ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/20/2001 28 November 2001
World AIDS Day: Australian seminar to address children's rights
The rights of adolescents and children in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be addressed at a seminar to be held by the Australian High Commission in New Delhi tomorrow (29 November).
Australia has a $200 million global initiative in place to support work in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The seminar, in advance of World AIDS Day (1 December), is another practical step in Australia's ongoing efforts to work with India in this field.
"Australia is committed to working with our partners across the region, including India, in the fight against the AIDS epidemic," said Ms Penny Wensley, Australian High Commissioner-designate to India.
In India, Australia is providing funding for training government officials and community-based activities. The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), which manages the Australian Government's overseas aid program, is also working with the Government of India to design a project to address the epidemic in three northeastern states and in Delhi.
Tomorrow's seminar, organised by AusAID, will foster a dialogue among key segments of civil society to make HIV/AIDS interventions centred on children more meaningful, relevant and sustainable.
The seminar, titled "Affirming the role of civil society in addressing the rights of adolescents and children," will bring together parents, teachers, student counsellors, education planners, media and NGOs.
It will have two sessions: one to define priorities from different perspectives such as the family, school and the community; and the other to share participants' experiences of interventions on adolescents' rights.
For further information, please contact:
Kerry Groves, First Secretary (Development Cooperation), or
Rory Medcalf, First Secretary (Political), Australian High Commission, at 688 8223, extension 561 & 197, respectively.