May 7. World AIDS Orphas Day

[Guest guest]

Every 15 seconds, AIDS kills a child's mother or

father. There are already more than 15 million orphans

around the world. May 7 is a day calling governments

and civil society to take action in caring for all

children affected and/or infected by HIV/AIDS.

WORLD AIDS ORPHANS' DAY (WAOD): FROM A MARCH TO A

MOVEMENT

MAY 7 COALITION JOINS NGOS AND INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATIONS

IN SUPPORT OF CHILDREN ORPHANED BY HIV/AIDS

For WAOD 2006, a coalition of organizations, including

Plan USA, NextAid, Global Tribe, African Regional

Youth Initiative (ARYI), Peer Education Program, and

partner agencies have joined forces to form the May 7

Coalition in order to mobilize non-governmental and

international organizations, women's organizations,

youth, and others to listen to and support children

orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS.

The activities of the May 7 Coalition include

child-lead forums, organizing " circles of friends "

across the U.S and Africa, rallies, drama

presentations, lobbying with mayors and government

officials, town hall meetings, hosting a gala with

international dignitaries in major cities, developing

interactive websites and media tools, and conducting

radio and television campaigns.

These activities, which will also link HIV/AIDS to

other issues such as poverty and access to education,

will take place around the world and last throughout

the year to ensure the sustainability of national and

international action to support orphaned and

vulnerable children. Coalition members will also be

present at the International AIDS Conference in

Toronto, Canada in August, 2006.

WAOD 2005 campaigned for increased access to primary

and secondary school education for children affected

by HIV/AIDS. WAOD 2006 will focus on mobilizing

resources to reach the objectives set out in the 2001

United Nations Declaration of Commitments on HIV/AIDS.

Specifically, FXB and the May 7 Coalition commit to

action at all levels across five continents. Working

with the Global Action for Children, FXB and the

coalition will (a) lobby for the most effective U.S.

and European government legislation for all orphans

and vulnerable children, ( attend and monitor

meetings during which governments give updates on the

realization of commitments made during the United

Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS

to stop the pandemic and care for those affected by

it, and © inform the international press on all

these issues. Media, businesses, entertainers,

governments and others have also lent their voices to

WAOD 2006, including actress Jane Fonda, who has

recorded an audio clip which will be aired globally on

English-speaking radios on May 7, 2006.

FXB and the May 7 Coalition welcome all interested

individuals and organizations/movements/groups

inspired to take action on behalf of children to join

the coalition by contacting Xavier, on behalf

of the FXB/ARYI Coordinators, at cxavier@....

BACKGROUND TO WORLD AIDS ORPHANS DAY

WAOD began as a march through Wall Street in New York

in May 2002. As part of its advocacy campaign,

Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Association (FXB) established

a Symbolic Global Safety Net to which more than two

million people worldwide added their names, each name

adding a stitch in the symbolic net to support

orphaned and vulnerable children. Each year, WAOD has

mobilized greater support from around the world. In

2004, Mayor R. Bloomberg of New York city

joined mayors of more than 40 U.S. cities,

representing more than 30 million people and 16 of the

largest U.S. cities, to declare May 7th World AIDS

Orphans' Day. Since then, mayors and government

leaders in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa

have lead efforts in calling attention to WAOD and

ultimately, all children affected and/or infected by

HIV/AIDS.

A striking feature of WAOD in 2005 was the

mobilization of children and youth in support of

orphaned and vulnerable children through the

organization of town hall meetings, videoconferences,

marches against discrimination, football matches,

dances and theatre performances. FXB-sponsored

" Anti-AIDS " clubs (40 with 1600 members) in Rwanda

organized a broad array of events including the

renovation of houses, and provision of material and

agricultural support, especially for child-headed

households. In parallel, more than 28,000 primary

school students and teachers from demonstrated against

the discrimination and stigmatisation of orphaned and

vulnerable children. Students also collected school

material, foodstuffs and clothes for more than 360

orphans.

Working with local youth groups, community-based NGOs

and local partnering organizations, the African

Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI), an organization

working with youth in each African country on

development issues, organized more than 40 town hall

meetings in major cities around the world to discuss

and build upon local responses in assisting children

orphaned or made vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Some

highlights of ARYI's activities in Kenya included

20,000 youth participating in town meetings in

Dawangware Township to address specific issues of

orphaned and vulnerable children, and 50,000 children

and women's groups marched in Nairobi against stigma

and discrimination. In addition, primary school

teachers in Nairobi lead a five kilometre walk with

other teachers and children in support of children

affected by HIV/AIDS.

Global Tribe, a U.S.-based youth organization, hosted

an international video conference with more than 150

youth in Los Angeles, London, and Johannesburg

enabling them to share ideas to develop joint media

projects on HIV/AIDS. The videoconference marked the

beginning of a year-long fundraising and action

campaign among youth chapters of Global Tribe.

Xavier,

FXB/ARYI Coordinators

E-mail: cxavier@...