UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

July 1, 2008

All in the family

The power of a family in Rwanda is largely determined by its income and its ability to respond to the need of family members. The quality of care family members receive is also affected by income. For some families, being able to afford education and health care is a dream while for others, just getting one meal a day is a challenge.  When I meet children infected or affected by HIV and AIDS living in poor communities, especially in the dry and unfertile areas of the country, I can read the pain and frustration on their faces, the faces of children with empty stomachs. The same applies to the mothers who cannot feed their children properly, who look discouraged and desperate.

(UNICEF’s) Family-oriented programmes are designed to support families and entire communities to help develop their capacities. The involvement and participation of the family within community empowerment programmes is crucial here. Especially for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programmes. These programmes are essential to achieve positive results for children and women. Scaling up family packages around the issues of HIV and AIDS across the country is also crucial to bring the entire family together, including HIV treatment, stigma and discrimination and to strengthen their capacity to face the pandemic burdens.

However, my big concern is the amount of resources required to implement such measures: human, logistic and financial resources that are needed to reach all HIV-positive pregnant women and ensure the survival of children through clinic services, monitoring at community levels and family empowerment activities.

The cost to run a national programme presents a challenge and a constraint to move forward but I remain optimistic that with your commitment and support a lot can be done.