China's United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) are supporting the China HIV/AIDS Information Network (CHAIN) and other grassroots organizations to host a special online discussion forum "UNGASS and Civil Society Discussion Forum".

Along with the participation of China's government, five civil society delegates will be representing China's AIDS civil society at this meeting. The civil society groups representing China are Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education, Mangrove Support Group, Gaychinese.net/ICCGL, China Orchid AIDS Project and the Shenyang Aizhiyuanzhu Centre for Health and Education.

This unique forum will encourage discussions around various related topics including universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010, and provides information from UNAIDS on these issues translated into Chinese.

Due to many civil society organizations and vulnerable groups in China knowing little about the High Level Meeting on AIDS, the commitments under the UNGASS Declaration and the elements of the road map to Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support, this online forum aims to provide open access to related information and to enhance the understanding of domestic HIV and AIDS civil society organizations.

The UNGASS online discussion forum is open to all sectors' constructive feedback on the Declaration. It will continue to play a key role in proving civil society organizations and individual access to important issues of the Declaration, while encouraging continued discussion on such issues as Universal Access to HIV and AIDS prevention and care.

The 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS started yesterday and runs until tomorrow at the United Nations in New York. The meeting will be a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realizing the targets set out in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS - adopted by UN Member States in 2001 at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS.