Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS

The Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS Campaign is based primarily on partnership. The campaign will highlight and support partnerships that work to advance action to protect, care for, support, and treat children, adolescents and young people affected by HIV/AIDS. One example of such an effort is The Organization of African First Ladies, whose "Treat Every Child as Your Own" campaign involves 40 African First Ladies representing every part of the continent and working at national and regional levels with global support. In short, the effort to encourage donation and the taking of action to help collaborative work continue is a cornerstone of this campaign.

In this spirit of partnership and participation, the campaign uses information and communication technology (ICT) - the Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS website - to provide a platform for experience sharing and advocacy among those involved in halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among children, adolescents and young people. Participants are focusing on global AIDS issues including:

• mobilising international resources to combat HIV/AIDS, with a specific emphasis on funds to protect, care for, support and provide treatment for children affected by the disease
• supporting corporations as they develop socially responsible policies and programmes for workers, their children and communities
• advocating for governments, donors and international and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work toward the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010
• supporting countries in accessing appropriate and affordable medicines, especially formulations and diagnostics adapted to the specific needs of children
• campaigning for education and health services to be strengthened, and for governments and agencies to work toward the elimination of user fees for primary education and, where appropriate, health-care services.

Specifically, the Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS website features information and campaigning resources designed to spur participation, such as fact sheets, publications and statistics, an e-newsletter, and various banners. For example, the "Make a Difference" section offers video clips of celebrities expressing support for the campaign, photo essays, and ideas for action. Citizens read that "The most important thing you can do is to alert people in your school, community and workplace to the fact that HIV/AIDS is not a disease that affects only adults, and that millions of children are adversely affected by the AIDS pandemic." They are encouraged to press local, national, and international leaders "not only to recognize the effect of HIV/AIDS on children but to also make sure that children have a prominent place in discussions about AIDS, and that addressing their specific needs are a part of any HIV/AIDS programmes and budgets."

As suggested by that call to action, the involvement of children and youth is a key strategy. A dedicated youth section of the website features an interactive game that explores real-life HIV/AIDS situations, screen savers, a chat/discussion forum, and a link to the video "People Are You Listening?" by Brooklyn rapper MAGZ - a hip hop call to action for children and AIDS. A list here called "9 Things You Can Do" offers links to ideas about how to "share your story", "interview three adults", "become a mentor", and the like. Youth participation was also highlighted centrally at the New York (October 25) campaign event; an "Adolescent and Young People HIV Prevention Roundtable" was held with young people from Namibia, Thailand, India, and Jamaica, with actress Alyssa Milano and MTV executive Bill Roedy participating.

The campaign is also using in-person, broad-scale events to get as many people involved, worldwide, as possible. The campaign launch is indicative of this approach. For instance, the campaign began with the projection of a message on a 3-story high, 160-foot-long live projection on the United Nations General Assembly building in New York; the message may be viewed in 3 languages by clicking here. The involvement of prominent personnel was key to the launch, which featured involvement at the UN Secretariat with Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan and other high-profile guests - featured live on the project website. Besides the events in New York City, the campaign is being launched across the globe; prime ministers and presidents, young people, international celebrities, senior officials from UNICEF, UNAIDS and other campaign partners will take part in press conferences, radio shows, soccer matches, gala events and tennis tournaments, an MTV Staying Alive concert in Manila, a branded bus trip in Swaziland, the Brazil + 6 initiative, and other high-profile events.

HIV/AIDS, Children, Youth.

Organisers intend "to alert the world to the fact that children are missing from the global AIDS agenda." They describe this programme as an effort to provide "a platform for urgent and sustained programs, advocacy and fundraising to limit the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and help halt the spread of the disease. Policymakers and the global public must become aware that AIDS not only affect adults, but is having a devastating affect on children throughout the world."

To give a sense of this impact, organisers offer the following statistics:

• Children under 15 account for one in six AIDS-related deaths, and one in seven new infections. A child under 15 dies of an AIDS-related illness every minute of every day, and a young person aged 15-24 contracts HIV every 15 seconds.
• Every day, over 6000 young people aged 15-24 are newly infected with HIV, there are almost 1,800 new paediatric infections, and 1,400 children under 15 die of AIDS-related illness.
• Globally, 15 million children have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS. By 2010, approximately 18 million children in sub-Saharan Africa alone will have lost at least one parent to AIDS.
• Currently, fewer than 10% of orphans and vulnerable children are receiving public support, fewer than 5% of HIV-positive children are receiving treatment, and under 10% of pregnant women have access to services to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.

Despite these figures, and the fact that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a focus of international concern for more than two decades, "the overwhelming majority of young people do not know how to avoid HIV/AIDS and do not have access to the information, skills and services needed to protect themselves....Children are missing from the minds of global policymakers, national governments, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions and public groups responding to the AIDS pandemic."