[Press Kit]

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than the annual budget of a small
hospital in Western Europe. Barely a
tenth of that sum comes from national
budgets in the region. And even more
resources will be required if small initiatives are to be taken to larger scale.
Under the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, States have a duty

to act in the best interests of children
when allocating the resources available in the society, no matter how
small the total amounts. The State
must also demonstrate good faith
by being able to show that actions
have been taken to give children the
priority they deserve.

1. What can individual countries do to help affected children?

There are no quick fixes to any of the
challenges brought on by AIDS, and
problems associated with the large
numbers of orphans are no exception.
First and foremost, national governments have a responsibility to create
an environment where children can
realize their rights, including those to
survival and development, to the
highest attainable standards of health,
to education and to protection from
abuse and neglect. There are a number of measures that governments can
take to protect the rights of children
and women in the AIDS crisis:

A forthright commitment at the
highest political level is a first and
vital step in dealing effectively with
the AIDS crisis. Uganda set an example of this commitment in the 1980s

Government commitment to
AIDS education and prevention efforts for young people
is crucial. Here, a Durundian
girl in a Dujumbura primary
school holds up a t-shirt that
reads "We are taught and
we teach AIDS prevention."

1. Mobilize political will and
reallocate national resources

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