18 August 2006

Charity website shows highlights of four-continent video dialogue between activists in the developing world and international AIDS conference

Video clips newly added to ActionAid’s website show what happened when the international development charity enabled activists and community groups in five countries to talk online to delegates attending the world’s biggest conference on HIV & AIDS, which was held this week in Toronto, Canada.

The first clip runs for eight minutes and includes the moment when the Indian health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, faced ActionAid’s webcam for an impromptu talk with people living with HIV & AIDS 12,000km (8,000 miles) away in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

Further video clips will be added, showing highlights from link-ups with Nepal, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Honduras. The purpose of the ‘advo-casts’ was to give a platform to people who cannot easily attend international conferences – people living with HIV, women’s organisations, and the communities ActionAid works with in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

ActionAid used existing computers and projectors and free Skype software. It invested less than £2,000 in new equipment including professional-standard webcams, microphones, speakers, cables and, the most expensive single item, a Bosch multichannel digital video recorder normally used in the security industry.

Simon Wright, head of ActionAid’s UK Aids campaign, said: "It was very successful. The discussions were incredibly varied. It was a real learning experience for participants in the conference, and a very exciting meeting of cultures."