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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 260, 18 November 2005
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
SWAZILAND: Country's first urban OVC care centre rising to the needs
ZIMBABWE: AIDS orphans and vulnerable children bear the brunt of collapsing economy
MOZAMBIQUE: New campaign brings hope of a better future to OVC
CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
SWAZILAND: Country's first urban OVC care centre rising to the needs
Gigi's Place is an unlikely name for Swaziland's first urban community care centre for orphans and vulnerable children, but it has put down roots in the gritty community it serves and celebrated its second anniversary at the weekend.
"I apologise for naming Gigi's Place after myself," said Gigi Nkosi, a fashion doyen and socialite who founded the centre, "but I am capitalising on my 'celebrity status' here in Swaziland to attract donors. We are entirely donor funded, and the corporations have been supportive."
The centre in the KaKhoza informal settlement outside the commercial hub of Manzini provides meals, clothing and shelter to about 100 children every day and has attracted the interest of health and social welfare agencies.
More details
ZIMBABWE: AIDS orphans and vulnerable children bear the brunt of collapsing economy
She's a sex worker, but not many passers-by would suspect that the slight figure standing in a narrow street opposite a nightclub in Zimbabwe's gold mining town of Kwekwe is also a university student.
Tracy Bunjwali, a second-year business studies scholar and part-time prostitute, says her biggest fear is that she might bump into somebody she knows while out on the streets waiting to be taken to a nearby hotel-cum-brothel.
She has little choice, she says. Orphaned during the last term of high school two years ago, the 23-year-old has to support a brother and sister still at school.
Despite a government-run education assistance programme for vulnerable children and those orphaned by AIDS, the grant falls well short of needs in a country weighed down by triple-digit inflation.
More details
MOZAMBIQUE: New campaign brings hope of a better future to OVC
Now that the hype surrounding this month's launch of a global campaign on HIV/AIDS and children by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNAIDS has subsided, Mozambique has started implementing the initiative that will benefit thousands of children affected by the pandemic.
Government officials, the UN system and civil society organisations are working together, planning how to scale up activities to address four priorities in 2006: prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; paediatric treatment; prevention of new infections; protection and support for orphaned and vulnerable children.
Although these activities have been in place for some time, the results have been poor.
More details
[ENDS]
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AIDS Media Center
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The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria
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International HIV/AIDS Alliance
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