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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
USAID and Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Link To Help Children and Orphans Threatened by HIV/AIDS
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 14, 2000Contact: USAID Press Office
DURBAN -- On the last morning of the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) announced a $5 million partnership to mobilize community support for children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
As a result of this new funding, orphans and vulnerable children will receive special assistance through a three-to-five year project aimed at strengthening family and community-based care as vital weapons to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Parents and care-givers will get help to develop income-generating activities aimed at keeping their families together while coping with financial strains associated with the illness.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela and NMCF founder said, "AIDS is a problem beyond the capacity of any one community or any one province to solve on its own, or even any one nation alone." Mandela expressed concern that young people are at the heart of South Africa's future, yet are most at risk. He stressed, "We rely on their capacity for vision and on the courage that has been shown by people living with HIV/AIDS to give our nation the lead it needs to rise to this challenge. Let us care for those living with HIV/AIDS and the orphans, and give them support, with love and compassion."
Highlighted during the XIII International AIDS Conference was the staggering susceptibility to HIV/AIDS faced by women and children. USAID released a study finding that by 2010 at least 68 percent of the 44 million orphans in the world will have lost a parent to AIDS. The orphan crisis is most acute in sub-Saharan Africa.
Without specific targeted assistance to these groups most at-risk from the pandemic, children could be forced to curtail childhood activities such as school to take care of sick relatives. Family resources are also being stretched to exhaustion as increased medical expenses and lack of income from lost jobs or inability to work outside the home take a dangerous toll.
Ms. Sandra Thurman, Director of The White House Office on National AIDS Policy, said at the grant signing ceremony, "With this project, USAID connects the hearts of the American people with South Africans through the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. The U.S. support of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund microfinance program underscores the fact that AIDS is not just a health issue, but a fundamental development and economic issue as well."
The United States Agency for International Development is the U.S. government agency that provides humanitarian and development assistance worldwide.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
