UNICEF Canada

Unite for Children, Unite Againsts AIDSJust over a year ago, UNICEF International launched its Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS campaign both to draw attention to the scale on which AIDS has redefined childhood for millions of children and to mobilize increased global support for HIV/AIDS programmes that serve children.  While there are positive signs of progress and momentum in the global response to children and AIDS and some countries have achieved breakthroughs, particularly in preventing HIV transmission from mothers to children and in providing treatment for children living with HIV/AIDS, children in the path of the AIDS pandemic continue to be vulnerable to illness, death, poverty and loss of opportunity.  This is why UNICEF Canada has made support of the Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS campaign top priority for the next five years (2007-2011).



Why AIDS?

The global AIDS epidemic is now over 25 years old.  In that time, HIV/AIDS has infected over 65 million people on every continent and killed more than 25 million.   Today, there are close to 40 million people in the world living with HIV - more than the entire population of Canada. In 2005, 4.1 million people were newly infected with HIV. At the same time, 2.8 million people died of AIDS. 

HIV/AIDS is the most far-reaching and damaging epidemic the world has ever seen. Within a single generation, it has grown into an individual and societal tragedy with huge implications for human security, for social and political stability and for economic development. Originally viewed as just another disease, HIV/AIDS has long since moved beyond the boundaries of the health system.

HIV/AIDS has left no country, rich or poor, untouched. Sub-Saharan Africa may be the hardest-hit region, but AIDS is not just and African problem. The epidemic knows no borders. It has spread to every region in the world and affects people regardless of age, gender, wealth, geography or sexual orientation. Curtailing the HIV/AIDS pandemic requires the involvement of the entire world.



Why Children?

Of the 40 million people living with HIV, 2.3 million are children under the age of 15. Of the 4.1 million people newly infected in 2005, 540,000 were children under the age of 15. During that time, of the 2.8 million people that died of AIDS, 380,000 were children under the age of 15. It is estimated that 50 per cent of all new HIV infections are among adolescents and young people aged 15-24.  Protecting children, adolescents and young adults from HIV/AIDS remains an urgent global priority.



Why UNICEF and AIDS?

UNICEF International’s Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS campaign is the largest campaign ever mounted to bring the world’s attention to the global impact of HIV/AIDS on children and young people. The campaign recognizes and addressed the special needs of children and young people. It also recognizes and addresses the needs of their caregivers.

The campaign maps out a response to the impact of AIDS on children with a scale that far exceeds anything to date. It addresses the impact of HIV/AIDS on children not only in hardest-hit sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Americas.

UNICEF is not just waking up to the issue now. The campaign does not mark a beginning of UNICEF’s work on behalf of children, but is an intensification and acceleration of its on going programmes and efforts to get children and youth the protection and support they need at local, national and international levels.



International Campaign Goals & Objectives

The global Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign’s goals are to:

  • Prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission
    By 2010-2011, offer appropriate services to 80 per cent of women in need.
  • Provide paediatric treatment
    By 2010-2011, provide either antiretroviral treatment or cotrimoxazole, or both, to 80 per cent of children in need.
  • Prevent infection among adolescents and young people
    By 2010-2011, reduce the percentage of young people living with HIV by 25 per cent globally.
  • Protect and support children affected by HIV/AIDS
    By 2010-2011, reach 80 per cent of children most in need.


UNICEF Canada Campaign Goals & Objectives

UNICEF Canada has set the following goals to help support these global objectives:

  • Fundraising & Marketing
    Raise a minimum of $25 million from Canadians by 2011 to help children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS through projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean.  This includes support from individuals, corporations, foundations and other organization partners. 
  • Advocacy
    Put the missing face of children affected by AIDS at the centre of the HIV/AIDS agenda to make sure that the voices of children and young people are heard on the issues that affect them and ensure a tangible impact on children affected and infected by AIDS.
  • Communications
    Ensure Canadians recognize that children are the missing face of AIDS so that when people think of AIDS they will think of millions of children growing up alone, children growing up too fast and children not growing up at all.

For more information visit the UNICEF website.