[Press Kit]

Call to Action 1 December 1999

Call to Action

1 December 1999

Call to Action
This call is a plea for communities, governments, civil society, the private sector and
international partners to vigorously address the plight of children who are affected by
AIDS epidemic. Urgent action to meet their needs and ensure the realization of their rights
is needed at three levels: family and community, government and global.
I. Family and community level

'Keep families and communities at the front line' by
empowering and supporting them to care for
orphans. Lessons from community initiatives over
the past 15 years point to the following actions as
essential:
* Foster active participation of the community,
including people living with HIV or AIDS, in
identifying and implementing actions to
strengthen community-based care and support
for orphans.
* Increase women's access to credit, incomegenerating activities and property, including
land, because the burden of care tends to fall on
poor women with few resources. In many cases,
such action will require changing laws and
policies regarding inheritance and property
ownership.
* Establish widespread confidential counselling
and voluntary testing for HIV. The benefits of
such counselling include prevention of motherto-child-transmission, promotion of the rights of
girls and women to make informed decisions and
realization of people's right to know their HIV
status.
* Target social assistance to all families in need,
not just those grappling with AIDS, as a way
of ensuring equity and discouraging
discrimination against orphans and others
affected by AIDS.
* Reduce demands on the labour of girls and
women: In many parts of Africa, for example,
improving access to water and fuel for heating
and cooking would free up more time for girls
and women, allowing more girls to obtain a basic
education, as is their right.

* Respond to the psychosocial needs of orphans
through counselling services for children and
families in need. School and home-based care
and services should ensure in particular that
children develop emotionally and intellectually
through play and other activities and that they
feel a sense of belonging to their communities.
* Encourage community leaders to protect the
legal rights of children and women, especially
those of widows and orphans. This will involve
changing harmful practices and customary laws
that are discriminatory or exploitative.
II. Government level
'Break the conspiracy of silence': The success of
governments will be measured by their ability to
prevent HIV and to enable families and
communities to cope with the effects of the
epidemic. Governments need to take action in three
key areas:
Advocacy and social mobilization
* Actively combat discrimination. Raise the
visibility of AIDS while combating the shame
and stigma associated with the disease.
* Raise public awareness of the nature of the
crisis and mobilize resources locally and
internationally.
* Encourage the full participation of
communities in all aspects of the response to
AIDS. Ensure that people living with HIV or
AIDS and those caring for them are involved at
every step - including planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Issued by UNAIDS, UNICEF and BLCA. i