranty easy visa facilities and assistance to conference participants and no restriction to entry for PLHIV with valid visa.

k. Political stability.

l. No discriminatory government policies based on gender, HIV status and religion.

The detailed letter of intent backed up with evidence and/or statistics should reach the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) Secretariat either by email and attachments or sent by courier services to:

THE PRESIDENT
SOCIETY FOR AIDS IN AFRICA ,
PLOT 823, RALPH SHODEINDE STREET ,
CENTRAL BUSINESS AREA,
ABUJA,
NIGERIA.

STEP 2

(a) Submitted applications will be evaluated by Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) Council members whereby 2 countries will be provisionally selected, based on the criteria and submission.

(b) The selected countries will be visited by 2 – 3 Council members to assess the best country to host ICASA. The visitation will take place between October 10th and November 5th.

Please note:

i. All the process of selection will be concluded latest November 15, 2008.

ii. The selected country will be notified latest 20th November, 2008.

iii. The selected country will send a representative to ICASA 2008 in Dakar to make a presentation to the ICASA 2008 during the closing ceremony.

iv. An MOU will be signed between the selected country and Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) the custodian of ICASA.

SAA Council reserves the right to appoint the ICASA 2011 President/Chair and to revoke the hosting right of a country if there are reasonable doubts of ability to deliver.

Prof Femi Soyinka
SAA - President