On 22-23 March Minister of International Development Hilde F. Johnson will participate in a joint visit to Mozambique together with Executive Director of UNAIDS Peter Piot and prominent senior officials from Sweden, the United Kingdom and the World Bank.

In the course of the visit the delegation will have meetings with Mozambican authorities, the UN, donors and civil society representatives. The purpose is to co-ordinate aid and to align it more closely with partner countries’ priorities. The starting point of the discussions will be the organisation of HIV/AIDS-related efforts in Mozambique and the support provided for these efforts.

It is estimated that around 14 per cent of the population are HIV-positive. This puts Mozambique’s poorly developed health care system under severe strain. The discussions will address how efforts can best be co-ordinated in order to strengthen the authorities’ capacity to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The joint programme includes visits to organisations that assist people who are affected by HIV/AIDS, either directly by the disease or through having lost their primary breadwinners.

The visit is part of the follow-up on the recently adopted Paris declaration on aid effectiveness. The goal set out in the declaration is more effective aid, and harmonisation is one of the mainstays. The document has as many as 117 participating countries and organisations.

Press contact: Senior Adviser Cecilie Willoch, mobile phone 90 53 59 59