|
|
Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:56 |
Millions of SMS have been sent as part of a global campaign by UNICEF to raise awareness of the enormous impact of HIV/AIDS on children around the world
The launch of Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS took place on 25 October 2005 in 50 countries around the world and in two countries SMS has been used to back up the poster campaign.
The global campaign aims to achieve measurable progress for children based on internationally agreed goals in four key result areas: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission; Pediatric treatment; Prevention; and Protection and support of children affected by AIDS.
Uzbekistan
Nearly a million cell-phone subscribers in Tashkent received an intriguing ‘wake-up call’ on 25th October through an SMS message to launch the campaign in Uzbekistan.
The message asked “Why are so many young people contracting HIV?â€
Each SMS message had a link to the UNICEF website where everyone interested was able find more detailed information about the campaign.
The campaign was jointly launched by UNICEF and the KAMOLOT Youth Movement, and the popular singer Sevara Nazarkhan (pictured) attended the launch of the campaign in Tashkent.
Nigeria
Cellphone provider MTN arranged for an SMS message to be sent to all 9 million subscribers in Nigeria. The message read, in part:
“You can stop AIDS from destroying our children and leaving millions of orphans in Nigeria. UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS.â€
Describing the significance of the campaign for Nigeria, UNICEF Representative Ayalew Abai said: “Nigeria now has the third largest population of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Five per cent of Nigerians are HIV positive. With the current population growth rate, the potential devastation to this country without effective action will be enormous. There are already 1.8 million children orphaned by AIDS in Nigeria.â€
UNICEF said that children affected by the disease are the “missing face†of AIDS – missing not only from global and national policy discussions on HIV/AIDS, but also lacking access to even the most basic care and prevention services. Millions of children are missing parents, siblings, schooling, health care, basic protection and many of the other fundamentals of childhood because of the toll the disease is taking, the two UN institutions said.
More about the campaign and how you can support it here:
www.unicef.org/uniteforchildren
|
