Janina Pescinski (Egypt)
Hillsborough High School
UNICEF
Children and AIDS
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is devastating in Africa, and the more people it infects, the
more detrimental effects the virus has on society. Societies ravaged by the virus cannot be
productive, children cannot attend school because they have to care for family members, and
families cannot survive because they lose income generating members. Children are the
population most vulnerable to the effects of the disease. If a parent has HIV/AIDS, many times
children are given caretaking duties or are relied on to make up for lost income. However, when
children are busy supporting their family, they cannot pursue an education, and education has
proven one of the most effective ways to combat HIV/AIDS. While AIDS is not a curable
disease, it is preventable, and that is what the United Nations has to focus on. Through one of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the UN is attempting to halt and reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS by 2015, but to achieve this goal the support of the entire international community is
required.
Egypt is not as badly affected by AIDS as many African nations, but Egypt still
recognizes that it is an immense threat that must be prevented. UNICEF sponsors the Unite for
Children Unite Against AIDS campaign, which Egypt joined in December 2006. The media has
drawn attention to this campaign and to the issue of AIDS, with everyone from government
representatives to celebrities speaking out on combating AIDS. Egypt is working with many
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to raise AIDS awareness and to prevent its spread. The
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) started the first AIDS awareness
programs in Egypt in 1997, and now the programs in Egypt serve as a model to surrounding
nations. Experts were sent in by USAID to determine what the best solutions to prevent AIDS
would be in Egypt. Workshops were developed to educate people on the importance of testing
for AIDS, and testing centers were set up across the country. Similar pilot programs are being
implemented in other Middle Eastern countries, and they might prove effective in Africa as well.
While Egypt does not face an AIDS problem as serious as in many African nations, Egypt
recognizes the importance of dealing with this issue.
The topics of AIDS and education are highly related, especially with regard to children.
Egypt believes that improvement in one area cannot succeed without improvement in the other,
but there is no one comprehensive solution. Although the programs in Egypt have been
successful, they deal mostly with AIDS in the adult population, so other solutions must be found
to help children deal with the AIDS crisis. The first step is getting children to school so that they
can be educated about the virus and slow its spread, but in order for children to attend school
they must be relieved of their family responsibilities. Every African community functions
differently, so the best solution will be different for every nation. Some possible courses of
action are setting up group care facilities for AIDS patients during the day so that children are
free to attend school. If school feeding programs are implemented as rewards for good
attendance, the child is also relieved of their duties earning money to buy food for the family.
Education has proven the most successful way to slow the spread of AIDS in Africa, so the UN
must focus on implementing programs that relieve children of their responsibilities as caretakers
of family members with AIDS so that they can attend school. The UN has the power to achieve
the MDG of halting the spread of AIDS by 2015.