Children and HIV and AIDS
Focus Areas
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| © UNICEF/ HQ04-0142/Furrer |
| Girls perform at UNICEF-supported centre in Kenya offering non-formal education for children living or working on the streets and those who have been orphaned or are otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. |
Everything UNICEF does is guided by the principles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognizes that children have the right to develop physically, mentally and socially to their fullest potential and to express opinions freely. The impact of HIV and AIDS on children and adolescents is one of UNICEF’s primary concerns because the epidemic is undermining so many of these basic child rights.
In 2005, in an effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals and other Global Commitments, UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners launched a five-year Global Campaign on Children and AIDS: Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS. The Global Campaign provides a framework for nationally owned AIDS programmes around the ‘Four Ps’- the urgent imperatives include:
- preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV;
- providing paediatric treatment;
- preventing infection among adolescents and young people; and
- protecting and supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS.
UNICEF plays an active lead role in preventing mother-to child transmission of HIV; providing paediatric treatment; protecting and supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS; as well as in procurement and supply management. UNICEF has a supporting role in preventing infection among adolescents and young people. Substantial progress in the four programmatic areas will make a real difference in the lives and life opportunities of children affected by AIDS.
