Fikremariam Tesfaye
2 December 2008
Addis Ababa — Children urged the government and organizations working on children in Ethiopia to effect plans for child rights and implement actions to protect all children affected by HIV and AIDS from all forms of abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, and loss of inheritance.
Marking the World AIDS Day 2008 at the National Theatre on Saturday, the children also highlighted the positive role they can and should play in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country.
Children's ability to dialogue intensely about rights to services and participation in programs is revealing evidence of the potential leadership role children can play in HIV prevention and in the promotion of care and support, Getahun, a Child Spokesperson from SNNPR said.
This year's annual day commemorated globally with the theme "Lead - Empower - Deliver" was held here with a series of consultation sessions jointly hosted by organizations working on children that include Positive Change, Children Communities and Care (PC3), Save the Children, CARE, FHI, World Learning, and World Vision.
Getahun said Ethiopian children were leading by example through demonstrating leadership in HIV prevention efforts and in providing care and support to Orphans and Vulnerable children (OVC), adding.
"How can we have programs designed for us without our participation?" , he said.
He is one of 105 children from 7 regions who recently met in Addis Ababa, Gondar and Oromia to deliberate on the 2003 - 2010 National Plan of Action (NPA) children developed by the Ministry of Women Affairs with a goal to undertake several activities that promote care and support for OVC and recognize the significant role children play in this regard.
Naming their consultation "A Call for Action", the children discussed on how to increase awareness of the messages in the NPA and to advocate for appropriate actions required to address the major concerns for children as outlined in the plan.
The deliberations aimed at assisting the children in identifying the priority concerns they would like to address themselves or in partnership with OVC actors over the next two years, said Samson Radeny, the Chief of Party for the PC3 program.
"I hold firmly the premise that child participation ought to be a mandatory consideration in development programs, particularly those that seek to advance their cause," he said.
Children who are impacted by HIV and AIDS continue to be victims of discrimination, stigma, various forms of abuse including sexual exploitation and further exposure to infection with the virus.
Currently, there are nearly five million orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia. Nearly 900,000 of these are orphans or have been made vulnerable due to HIV and AIDS, according to available data.
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