Children's lives, children's rights are being compromised and devastated every day, all over the world by disease, and particularly by the AIDS pandemic. Over 4 million children have died from AIDS, and more than 13 million children have been orphaned.
But death is not the only blight. Millions more are suffering from the impact of the disease on their families and on their ravaged communities. Millions cannot get an education because of AIDS, millions go hungry because of AIDS, millions have had to go through the unimaginable emotional agony of nursing and burying their own parents, accompanied by the echo of their siblings' hunger.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calls on governments to make a commitment to take action now – to put the care and protection of children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS at the forefront of their policies, legislation and development plans. As signatories of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, governments have a responsibility to ensure that children's rights are not compromised. We are collaborating with all other players in society from governments, to local community leaders, to ensure essential care, protection and education for these children.
The Red Cross Red Crescent contribution to the AIDS response was explicitly acknowledged in the Declaration of Commitment at the United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. Last September, the Inter-Parliamentary Union recognized the contribution of the Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers in turning back the tide of HIV/AIDS. On 8 May, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, we and our partners UNAIDS, the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, and others, launched a global campaign to reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination.
Discrimination and stigma compound all the fears, distress and burdens which these children have to endure. Without openness it is difficult to mobilize communities to fight the pandemic. It is difficult for parents living in fear and denial to teach their children how to avoid the dangers of infection. Children themselves are often stigmatized when their parents are sick or have died as a result of AIDS.
We are mobilizing our network of 97 million volunteers. These volunteers are uniquely placed to advocate for community care for orphans and vulnerable children, to reach individuals and families, and to break the denial and stigma around HIV/AIDS. They are the community, they are the local opinion leaders, they are the voices of villages and towns.
To give some examples, our volunteers are involved in polio eradication campaigns in Africa and Asia. The work of our volunteers in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine focuses on children and young adults who were damaged physically and psychologically by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. In Nicaragua and El Salvador, young Red Cross volunteers are trained on first aid in order to provide sea rescue services. In Zimbabwe, our volunteers are assisting children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, to enable them to remain in their communities and receive vital education and support.
We firmly believe that the goals of the Global Action for Children agenda – of promoting healthy lives, providing quality education, protecting children from abuse, exploitation and violence, and combating HIV/AIDS – are achievable. The resources needed to reach these goals are affordable. Investing in children now is much less costly to society than allowing a whole generation to grow up uneducated, unhealthy and poor. Without education and assistance now, many of the orphans and vulnerable children will never see adulthood.
We cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the problem. By harnessing the leadership of your governments to the power of humanity of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, we can make a difference. But there is no time to lose – together we must act, and we must act now.
Related Links:
10 May 2002 - Children suffer heaviest burden in AIDS pandemic