The meeting, which lasted one day and a half, was divided into three main sessions. In the first session, participants offered their views and experiences on available response strategies to the challenge of orphans and vulnerable children after listening to three presentations on the topic. In the second session, participants discussed the dynamics of HIV/AIDS and gender after hearing to three inputs by experts in the field. In the third session, the participants divided themselves into three working groups to further examine specific facets of each thematic area: (i) HIV/AIDS and gender dynamics; (ii) HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children; and (iii) Gender and sexual violence. In each of the working groups, participants developed a set of specific recommendations, which they presented in the closing plenary.