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Uganda to host 2004 East Africa Workshop on orphans

WHO:  Representatives of 9 East African countries will convene for a workshop on scaling up and strengthening national responses to the region’s Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) crisis.  The workshop has been organized by the Government of Uganda, with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), USAID and Family Health International.

WHAT: The five-day workshop will provide technical guidance to the participants and build their skills on ways to accelerate national responses to the crisis.  It will build upon three previous workshops held in Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.

WHEN: 19-23 April, 2004

WHERE: Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda

WHY:  Each of the nine countries participating in the meeting (Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) is working to address an unprecedented orphan crisis.  Following a series of pan-African meetings since 2000, consensus now exists that countries need to implement five, key actions in order accelerate their responses to the
crisis.  The five are as follows:

• Analysis of the situation of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, with a view to understanding the scope of the problem and the opportunities for a more engaged, stronger and wider response.
• Formulation and implementation of a national strategy and action plan.
• Establishment of national and sub-national coordination mechanisms for implementation of policies and programmes.
• Creation of an environment that ensures access to basic social services, non-discrimination, protection from exploitation and abuse, and protection of  children’s and women’s property and inheritance rights.
• Establishment of a system for monitoring and reporting on the situation of orphans and vulnerable children.

The Entebbe workshop will help national, multi-sectoral teams to comprehend the magnitude and urgency of the problem, and build their skills for implementing the five actions.

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For more information, please contact:
Chulho Hyun, UNICEF Media, Kampala 077 222347
Anne-Lydia Sekandi, UNICEF Media, Kampala 077 409016