WHO: At the urging of Nelson Mandela and Graça
Machel, more than 30 key players in the fight against
HIV/AIDS are convening for an urgent consultation on
the crisis of the millions of children orphaned and
made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. The consultation is being
held with the support of Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary-General's
Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa. UNICEF and UNAIDS
are sponsoring the meeting.
Participants include: Joy Phumaphi, Minister
of Health, Botswana; Dr. Awa Coll-Sek, Minister of Health,
Senegal; Jeanette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda; Femi
Kuti and Angelique Kidjo activist entertainers and musicians;
Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape Town, South
Africa; Allan Rosenfield, Dean, Mailman School of Public
Health, Columbia University; and Carol Bellamy, Executive
Director, UNICEF.
WHAT: A closed-session meeting followed by a
press conference.
WHEN: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
9:00 - 5:00 p.m. Consultation
5:00 - 5:45 p.m. Press Conference
WHERE: The Sandton Sun and Towers InterContinental
Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa
Syringa Room
WHY: The consultation is being convened to develop
priorities for a scaled-up emergency response to the
burgeoning population of children and young people orphaned
and affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Participants will
propose specific actions that must be taken within the
next 12 months to mobilize the leadership, partnerships
and resources needed to deliver on the promises made
by world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on HIV/AIDS. Today, more than 13 million
children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents
to AIDS. 11 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.
