The UN appealed yesterday (21 January) here for additional funding on behalf of 16 million people in six Southern African countries at risk from a combination of factors that have resulted in severe food shortages.
Thus far, the appeal has received 57% of the total amount of $613 million required, but the contributions have not been distributed evenly. While the food sector has received 64.8% of the $509 million required, donors have provided just 11.6% of the $48.2 million required for health sector interventions. The countries concerned are Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This may be the first time that a major relief appeal has explicitly included antiviral drugs for HIV treatment as one of the needs to be met, although it is unclear from the statements issued so far, precisely how much treatment is being sought.
The detailed statement from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and UNAIDS was issued on 20 January and can be read here. It calls on the "affected governments, donor governments and humanitarian and development agencies" to:
- Raise awareness about the links between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and famine;
- Reduce the stigma associated with the disease and promote the human rights of people living with it;
- Encourage leaders to adopt prevention and treatment strategies, including the use of antiretroviral drugs, that focus on vulnerable groups including women, refugees and internally displaced persons;
- Offer salary supplements and access to HIV transmission prevention methods in order to encourage "essential personnel" to work on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention; and
- Support government policies that encourage equitable sustainable development and "sound" agricultural programs.
James Morris, special envoy of the secretary general for humanitarian needs in Southern Africa, and Stephen Lewis, special envoy of the secretary general for HIV/AIDS in Africa, are now carrying out a joint mission to Southern Africa. The mission will bring together humanitarian and development agencies to determine how best the United Nations and the international community can address these problems.