Dakar, Senegal — More than 1,500 delegates are converging on Addis Ababa this weekend to attend the African Development Forum 2000 that would focus on HIV/AIDS, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said in a statement.

The statement said the Forum will take place at the headquarters of the ECA from 3 to 7 December, under the theme 'AIDS - The Greatest Leadership Challenge'.

Organised by the ECA in conjunction with UNAIDS and its seven co-sponsors, UNDP, UNICEF, The World Bank and other partners, ADF 2000 has been designed to serve as a launching pad for a renewed commitment to more concerted action against HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Its objective is to generate the highest level of scientific, technological, traditional and intellectual leadership commitment possible, at all levels of society and the development community, towards addressing the pandemic and mitigating the devastating impact it has already registered on the continent.

Some 1,500 African leaders and policy makers, civil society organisations (including people living with HIV/AIDS and academia), young people, private sector and development partner representatives will seek to address concrete roles and responsibilities for leaders at all levels so as to galvanise an African-led response to the pandemic.

The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, will be among dignitaries attending the Forum.

Also scheduled to attend the Forum are Presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda.

Senegal's Prime Minister, Moustapha Niasse, and Malawi's Vice President, Justin Malewezi, will also attend. Prime Minister Nagoum Yomassoum of Chad arrived in Addis Ababa Friday for the even.

The programme of work consists of pre-Forum meetings, plenary sessions and additional special sessions where participants will meet with experts, participate in roundtables, debates, benefit from skills-building workshops and discuss the main theme, issues and background papers.

The core element of ADF 2000 is analysis of leadership roles in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

Events kick off Saturday with pre-forum meetings to clarify roles and priority issues and to prepare for the main Forum -- which opens on the afternoon of Sunday with statements from former South African President Nelson Mandela, Ethiopian President Negasso Gidada, a young person living with HIV/AIDS, and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Salim Ahmed Salim.

The pre-forum meetings are on Youth (UNICE/ECA), Civil Society (UNICEF/ECA), Leadership roles in access to care in Africa (WHO), and HIV/AIDS and the world of work (ILO).

A highlight of the week will be a Forum of Heads of State on 7 December, starting with a keynote address by the UN Secretary General.

At the Forum, Heads of State will each deliver statements sharing their unique perspectives in their respective battles against HIV/AIDS.

They will engage interactively in a dialogue with representatives from different constituencies that include leaders from the private sector, development partner agencies, and from civil society, mainly NGOs, the media, academia, and religious institutions.

The interaction is expected to promote local, national, Sub-regional and international partnerships.