The new head of UNICEF, a former member of the Bush administration, has tried to calm fears that the agency would adopt more conservative policies on AIDS prevention, sexual health and condoms under her leadership.
Some aid workers had voiced concern that Executive Director Ann Veneman might limit UNICEFs work promoting reproductive and sexual health as it tries to tackle the AIDS pandemic, and might oppose condom promotion.
– We are not going to change UNICEFs position, Veneman, a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary, said last week at a feeding centre in Malawi where the UN is feeding AIDS orphans and other vulnerable groups.
Veneman raised concern in January when she said she believed social issues such as reproductive health were “irrelevant” to UNICEFs mission, a remark some interpreted as signalling a change in UNICEFs drive to promote family planning.
But Veneman said people who thought she was too conservative did not know her well enough and that no changes were planned.
UNICEF and other agencies promote what is known as “ABC” – abstain, be faithful or use a condom – in trying to limit the spread of AIDS.
– There is a lot of consensus about that. That has been UNICEFs position, she said.
Some churches, African traditional leaders and western observers say condom promotion and sex education encourage promiscuity, spreading the disease, while the Bush administration has cut off funds to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) which stresses access to family planning.
Veneman has been visiting Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa on her first trip to Africa as agency head. Adult HIV prevalence in Swaziland is above 40 percent, and Malawi is struggling with a 14 percent infection rate.
– I think people are much more aware of the disease, she said after talking to local people and watching a play at a World Food Programme distribution point to explain the risks of HIV. – These kids have seen what happens with AIDS. They have seen the development of the disease and they know what it means, added she.
Southern Africa has the highest HIV rates in the world, and early deaths and the wider impact on village economies are seen as having undone gains in infant mortality, education and welfare that took decades to achieve.
Veneman visited a UNICEF programme in northern Malawi where 700 people had volunteered for various roles caring for the sick.
Kilde: The Push Journal
