For children and youth

For children and youth

Features

Features

Games and Quizzes

Games and Quizzes

ICDB

ICDB

Football Fever!

Football Fever!

Know your rights

Know your rights

 

Iranian children support the Global AIDS Campaign

© UNICEF Iran

Girls from Hazrat-e Zahra primary school in Tehran make bracelets for the Global Campaign.

Concentrating hard, 10 year old Zahra Rastegari, twists 8 strands of cotton thread in and out and round and round. Every now and again, she sits up and inspects her handiwork. The red and blue bracelet she is making is slowly taking shape and soon it will be long enough to tie on someone’s wrist.

Zahra is one of dozens of children in Iran who is helping UNICEF launch the Global Campaign on Children and AIDS. By making simple bracelets made out of red and blue cotton – red for AIDS and blue for children, they are hoping to raise awareness amongst their school friends and families about children affected and infected by the HIV/AIDS virus.

“Making the bracelet was hard because I wanted to learn it so well in order to be able to teach it to my friends at school” said Zahra. “I will tell them that red is the colour for AIDS while blue is the colour for children, all together meaning that children should be protected against AIDS".

I will tell them that red is the colour for AIDS while blue is the colour for children, all together meaning that children should be protected against AIDS

The Unite for Children, Unite Against Aids campaign is intended to bring together UNICEF and its partners in every region of the world around a common goal: to protect, care for and support children affected by HIV/AIDS. Over the next five years, the campaign will mobilize action and resources to reduce primary infections, increase interventions for the prevention of mother to child transmission, make paediatric AIDS drugs and treatment available to children and provide care and protection for children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Negar Bourghani, also 10 years old, expects people will be curious about the bracelet.

 “I will explain that the bracelet means we should take care of each other by being more aware of the disease,” she said.

Every week children from schools all over Tehran come to UNICEF offices to learn about the organization and children’s rights. They watch presentations, a video and take part in discussions on subjects related to UNICEF programmes. This includes a brief presentation on the Global Campaign on Children and AIDS and how people in Iran can help stop the spread of the disease. If you would like your school to get involved, please contact the Information Resource Centre.

UNICEF will launch the Global Campaign on Children and AIDS in Iran on December 1st to coincide with World Aids Day. Please visit the UNICEF website regularly to find out the latest news and information.