Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish and Mr. Matsuura conclude
the agreement for the joint HIV/AIDS initiative in Asia.
The heads of the OPEC Fund for International Development and UNESCO today signed an agreement to launch a joint HIV/AIDS initiative in 12 Asian countries. The joint UNESCO/OPEC Fund project will receive a grant from the OPEC Fund of US$2,250,000. The project aims to reduce infection among young people by integrating prevention awareness into national education programs.
HIV/AIDS continues to claim lives around the globe. For developing countries, the pandemic represents a serious hindrance to socio-economic growth. In Asia, an estimated 8.2 million people were living with the virus by the end of 2004, including 1.2 million infected that year. "The latest trends are indeed worrisome and leave no room for complacency," said Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund. "We strongly believe that education has a key role to play in the prevention of HIV infection and mitigation of its impact," he added.
Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO said: "Education is a key element in preventing HIV and AIDS, one of the most daunting public health challenges in human history." Mr. Matsuura added "Through this joint initiative UNESCO, the OPEC Fund for International Development and national partners will support countries as they develop and scale-up comprehensive education sector responses to HIV and AIDS, with a focus on children and young people, especially those who are most vulnerable."
The two-year project seeks to develop and implement a generic program on HIV/AIDS prevention education that is simple and standardized, yet comprehensive and sensitive to the particulars of each country, as well as adaptable to each community. The targeted countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jordan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, China, Kazakhstan and Thailand. All share common obstacles in their fight against the pandemic: access to healthcare services is poor, there is limited or no reproductive health education in schools, and little exists in the way of easily understood information materials.
Activities to be carried out under the two-year project include: the development of advocacy materials for senior policy makers to help them devise appropriate strategies; the strengthening of national and local capacity to implement effective education programs; the promotion of HIV prevention education through the media; the strengthening of tools to measure the impact of prevention education; and the scaling up of HIV prevention education in schools.
The OPEC Fund is an active partner in the global battle against HIV/AIDS. In June 2001, the Fund established a Special Grant Account for HIV/AIDS operations with accumulated funds of US$35 million to co-finance projects with lead agencies, including UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). To date, over US$21 million has been committed in support of priority activities in 58 countries worldwide.
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, working since it was founded in 1945 to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science and culture. UNESCO's distinctive mix of competencies gives it an interdisciplinary organizational and technical capacity that is particularly suited to working on HIV/AIDS and education. It follows a strategy seeking to offer learning opportunities for all to develop the knowledge, skills, competencies, values and attitudes that will limit the transmission and impact of the pandemic, including through access to care and counseling and education for treatment.
This newest cooperation between the OPEC Fund and UNESCO will contribute to further strengthen the excellent partnership established between both institutions throughout the past two decades, while substantially boosting the level of financial commitments by the Fund to projects sponsored by UNESCO.