ATLANTA'S MAYOR AND LESOTHO'S YOUNGEST AIDS VICTIMS

UNCLAS MASERU 000225

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RANGOON FOR W. PATRICK MURPHY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KOCI KHIV OEXC OVIP PREL SOCI PGOV SCUL PHUM LT
SUBJECT: ATLANTA'S MAYOR AND LESOTHO'S YOUNGEST AIDS VICTIMS



1. SUMMARY
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Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin visited Lesotho from 10 April -
13 April 2006 as a guest of CARE International. Ambassador June
Carter Perry met with the Mayor on three separate occasions, an
introductory meeting with the Ambassador in the Chancery,
celebrations at a USAID and Center for Disease Control (CDC)
funded orphans and vulnerable children's (OVC) project site and
at a high level lunch. In attendance at the lunch were the
Lesotho Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Local Government,
Gender Youth Sports and Recreation, Natural Resources, Tourism
Environment and Culture and the Mayor of Maseru. Mayor Franklin
identified a number of challenges that Atlanta and Lesotho
share, including water management, providing education, and
HIV/AIDS. In discussions with the Ambassador, she also
identified some potential assistance that citizens of Atlanta
may be interested in supporting. END SUMMARY


2. Mayor Franklin highlighted Atlanta's importance as the home
of CARE International and CDC and pointed out that Atlanta has
one of the highest HIV positive populations in the U.S. She
works closely with Morehouse and Emory Universities to develop
Atlanta's ability to fight this epidemic. Atlanta's work in
decentralization of medical services headed by Former Surgeon
General Dr. David Satcher and presently Director of the National
Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine may
prove especially instructive. The Mayor and Ambassador agreed
that Atlanta's experience could be used to help address
Lesotho's own problems through training and outreach. Also, he
Mayor is an alumna of Howard University, where the Ambassador
was Diplomat in Residence (2002) and was open to helping Lesotho
develop a relationship with this premier institution's hospital
and medical departments.


3. During discussions with the Ministers of Finance and Foreign
Affairs, the Mayor emphasized her involvement in Atlanta's need
for better water management to meet the growing population (five
million). Like Atlanta, Lesotho is developing its
infrastructure to manage water. The Minister and Mayor agreed
that information sharing on this vital issue would help both
governments.


4. The Mayor also shared with the ministers Atlanta's success
with accelerated condensed education initiatives. Atlanta is
training young people to be skilled workers in the fields of
medicine (pharmacists, chemists, health care providers),
plumbing, electronics, firefighting, and police officers in
shortened certificate courses. Atlanta's program has provided
young unemployed residents access to jobs and skills. Many of
these young people have been able to take their training and
pursue further education. The Mayor said Atlanta's initiative
presents a model, which could be transferred to Lesotho and help
tackle Lesotho's high unemployment rate and lack of skilled
workers. The Mayor said one of the greatest advantages from a
management point of view from these accelerated condensed
courses was the ability to serve more people without increasing
the budget -- in other words, stretching a limited education
budget to serve more people.


5. The Ambassador and Mayor discussed Atlanta civil society's
potential assistance to Lesotho's OVC. Civic organizations in
Atlanta are already supporting orphanages in South Africa. It
is hoped this support can be extended to the approximately
200,000 OVCs in Lesotho. The Links Incorporated (An
organization of mostly African American women with approximately
270 chapters predominantly in the U.S. was founded to address
concerns arising from the immediate post-World War II era. The
corporate entity works to create, as per its name, links of
assistance and friendship. There are over five The Links Inc.
organizations in the Atlanta metro area.) were raised as a
potential source of assistance. The Mayor suggested Atlanta's
International Leadership Institute might also assist.


6. Comment: Due to flight routes, a large number of visitors
from Lesotho to the United States pass through Atlanta. Volvis
or Atlanta-hosted excursions for ECA-sponsored visitors and
others would, at no significant extra cost, provide an
opportunity to observe first hand Atlanta's initiatives to
address problems similar to those in Lesotho. Furthermore,
networking with Atlanta's government will reinforce USG MPP
goals in Lesotho of decentralizing government, democratic
practices, global health and economic development and growth.
Preliminary discussions with the Mayor's staff suggest Atlanta
would be interested in pursuing a closer relationship.

PERRY