University of Zambia Medical Library
World AIDS Campaign: 1997
Secretariat of the Campaign:
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Steering Committee: UNAIDS
UNAIDS Cosponsors:
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO),
World Health Organization (WHO),
The World Bank
Others:
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights of the
Harvard School of Public Health,
Children and AIDS International NGO Network,
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
PANOS
Vision Statement:
The ultimate vision of UNAIDS and its partners is towards a
world in which HIV transmission is substantially reduced,
adequate treatment, care and support are provided, and
where the vulnerability to the impact of HIV/AIDS on
children, their families and their communities is
significantly reduced.
Mission Statement:
Fewer children infected, fewer children affected, fewer
children who are vulnerable to the impact of HIV/AIDS, and
an increasing number of girls and boys who are protected in
a world that upholds their rights.
Guiding Principles:
The guiding principles for the 1997 World AIDS Campaign are
in line with those set forth in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the 1996-2000
UNAIDS Strategic Plan. These include the definition of a
child as a human being under 18 years of age.
Overall Aim of the Campaign:
Increased understanding of the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic and its global dimensions, with an emphasis on
promoting action and sound policies to prevent HIV
transmission and to minimize the epidemic’s impact on
children, their families and their communities.
Expected Outcome:
By the end of 1997, the following outcome is expected: Mobilisation of governmental organizations,
international organizations, NGOs, the media, the
corporate sector and communities to promote the aim
and objectives of the campaign, and to develop actions
and responses to meet them.
Objective 1:
Better understanding of the magnitude and diversity of the
impact of HIV/AIDS on children, their families and their
communities.
Messages :
- All children in the world face a lifetime of risk from
HIV infection.
- Every day, 1,000 children become infected with HIV.
Every day, these children compromise their future to a
preventable disease.
- If the spread of HIV is not contained, AIDS may
increase infant mortality by as much as 75% and
under-5 child mortality by more than 100% in the
regions most affected by the disease.
- Understanding the concerns and aspirations of children
is critical in influencing the future course of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic.
- 90% of HIV-positive children under the age of 15 are
infected through mother-to-child transmission.
Reducing HIV infection in infants means reducing
transmission of the virus to women.
- Over 9 million children are estimated to have lost
their mothers to AIDS. Many millions more are living
with an HIV-positive parent and face deprivation and
orphanhood in the years ahead.
- Reducing children’s vulnerability to HIV means
promoting their educational and income-generating
opportunities and those of their families, as well as
strengthening social safety nets.
- Young girls, children who live in poor neighbourhoods
or slum areas, refugee and displaced children,
institutionalized children, children facing hardship
and neglect, and sexually exploited children are
especially vulnerable to the impact of HIV/AIDS.
- In a world with AIDS, children are everyone’s
responsibility.
Expected Outcomes:
By the end of 1997, the following outcomes are expected for
Objective 1:
- Increased opportunities for children, their families
and their communities to communicate their concerns
and aspirations in relation to the impact of HIV/AIDS
on their lives.
- Stated commitment by governmental organizations,
international organizations, NGOs, the corporate
sector and communities to minimize the impact of
HIV/AIDS on the lives of children, their families and
their communities.
- Promotion of the campaign’s aim and objectives by key
media organizations, media networks and professionals
throughout its duration.
- Increased awareness of the issues relating to
prevention and care of HIV/AIDS in general terms.
Objective 2:
Stronger commitment, improved policies and increased action
for preventing HIV infection and minimizing the epidemic’s
impact on children, their families and their communities.
Messages :
- Nearly 1 million children are living with HIV and
suffer the physical and psychological consequences of
infection. In line with the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, all children living with
HIV/AIDS must have access to treatment, counselling,
education, recreation and social support, and be
protected against any form of discrimination.
- Greater efforts must be made worldwide to reduce
mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy,
child-birth and breastfeeding. This includes efforts
to prevent primary HIV infection among girls and
women.
- Because of HIV/AIDS, millions of children are already
experiencing the loss of their parents, educators,
health workers, community leaders and role models. To
increase opportunities for children, greater
encouragement and support must be given to their
families and communities in their prevention and care
efforts.
- Children in a world with AIDS are vulnerable but they
are not helpless. They are our best resource for
change. Governments, NGOs, religious and children’s
organizations need to listen to the voices of boys and
girls and to work together with them towards a safer
world.
- Reducing children’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS means
giving girls and boys access to timely and relevant
information; ensuring their access to adequate and
friendly services; strengthening social safety nets;
formulating policies which will enhance prevention
efforts; and developing programmes for prevention,
care and impact reduction.
Expected Outcomes:
By the end of 1997, the following outcomes are expected for
Objective 2:
- Increased opportunities for boys and girls, their
families and their communities to have their concerns
and aspirations heard and reflected in decisions
affecting their lives.
- Improved practices for data collection, research, and
documentation of best practice initiatives to
strengthen planning, policy and programme development
and implementation.
- Increased inter-sectoral collaboration to maximize
resources for prevention of HIV infection and to
minimize the epidemic’s impact on girls and boys,
their families and their communities.
- Increased availability of resources for the prevention
of HIV infection and minimization of the epidemic’s
impact on especially vulnerable girls and boys.
- Development of adequate policies to help minimize the
mother-to-child trans-mission of HIV in varied
settings.
Objective 3:
Increased and improved access to quality education and
relevant information on the prevention and care of HIV/AIDS
for children, their families, and their communities.
Messages :
- Children, their families and their communities will be
better protected from HIV if their rights are
respected, they are informed about what they can do to
prevent infection, and they are enabled to take
appropriate action.
- Children, their families and their communities can and
do save their own lives when they are informed and
empowered to make the right decisions.
Expected Outcomes:
By the end of 1997, the following outcomes are expected for
Objective 3:
- Increased access to accurate and up-to-date
information and quality education on the prevention
and care of HIV/AIDS for children, their families and
their communities.
- Broadening of prevention initiatives to include "life
skills" education programmes for children.
- Increased access to education and availability of
information on the prevention and care of HIV/AIDS for
especially vulnerable children, in both formal and
informal settings.
Objective 4:
Greater understanding of the interaction between children’s
rights, human rights, and HIV/AIDS.
Messages :
The protection and promotion of children’s rights
enhance HIV prevention and impact reduction:
- Children have a right to survival, protection and
development and thus must be protected from the
impact of HIV/AIDS.
- Children have a right to be heard and to have
their aspirations and needs reflected in
decisions affecting their future.
- Children have a right to be protected from
discrimination and exploitation, irrespective of
their HIV/AIDS status or that of members of their
families.
- Children have a right to access health and social
services on an equitable basis, irrespective of
their HIV/AIDS status or that of members of their
families.
- Sound and effective HIV prevention and impact
reduction concerning children will help illuminate the
significance of their rights.
- Children’s rights are human rights. By affirming their
rights, we help promote human rights for all.
Expected Outcomes:
By the end of 1997, the following outcomes are expected for
Objective 4:
- Increased promotion of the rights of the child by
media organizations, networks, and professionals.
- Increased opportunities for girls and boys and their
communities to communicate their concerns and
aspirations in regard to their rights.
- Increased opportunities for girls and boys to have
their concerns and aspirations reflected in decisions
affecting their rights.
- Increased action to ensure legal protection of the
rights of the child in the context of HIV/AIDS.
- Increased inclusion of human and children’s rights
issues in programmes/ initiatives for HIV prevention
and in those aimed at reducing the epidemic’s impact
on children, their families and their communities.
- Increased understanding of human and children’s rights
issues in HIV/AIDS programming and equivalent
understanding of HIV/AIDS issues in human and
children’s rights programming.
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Copyright © 1996-2001, The University of Zambia Medical Library and Lenny Rhine
Guide to Medical Resources WWW site: http://www.medguide.org.zm/
Last updated November 30, 1997
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