PRESS RELEASE ON WORLD AIDS DAY 1 DECEMBER 2005
“STOP AIDS. KEEP THE PROMISE.”
DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, would like to join the world in the commemoration of World AIDS Day on the 1 December 2005.
The theme for the World AIDS Campaign 2005 is to “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise”. It aims to hold world leaders accountable for their promises and commitments, particularly those made at the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV and AIDS in 2001. These included commitments to increase the number of young people with access to information about the virus and to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with it. An essential tenet of Vision 2016 is the creation of an educated and informed nation. According to statistics recently released by UNAIDS, over 3 million people in Sub Saharan Africa have been newly infected with the virus. Botswana continues to have one of the highest infection rates in the world. The aims set out at the 2001 UN Assembly are now more urgent than ever.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to pose a major threat to the continued development of human rights in Botswana . Negative public perceptions, stigma and discrimination attached to the disease often mean that many still suffer in silence. The impact on the generations of children orphaned by the epidemic, many of whom are forced into acute vulnerability as they become heads of their households , has led to an urgent need for education about their rights and responsibility in order to avoid their sexual and legal exploitation. DITSHWANELO continues to call for protection of orphans against their disinheritance and the dissemination of information concerning the importance of making written wills. The needs of the elderly, many of whom are living in poverty and are primary caregivers for grandchildren orphaned by AIDS, must also be a national focus in the years to come, particularly given the vision of Botswana as a compassionate, just and caring nation by the year 2016.
Whilst every effort has been made to increase the provision of ARVs in Botswana, given the increasing rate and devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, far greater and more effective HIV/AIDS prevention efforts are now needed. Despite Government initiatives at public education, there has been little evidence of the required behavioural change in Botswana . It has been reported by UNAIDS that in Kenya for example, changes in behaviour such as increased condom use, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners have resulted in a significant decrease in infection rates.
DITSHWANELO encourages Botswana ’s policy makers to ensure that the laws of Botswana are reformed to reflect the fundamental principle of non-discrimination. We call upon the government and communities to turn concern and commitment into effective and sustainable action to ensure universal access to information to empower our youth to make responsible choices for themselves.
29 November 2005
Gaborone |
