[Press Kit]

watch their parents die but often nurse
them through a long period of wasting
disease, which may include incontinence, depression and dementia. A
child's grief and depression are often
hidden and remain unrecognized.
Where possible, emotional support
through individual and family counselling should be given to children as
well as to their families before the
parents' death. Parents with HIV or
AIDS must also be helped to come
to terms with their approaching death
and to plan for their children's welfare.

Assistance to families prior to parents'
death should also encompass practical
help for the household in such areas as
nursing care, food production and
preparation, and upkeep of the home.
This psychosocial support needs
to be accompanied by assistance for
education and training in incomegenerating skills, both of which foster
self-reliance. Such assistance may
go directly to families and children
or to non-formal or alternative
education programmes benefiting
part-time students.

II. What can the global community do?

Improved access to quality education
and information about sexual and
reproductive health should be a
priority. Life skills, such as those
taught in Zambia's Chikankata programme, are a particularly important
part of this effort. Children, especially
those orphaned by AIDS, need
skills that will help them avoid being
exploited sexually or legally. Such
skills, which should be culturally
sensitive and appropriate to the children's age and maturity, include:
* How to make sound decisions about
relationships and sexual intercourse.
* How to resist pressure for unwanted
sex or drugs.
* How to recognize and avoid or
leave a situation that might turn
risky or violent.

* How and where to ask for support
and obtain access to youth-friendly
health services.
* How to negotiate for safer sex,
including protected sex.
* How to obtain information, advice
and assistance regarding human
rights, including legal rights such
as inheritance.
* How to care for people with AIDS
in the family and community.
A global response to AIDS needs
to reinforce the entire spectrum of
children's rights and help change
the underlying conditions of underdevelopment, poverty and rural/urban
inequities that so severely limit the ability of people and nations to cope with
problems and develop their potential.