Street children and AIDS: a hidden time bombCharumathi Supraja http://www.morungexpress.com/columnists/31566.html No one knows how many street children are at risk of contracting, or have died of, HIV/AIDS. They are not even listed as a vulnerable group, like commercial sex workers and homosexuals. Yet the sexual exploitation and drug abuse that is an inevitable part of their lives, points to a serious problem in urgent need of attention, says Charumathi Supraja.Geetha (14), Dara (9) and Raju (16) live under an unused bus shelter in Bangalore. They share food, habits, 'solution' (a substance they are addicted to) and attitudes to life. Geetha's biological mother is the only adult their gang has regular contact with. She pimps, begs and sells sex for a living. The children pick plastic scrap and papers thrown around the bus stand for a living; some of them indulge in petty thefts and some sell sexual favours.All of them know about and have resided for different lengths of t...

*REMINDER* Deadline August 31, 2009 Apologies for cross postings and please share widely!The UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation is currently recruiting new members! PCB NGO Delegates represent the perspectives of civil society, including people living with HIV, within UNAIDS policies and programming. NGO delegates actively seek input from their respective communities on key issues related to UNAIDS policies and programs, and advocate with members states (governments) and cosponsoring organisations (the United Nations organisations that make up the UNAIDS ‘family’) for meaningful improvements in the implementation and evaluation of AIDS policies and programmes.Which seats on the NGO Delegation are open?The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB has vacancies for two-year terms beginning 1 January 2010, and ending 31 December 2011, for the following positions:Europe Main Delegate Europe Alternate Delegate Latin America and the Caribbean Alternate DelegateAfrica Alternate DelegateAsia Alternate Delegate...

[On HealthDev.net]: The issues of children infected and affected byHIV/AIDS have long been neglected. Promises and commitments to supportand care for children have always remained in the paper. Turning theminto action seems to be difficult for governments and stakeholders. Weall know that children are the vital assets of our society; they arethe one who can bring glory and pride to our society in the future.Neglecting their issues will have a long term negative impact in allaspect of lives. Equal priority needs to be given to both affected andnon affected children because both are equal in the eyes of the lawand creating a bias between them will be an injustice, especially foraffected children. Over twenty-five years into the acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS) epidemic, the children in its path remain at grave risk. In2007, it was estimated that 2.1 million children less than 15 yearsold were living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 290,000children died of AIDS and 42...

“No programs and policies for youth without youth at the table” Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Asia the Pacific Day Brief: 10th August, 2009 The days start with discussion on Community Dialogue Space of Asia Pacific Village. Youth Open Dialogue with Salman Ahmad; International UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador and James Chau; National UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for China: Young people discuss with the Ambassadors about youth involvement and express their concern about process and status of young people in UNAIDS programs, program planning to monitoring regardless the constituencies of young persons. Young people internationally commend the incredible efforts of UNAIDS and other agencies for endorsing young people’s participation in various international forum. We urge them now to support us as equal partners at national and local policy forum. Youth-Adult Commitment Desk at Youth Corner: Representative from several organizations like UNFAP, UNAIDS visit the c...