Stephen Lewis (1) (1937–)

One of the biggest accolades often put on George W. Bush’s US presidency is addressing the AIDS pandemic in Africa. That required an international effort, and Stephen Lewis, a former Canadian ambassador and UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, details how that effort fell short on many fronts. He calls out contradictions between the aims and implementation of US policy. In so doing, he exposes how both the US and the UN become embroiled with petty details instead of focusing on the big picture of saving lives.

This book was originally given in 2005 as a series of five lectures in one of Canada’s most prestigious university lecture series. Lewis explains how the UN set eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 to reach by 2015, but is falling woefully short. He provides a counter-narrative to the Bush administration’s stories of renewed success – something I suggest gave these lectures added notoriety in the mid-2000s.

Lewis clearly cares about the African situation. He details how the educations of children and lives of women are dramatically affected and how steps by the international community can directly impact these outcomes. He relates stories of how many families are run by grandparents because the parents have died from HIV/AIDS. Tragically, many families are run by the older children because older generations have died. This situation still plagues the continent, and human and national potentials are being limited.

Unfortunately, descriptions of this situation does not comprise the bulk of the lectures; rather, the complicated internal politics of the UN dominate Lewis’ discussion. I imagine that Lewis does not like this difficulty either and would rather talk about positive actions being done for Africa. However, this book degenerates into a case study in international dysfunction. Because I am not a part of that bureaucracy and only a general American citizen, I found some of the jostling to be difficult to follow. I imagine that in 2005, these facts were more important to bring to light, but to me, reading in 2021, this overbearing narrative simply seems petty and distracting.

To audiences involved in international humanitarian aid and in international diplomacy, this book chronicles important issues related to governmental policies about Africa. It captures some facts which make many leading international leaders of that era uncomfortable – especially the leaders of wealthy G8 economies. Neither individuals nor nations always live up to their highest portrayed ideals, and this case certainly prevails here. Sadly, millions continue to die and to remain in poverty despite the existence of some simple – but costly – solutions that could ameliorate 95% of the problem. To his credit, Lewis identified the specifics of these solutions in this book. Though I write 16 years hence, I’m not sure the situation has advanced that much further. For that reason and for the value of the human lives involved, Lewis’ lectures still deserve our consideration today.… (meer)

Almost 10 years after I acquired this book and heard Stephen Lewis speak I have read it. Yes, it's a little out of date but Lewis's ideas and thoughts are still relevant as HIV/AIDS is a major problem in Africa. In fact, with the COVID-19 virus rampant in Africa the situation is worsened. Lewis just posted a video highlighting the issues and pulling no punches about POTUS.

Just like when I heard Lewis speak, in this book, which is the text of his Massey Lectures given in 2005, he is impassioned, funny, and informative. There are five chapters: Context, Pandemic, Education, Women, Solutions. I found his chapter on Women particularly eloquent. Stephen Lewis is a feminist. At the time of the lectures the UN had no agency for women and one of Lewis's recommendations in the final chapter was that one needed to be formed. It took until 2011 but there is now UN Women (UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) just as Lewis envisioned. There has also been good progress on getting antiretroviral drugs into the hands of people in Africa with HIV/AIDS. (Of course the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has put that into jeopardy.) There is still lots of work to be done especially in terms of education and food security. Lewis is still involved with his aids-free-world website which I would urge people to check it out.

I mentioned that Lewis is funny which may seem strange given the gravity of the subject matter but sometimes it's just a turn of phrase that tweaks your funny bone like this one on page 94 where he is talking about a conference in Amman, Jordan:
"I actually attended that meeting and can vouch for the rhetorical flim-flam which attempted to make a cashmere throw out of a newt's tongue..."

Stephen Lewis is a great Canadian, a great humanitarian and and great speaker.… (meer)

In 2000, the United Nations laid out a series of eight goals meant to guide
humankind in the new century. Called the Millennium Development Goals, these
targets are to be met by 2015 and are to lay the foundation for a prosperous
future. In "Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis advances real solutions to help
societies across the globe achieve the Millennium Goals. Through lucid,
pragmatic explanations, he shows how dreams such as universal primary
education, a successful war against the AIDS pandemic, and environmental
sustainability, are within the grasp of humanity. For anyone interested in
forging a better world in the third millennium, "Race Against Time is powerful
testimony.… (meer)