Children and HIV and AIDS

© UNICEF2008/Senegal/Blouin

In Dakar, Senegal, UNICEF Special Ambassador Princess Mathilde from Belgium and former UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot discuss sexual behaviour and HIV risk with young people at the 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa.

Over twenty-five years into the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, the children in its path remain at grave risk. In 2007, it was estimated that 2.1 million children under 15 years old were living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and 290,000 children died of AIDS and 420,000 children were newly infected. Over 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been made vulnerable. Children affected by HIV and AIDS may experience poverty, homelessness, school drop-out, discrimination, loss of life opportunity, and early death.

The current HIV epidemic and its impact on children continues to be at the core of UNICEF’s work all over the world as one of our key priorities in the current Medium-Term Strategic Plan for 2006-2009. In October 2005, UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners launched Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS to draw the world’s attention to children as the missing face of AIDS. The goals of the campaign are congruent with UNICEF’s corporate priorities and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially MDG 6: to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. The publication 'Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report' released in December 2008, is a yearly report that reviews progress on how AIDS affects children and young people.

UNICEF seeks to make a difference in the lives of children affected by HIV and AIDS in four priority areas known as the ‘Four Ps’: (1) preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; (2) providing paediatric treatment; (3) preventing infection among adolescents and young people; and (4) protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS.

UNICEF activities also encompass others areas, such as providing support to children affected by AIDS in emergency settings, which force people to flee their homes, interrupt education, break down communication systems, destroy health care facilities, divert political attention from HIV and AIDS and often precipitate an increase in sexual violence. Other contributions include collective work on behalf of children in the areas of communication, resource mobilization, advocacy, partnership-building and supply management.

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