Introduction
The development of community is a dynamic process involving all segments of the locality, including the often-overlooked youth population. The key component to this process is found in the creation and maintenance of channels of interaction and communication among diverse local groups that are otherwise directed toward their more individual interests. By facilitating interaction and developing relationships, these diverse individuals interact and begin to mutually understand common needs. When relationships, consistent interaction, and channels of communication are established and maintained, increases in local adaptive capacities materialize and communities emerge.

Historically, youth input in decision making, problem-solving, action, and evaluation in communities has received limited attention. However, recent trends suggest that youth are playing an increasingly important role in the development of their communities.
As nonprofits, volunteer groups, youth programs, and non-governmental organizations take on larger roles in contributing to local well-being, the active collaboration between young people and adults is vital to the long-term success of development efforts. Similarly, as community service activities become a more standardized component of community development, youth are being given opportunities to become long-term contributors to local development efforts.
While much of the attention given to building local capacities is often focused toward adults, youth are an increasingly visible and active component in community development efforts. Such involvement contributes to both the development of community and the social and psychological development of the youth involved. To encourage youth involvement in the community, it is vital to understand the influences, motivations, obstacles, and feedback that they receive from the community. Basically, there are 8 general steps program planners among others can follow to assist youth in becoming leaders and active participants within their community.

Steps to Take
1. Provide youth opportunities to contribute. Consider new ways to involve youth and allow them to offer input during decision-making, problem solving, and action-taking activities. Active collaboration with youth will engage them in ways that will open doors for them to contribute.
2. Increase involvement of youth. Present opportunities for personal self-growth, skill enhancement, and leadership development. Allow youth to work with adults in active collaboration toward local community development. Integrating youth into committees with adults as mentors and guides will enable them to build the leadership skills and personal characteristics necessary for their future adult involvement.
3. Partner with youth. Adults must partner with youth to develop the capacity to serve in organizations and become community leaders. In order to make this a successful venture, adults must first recognize and develop their own existing capacities, motivations, and barriers to partnering with youth. Once existing capacities are determined, adult outreach to youth through schools, youth organizations and youth groups can connect adults to youth in order to increase community attachment. Adults can and should inform youth of their value and the need for their service.
4. Engage youth actively. Youth provide new ideas and voices that will stimulate enthusiasm and investment in community structures. In order to engage youth, adults must understand the invaluable impact of youth involvement. This includes respecting youth culture, getting youth involved on all levels, and respecting their invaluable contribution to society. Instead of youth involvement that is strictly limited to task oriented volunteerism, youth should be empowered to become full partners in the community development process. Doing so allows them to establish a vested interest in long-term participation and contribution to their community.
5. Form connections to teachers. Teachers who actively engage youth in community issues can increase youth involvement. This may include student government groups, as well as school entrepreneurship and business education organizations that promote local community development by teaching life skills, fiscal responsibility, and leadership. Introducing community needs and opportunities through teachers at area schools reinforces the importance of youth involvement in community action and policy making and will increase local investment and encourage youth participation. Tiebacks to citizenship, political science, and civics education in the community will provide classroom opportunities connected to real world scenarios.
6. Link youth to planning and policy efforts. This can be accomplished by involving youth in the examination of existing policies as well as determining and evaluating potential policy alternatives. By considering youth input into exploration of policy impact, policy alternative criteria for evaluation, and analysis of policy alternative feasibility, youth will move from their role of inactive citizens to fully engaged stakeholders. This powerful connection to real community issues will involve youth not only in present decisions, but in future outcomes, leading them to investments that will provide potential ties toward future commitments as adults.
7. Allow youth to identify their own interests. Within the greater social framework of community development and policy making, youth may have expertise or interests in a specific topic. As youth are brought into and connected with organizations and civic roles that they have traditionally been excluded from, they can participate in active and equal decision making at multiple levels. An increased exposure to shared norms and values through discussion on community issues and concerns will engage youth to consider where their interests lie, and encourage them to seek activities where they can create positive change for greater good.
8. Involve youth in confronting more serious social problems. This will allow them to see themselves as community development agents capable of transforming their environments. By taking passive citizens waiting for adulthood before they become involved in systemic change and allowing them to be active citizens engaged in the process, youth will have a voice in decisions that transform policies, make institutions more accountable, and affect their lives. This may be reinforced by adult partnerships that value youth and let them know of the importance of their contributions while providing opportunities that build community attachment in order to create a better community in which to live.
Conclusion
Community development is facilitated by the ability of local people to mobilize resources to address local needs. Youths are in a position to be among the stable and long term contributors that help guide this process. Youth represent a vast and often untapped resource for immediate and long-term community development efforts. They also provide an invaluable resource for program planning and effective evaluation. As young persons are brought into and connected with organizations and civic roles that they have traditionally been excluded from, they can participate in active and equal decision-making at multiple levels. As youth engage in more sustained positive relationships with adults, other youth, and community organizations, they will learn that they are valued citizens of their communities. Such collaborations will lead to skill enhancement and confidence building traits, which will help prepare them for navigating toward adulthood.

One individual, who prefers only to be called Franklin, is one of the thousands of African migrants who have made the perilous journey to the Canary Islands in small boats.

The basic story that he told me at my request at interviewing him was that “I would rather die trying to make it to Europe than to stay in this country.”

Franklin was unfortunately caught and deported back to Ghana in his bid to make it to Europe. He is a student of one of the universities in Ghana.

12th December 2007, marks another day for the remembrance of migrants contribution to the development of the world. I took this opportunity to interview Franklin, on the ordeal that he had to go through in his desire to make it to Europe.

This is how Franklin started; My name is Franklin, I am 25 years old. I tried to get to the Canary Islands once before but it did not work out for me, I have been caught and now I am back to the zero point. But I will try again.

The journey was one of the most frightening experiences that I have ever had in my life. I had nothing to drink for two days.

Life in Ghana is a pain. I have no future, because even after school there is no guaranteed job for me. I need to feed my family. I think life will be easy out there in Europe. I believe I did what any father or brother would do to protect his family or his life for the future.

My parents died during the Dabgon conflict crises in the Northern Region of Ghana when I was young and now even at age 25, I don’t remember a day which I have not struggled to eat.

I left Brong Ahafo, in Ghana on 12th January, 2005 and that was how the journey began. I was in the company of two of my friends who whom I had convinced into this whole thing. We traveled on land through Togo, through to Benin, Nigeria, Niger Republic, Libya, Algeria and then to Morocco.

In each of these towns we had to work. In some instances we had to work as head porters.

A friend whom we met in Morocco who was also a head porter told us that we will have to meet an acquaintance of his who could assist us to get to the Canary Islands. This was after we had made known our intentions to him. Despite his advice for us, on the need to stop this journey, we were burnt on getting to our “dreamland”.

Upon meeting the man we had to give him 600 euros before the three of us could join him to the desert where some people including young migrants like us were waiting for their turn to get into a boat.
At long last it got to our turn and it seemed like we were making it to our “dreamland”. One person among us began singing a song which we all joined. It really kept our souls and our spirits alive. After many hours on the water, I was nauseated. I thought it was just me feeling this, but within a few minutes my two friends had all vomited.

After sometime a wave which I describe as a boisterous one arose. Everyone was praying and shouting to his or her God for help. Some people began to cry.

Its seemed our God had heard our prayers. The waters calmed just like the time Jesus commanded the winds and the waves to calm down whilst he was at sea with his disciples.

We were at sea for about another five hours.

We were rescued by the coast guards (police) as we got near the coastline. Some of us started to kiss the ground when we finally touched land.

When I later looked around to see my two friends, I realized that one of them had died in the boat. I wept bitterly for that. My other friend also had some nasty salt sores on his body which was caused by wet clothing rubbing continuously for many days.

For those of us who were quite healthy we were held in internment centers for up to 40 days, and from there we were sent back to our countries of origin.

Now I will have to start all over. My plight is worse. I have started to save some money to make another journey.

This was the story of Franklin. After spending about 2 hours with Franklin for this interview, I began to realize how people like Franklin would go every length to satisfy their dreams.

GLOBAL PRIORITIES
Good or Service: Annual Cost ($US billions)



What it DOES cost:

Cosmetics in the United States: 8
Ice cream in Europe : 11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States: 12
Business entertainment in Japan: 35
Cigarettes in Europe: 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe: 105
Narcotic drugs in the world: 400
Military spending in the world: 780

What it WOULD cost:

Basic education for everyone in the world: 6
Water and sanitation for everyone in the world: 9
Reproductive health for all women in the world: 12
Basic health and nutrition for EVERYONE IN THE WORLD: 13

Now you know what will YOU do about it?

‘SAVE CHILDREN NOW’
Is a CALL to people of ALL NATIONS and ALL RELIGIONS, or WITHOUT RELIGION,
To WORK TOGETHER as ‘ONE’ for this MISSION!
THE SOLUTION that reaches out to ALL LEADERS of ALL NATIONS,
To SAVE and PROTECT CHILDREN NOW!!!
Names of leaders it reaches out to HERE


THE ‘ONLY’ SOLUTION IS SIMPLE:

The estimated population for the United States of America is 286 196 812,
for Canada 32 442 237, and for China 1 313 973 700.
If WE ALL COULD GIVE ONE DOLLAR,
WE WOULD RAISE 1 632 612 749 DOLLARS TOGETHER!!!
ONE day, ONE Dollar! Makes 1 632 612 749 Dollars TOGETHER!
Can you believe that…?!
That is ONLY from THREE countries!

When the whole world does that:

ALL CHILDREN can get FOOD, HEALTHCARE and EDUCATION.
It only takes about 288 USD PER YEAR, to sponsor a child!
(330 CAD, 237 EUR, 2305 CNY or the same in your currency)
Saving children should never be based on donations!
Every child deserves the right to live!
If the world is wrong, we need to CORRECT it.
If we are able to OVER feed people in jail,
Then we should not let innocent children starve to DEATH!

This is a call to EVERYONE to take a stand for children TODAY, and
END child starvation HERE and NOW !!!

THE SOLUTION is about sharing and caring for our children as ONE Nation!
Save and protect ALL children!
People of ALL NATIONS that earn MORE then enough,
pay a SMALL tax that is reserved for these children ONLY!
About 30-50 USD per year.
(34-57 CAD, 24-40 EUR, 240-400 CNY or the same amount in your currency.)
Dependent on their income: the HIGH income earners will pay more, and
OMITTED FOR THE PEOPLE WITH LOWER INCOMES!!!
If you see how much ONE day, ONE Dollar can do, from ONLY three countries,
then you know 50 Dollars from people from the WHOLE world,
saves not ONE, but ALL CHILDREN!
TOGETHER, we raise BILLIONS!!!
It is very simple:
If we work together as ONE, hunger is GONE!

When the world uses THE SOLUTION:

Hunger will STOP!
AIDS that causes now thousands of AIDS orphans can be STOPPED!
Africa will finally get a NEW CHANCE to RISE above poverty!
As well as so many other areas of the world in need!
If we care for our children and treat them RIGHT, we’re in for a BIG CHANGE!
A PEACEFULL WORLD!
These children, the NEW GENERATION can finally BREAK OUT OF THIS CYCLE, making them free to build on their own, a better and INDEPENDENT community, that they will pass on to children of future generations!
THE WHOLE WORLD GETS A NEW START!
With more loving and educated people,
who will ensure our future and create a BALANCE in this world!

The world is OUT of balance now, and has been FOR WAY TOO LONG!
We have created this!
It was not meant to be, but it is.
So people, it is time we DO something!
BEFORE it is irreversible!
AIDS is spreading fast!
Soon a whole continent will be extinguished!
Our children are NEXT, if we do not start caring about each other!
It is OUR turn to DO something!
While we STILL have the chance!
It is time to start thinking GLOBAL!
WE, AND ALL OUR LEADERS NEED TO THINK GLOBAL,
AND WORK TOGETHER FOR THE ONE NATION!
THE WORLD AND IT’S CHILDREN!

HELP THIS PROJECT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

This is a Message from God, The Creator, or The Name that you give Him in your religion.
He loves you.
This is the world in your hands,
He will Lead you too!

THE MESSAGE IS:
PEOPLE OF THE FOUR CORNERS, BE “ONE” AND SAVE YOUR CHILDREN!!!

You are the corner.
Send “The Message” OUT in the world!

The fact that you save ONE child by passing this project on to 9 people,
is that 6 of the 9 people will vote for THE SOLUTION.
It takes about 6 people to save a child when the world uses THE SOLUTION.
Leave this part up to us and our leaders. Or join us.
YOU do the right thing TODAY!

An idea to raise money NOW for the starving!
Start the “ONE day ONE Dollar”! For your town, district, country!

NIGERIA HIV/AIDS SUMMIT

Aimed at truly moving the national response to new programming levels of effectiveness, the summit will bring together all local and international implementing partners, donors, government, the organized private sector and technical experts involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The summit will be used to build consensus on key issues of common interest, share lessons learned/best practices and make recommendation to further strengthen the national response.

The Nigeria Summit on HIV/AIDS is expected to hold from April 1st to 5th, 2007 at the International Conference Center, Abuja.

THEME OF THE Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit
"Beyond Boundaries, Strengthening the National HIV/AIDS Response"
GOAL OF THE Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit
“To Strengthen the National Response”
Objectives
The main objectives of the Summit are;
• To provide a platform for stakeholders to build consensus around issues and challenges concerning the National response.
• To review and generate issues at all levels that will significantly inform policy formulation.
• To critically review the Co-ordination mechanism of the National Response and make appropriate recommendations.
• To review and clarify roles and responsibilities of the various key stakeholders at different levels.
• To provide avenue for sharing lessons learnt, best practices and challenges.
• To strengthen networking across boundaries and among stakeholders working in HIV/AIDS.
• To review and share lessons on the applicability of the National Strategic Framework.
• To build consensus on the mechanism for coordinating donor funding and support.
Expected Outcomes
• A national consensus document streamlining issues, challenges and priorities concerning the national response.
• A list of generated issues to inform policy formulation.
• The co-ordination mechanism reviewed with appropriate recommendations.
• A clearly documented and delineated roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders.
• A document on best practices, lessons learnt and challenges of the national response by geopolitical zones produced.
• A formal network of all stakeholders working in HIV/AIDS established.
• Agreements reached on identified gaps on the National Strategic Framework.
• Consensus reached on a mechanism to coordinate donor funding and support.
Registration
participants (individual or group) are ONLY DEEMED registered AFTER the payment of the appropriate registration fees.
Registration Fees
The various registration categories and fees are outlined below
Category Fees
Individual NGN20,000.00 per participant
Group: a group is considered to be a minimum of ten (10) individuals from the same organisation or having the same sponsoring organisation NGN18,000.00 per participant within a group i.e. there is a 10% discount on the individual participant fee
Registration Forms
Individual Registration forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Group Registration forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Scholarship
The Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit aims to support summit participants who would not otherwise be able to attend. A number of funding agencies would be contacted to provide support to the Scholarship Programme for participants this is to expand participation of participants with financial barriers to attendance.
Scholarship forms can be obtained from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Summit website or Secretariat.
Scholarship applications will be reviewed by the technical sub-committee. Priority would be given to applicants whose participation would enhance programming in their communities/ organizations, applicant’s involvement with vulnerable groups and communities (resource poor communities) and their commitment to transfer knowledge obtained from participating in the summit back to those communities.

The scholarship criteria will include:
• Selection of submitted abstract and acceptance as either Oral or Poster
• Youth, Women and PLWHA’s who are confirmed to be participating in any of the summits programmes, sessions or whose abstracts have been accepted for presentation.
• Youth strongly involved in youth intervention programmes in their communities
Applying for a Scholarship
Deadline for scholarship application would be March 23, 2007
Any further questions concerning the Scholarship Programme should be addressed to scholarships@nigeriahivaidssummit.org

The number of scholarship to be awarded is limited; therefore, participants are strongly encouraged to seek other funding as well.
Note: For more information on the summit please visit the summit website as shown below.
Summit website: www.nigeriahivaidssummit.org
Summit Secretariat: National Action Committee on AIDS
Plot 823, Ralph Shodeinde Street
Central Business District
Abuja.

I saw this and loved it and felt i should put it up here for the benefits of those who are not GYCA members, David
For Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, the ideal of valuing all
human life equally began to jar against reality some years ago, when
he read an article about diseases in the developing world and came
across the statistic that half a million children die every year from
rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children. He
had never heard of rotavirus. "How could I never have heard of
something that kills half a million children every year?" he asked
himself. He then learned that in developing countries, millions of
children die from diseases that have been eliminated, or virtually
eliminated, in the United States. That shocked him because he assumed
that, if there are vaccines and treatments that could save lives,
governments would be doing everything possible to get them to the
people who need them. As Gates told a meeting of the World Health
Assembly in Geneva last year, he and his wife, Melinda, "couldn't
escape the brutal conclusion that — in our world today — some lives
are seen as worth saving and others are not." They said to themselves,
"This can't be true." But they knew it was."

.....
"More important than questions about motives are questions about
whether there is an obligation for the rich to give, and if so, how
much they should give. A few years ago, an African-American cabdriver
taking me to the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington asked
me if I worked at the bank. I told him I did not but was speaking at a
conference on development and aid. He then assumed that I was an
economist, but when I said no, my training was in philosophy, he asked
me if I thought the U.S. should give foreign aid. When I answered
affirmatively, he replied that the government shouldn't tax people in
order to give their money to others. That, he thought, was robbery.
When I asked if he believed that the rich should voluntarily donate
some of what they earn to the poor, he said that if someone had worked
for his money, he wasn't going to tell him what to do with it.
At that point we reached our destination. Had the journey continued, I
might have tried to persuade him that people can earn large amounts
only when they live under favorable social circumstances, and that
they don't create those circumstances by themselves. I could have
quoted Warren Buffett's acknowledgment that society is responsible for
much of his wealth. "If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh
or Peru," he said, "you'll find out how much this talent is going to
produce in the wrong kind of soil." The Nobel Prize-winning economist
and social scientist Herbert Simon estimated that "social capital" is
responsible for at least 90 percent of what people earn in wealthy
societies like those of the United States or northwestern Europe. By
social capital Simon meant not only natural resources but, more
important, the technology and organizational skills in the community,
and the presence of good government. These are the foundation on which
the rich can begin their work. "On moral grounds," Simon added, "we
could argue for a flat income tax of 90 percent." Simon was not, of
course, advocating so steep a rate of tax, for he was well aware of
disincentive effects. But his estimate does undermine the argument
that the rich are entitled to keep their wealth because it is all a
result of their hard work. If Simon is right, that is true of at most
10 percent of it."

Control Arms campaign: UN General Assembly votes for historic Arms Trade Treaty proposal

Control Arms campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).


Work on an international Arms Trade Treaty will begin immediately following a historic vote in the UN General Assembly today, which saw 153 governments supporting the proposed Treaty to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and serious human rights violations. Only the United States voted against the proposal, and 24 governments abstained.

The UN General Assembly vote comes just three years after the launch of the Control Arms campaign, which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.

Three quarters of governments [153] voted in favour of the proposal, which was also supported by an overwhelming majority of governments in the UN General Assembly’s First Committee in October.

There was also strong support from the governments of Europe as well as the Pacific and Latin America .

“Significant support for an Arms Trade Treaty has come from some of the world’s most gun-affected regions; this indicates not only widespread recognition of the problem but also widespread political will to take action," said Rebecca Peters , Director of IANSA.

The US remained the only government to vote against the proposal, despite a recent appeal from 14 US Senators to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the Administration to reconsider its position.

“My current visit to Lebanon , Israel and the Occupied Territories has allowed me to see first hand the devastating consequences on civilians of the unregulated trade in weapons. It is vital that governments recognise the urgent need to turn this vote into meaningful action and ensure that a legally binding treaty on conventional arms becomes a reality,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

One of the first tasks for the incoming UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, will be to begin canvassing the views of all UN Member States on the proposed Arms Trade Treaty in order to report back to the General Assembly in late 2007. A group of governmental experts from around the world will then be established to examine the issue in detail and report back to the UN General Assembly in 2008.

"Today, we have seen an overwhelming majority of the world’s governments accepting the need for an Arms Trade Treaty to prevent weapons sales that fuel conflict and poverty. That is a historic step. When the Control Arms campaign began in 2003 only 5 governments supported the concept of an Arms Trade Treaty. Today there are 153. Now governments must follow through and achieve a strong, effective Treaty. Every day that they delay is another day when thousands of lives are wrecked by armed violence," said
Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.

Notes to Editors

About the campaign
The idea for the establishment of globally binding rules on arms transfers began in 1995 with a few Nobel Peace Laureates including Amnesty International and Dr Oscar Arias. The Control Arms campaign was launched by Oxfam International, Amnesty International and IANSA in 2003 and so far enjoys the support of over a million campaigners worldwide.

Senators Appeal to US Administration
On 1 December 2006 the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein of California sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for the US Administration to change its position on the Arms Trade Treaty resolution.

The letter was signed by the following 14 Democratic Senators:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein ( California ), in-coming Chairwoman of Senate Appropriations Committee on Military Construction and Veteran Affairs,
Sen. Patrick Leahy ( Vermont ), in-coming Chairman of the Senate, Judiciary Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee on the State
Department and Foreign Operations;
Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vermont);
Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois), In-coming Majority Whip;
Sen. John Kerry (Massachusetts);
Sen. Carl Levin (Michigan), in-coming Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee;
Sen. Barbara Boxer (California), member of the Foreign Relations Committee;
Sen. Daniel Akaka (Hawaii), in-coming Chairman of Veteran Affairs Committee;
Sen. Frank Lautenberg ( New Jersey );
Sen. Byron Dorgan (North Dakota);
Sen. Russ Feingold (Wisconsin), member of the Foreign Relations Committee;
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Maryland);
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico), in-coming Chairman of Senate Committee on the Environment;
Sen. Tom Harkin (Iowa).

With the broad message: STOP STIGMA!! STOP AIDS!!, it was an eventful
outing for the Constituency Coordinating Entities (CCEs) on HIV and
AIDS in Nigeria as they held a successful WALK for ACCOUNTABILITY in the
nation’s capital city, Abuja, to mark this year’s World AIDS Day last
Friday being December 1 2006.

The procession of advocates which was led by the leadership of the
CCEs, UNAIDS and the Nigeria Labour Congress, moved from the Eagle Square
to the National Assembly, and then on to the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA).

At the National Assembly, the procession was received by a
representative of the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly, on behalf of
the leadership of the National Assembly. He apologized for the absence
of the principal officers of both chambers whom he explained went to
their respective constituencies to revalidate their mandate at the
primaries of PDP which was taking place same weekend across the country.

Mr. Ayo Ipinmoye, the Executive Secretary of CISHAN who spoke on
behalf of the CCEs, thanked him for receiving the procession well. He
explained that the mission of the CCEs to the National Assembly was to
sensitize the leadership and members of the National Assembly on stigma and
discrimination being suffered by PLWHA and PABA, and its implications
for the national response to HIV and AIDS pandemic; and to solicit their
support in ensuring that an act prohibiting discrimination against
PLWHA and PABA is put in place before the end of the present administration
come May 2007.

Maureen Onyia, who represented Comrade Adams Oshiomole, President
Nigeria Labour Congress, added the voice of labour movement to this
request, pointing out that the issue of stigma and discrimination against
PLWHA and PABA is very rife in the workplace and is affecting workforce in
a most negative manner. She went ahead to state that the President of
NLC just sent in a letter to the leadership of the National Assembly 2
days back asking them to legislate against discrimination being meted
out to PLWHA and PABA in the workplace and the society at large, on the
basis of the sero status.

Highpoint of the event was the display of a pop up banner containing
a letter from the CCEs, by Dr. Pat Matemilola, Coordinator NEPWHAN. The
pop up banner which was placed right inside the lobby of the National
Assembly Complex contains a message appealing to the Distinguished
Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives to support
the passage of the anti HIV based discrimination bill, which is being
finalized by the federal ministry of Justice for submission to the
National Assembly soon. Dr. Matemilola, on behalf of the CCEs, also presented
letters addressed to the 109 Distinguished Senators and 360 Honourable
Members of the House of Representatives, highlighting forms and
contexts of stigma and discrimination being suffered by a PLWHA. The letter
also informed them of the status of the draft bill with the federal
ministry of Justice and appealed to them to ensure speedy passage of the
bill, when it gets to the floor of both chambers.

At the FCTA complex, the procession was received by the Secretary of
Health, FCT, who represented the Honourable Minister of FCT, Mallam
Nasir el-Rufai, whom we were told would have loved to be with us but was
called away by a higher authority. Dr. Matemilola, who spoke on behalf
of the CCEs, recounted the support the Honourable Minister has lent to
the Civil Society especially NEPWHAN and PLWHAs in FCT. He went on to
present the demand of the CCEs as allocation of piece of land and/or
building that will accommodate the CCEs. He stressed that this is very
crucial against the background that the present CSO building is located in
a residential area and as such the CCEs may be asked to move any time
from now. The other reason, according to him, is that the rent which was
paid by the UNAIDS will soon expire and the CCEs have come of age to
own a building of their own which will also ensure sustainability of the
Civil Society response to HIV and AIDS, and development in FCT
and the country at large.

In his response, the representative of the Honourable Minister
expressed joy at the cordial relationship which exist between the CCEs and
the office of the Honourable Minister, and went on to assure the CCEs
that their request will be conveyed to the Honourable Minister as soon as
possible.

For the CCEs, it was a very fruitful experience and at the same time
a call to duty for all to brace up for the challenges ahead, especially
with regards to advocacy for keeping all the promises made within the
context of HIV and AIDS response at the national, regional and global
levels.

I wish to extend appreciation to all those who denied themselves of
the luxury of relaxing in their homes to come out en-mass to add their
voice to the demands of the CCEs on HIV and AIDS in Nigeria. Nancy
Snauwaert of UNAIDS deserves particular mention here for persevering with us
all through the march.

This activity was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and
others through an International Council of AIDS Service organizations
(ICASO) global project titled ‘Prevention and Treatment Advocacy Project’
(PTAP). The project is coordinated in Africa by the African Council of
AIDS Service Organizations (AfriCASO) secretariat in Dakar, and
implemented in Nigeria by Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
(NEPWHAN) and Interfaith HIV/AIDS Coalition Nigeria (INTERFAITH).
FIDSON Healthcare, a leading indigenous manufacturers of ARV is also
supported this activity.

Check this out, is thisnot wonderful,
The village doctor's diagnosis was dire: Marium
needed immediate surgery to replace two heart valves.
The 28-year-old mother of three said she was confused and terrified.
She
could barely imagine open-heart surgery. She had no idea how her family
of
farm laborers could pay for an operation that would cost $4,000.
The next day, Sept. 16, her father went to see Mahbubul Ambia, who had
recently installed the only Internet connection for 20 miles in far
northeastern Bangladesh. Ambia sat down at a computer, connected to the
Internet by a cable plugged into his cellphone, and searched for
cardiac
specialists in Dhaka, the capital, 140 miles away. He found one and
made an
appointment for Marium, who like many people here goes by just one
name. The
specialist examined her and said she needed only a routine surgical
procedure that cost $500.
"I felt a very deep sense of relief," Marium said.
Villages in one of the world's poorest countries, long isolated by
distance
and deprivation, are getting their first Internet access, all connected
over
cellphones. And in the process, millions of people who have no
land-line
telephones, and often lack electricity and running water, in recent
months
have gained access to services considered basic in richer countries:
weather
reports, e-mail, even a doctor's second opinion.
Cellphones have become a new bridge across the digital divide between
the
world's rich and poor, as innovators use the explosive growth of
cellphone
networks to connect people to the Internet.
Bangladesh now has about 16 million cellphone subscribers -- and 2
million
new users each month -- compared with just 1 million land-line phones
to
serve a population of nearly 150 million people.
Since February, Internet centers have opened in well over 100
Bangladeshi
villages, and a total of 500 are scheduled to be open by the end of the
year. All of them are in places where there are no land lines and the
connections will be made exclusively over cellphone networks.
Before February, analysts said, only 370,000 Bangladeshis had access to
the
Internet. But now millions of villagers have access to information and
services that had been available only by walking or taking long and
expensive bus rides, or were beyond their reach altogether.
People now download job applications and music, see school exam
results,
check news and crop prices, make inexpensive Internet phone calls or
use Web
cameras to see relatives. Students from villages with few books now
have
access to online dictionaries and encyclopedias.
"We could not imagine where this technology has taken us in such a
short
time," said Mufizur Rahman, 48, a grocery shop owner in Charkhai, a
town of
about 40,000 people whose streets are filled with colorful
three-wheeled
bicycle rickshaws, and where there are almost no cars.
"For the First World, this is minor," he said. "But this is a big thing
for
us."
The Internet centers are being set up by GrameenPhone, a cellphone
provider
partly owned by the Grameen Bank, which shared this year's Nobel Peace
Prize
with its founder, Muhammad Yunus.
The centers are building on a cellphone network created over the past
decade
by a Grameen Bank program that helped provide more than 250,000
cellphones
in villages. When that program started in 1997, only 1.5 percent of the
population had access to a telephone; that has risen to more than 10
percent.
Staying Connected
Goats grazed on litter outside Ambia's little Internet shop in
Charkhai,
where merchants sell bright red tomatoes and honking ducks in the
crowded
central market.
Bangladesh, where the United Nations says average annual income is
about
$440, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with
its
150 million people crammed into an area roughly the size of Iowa.
Ambia's shop sits wedged between a stall where men sell huge sacks of
rice
and one selling cheap plastic shoes. By midmorning on a steamy
September
day, at least 20 people stood in line waiting to use one of Ambia's two
Chinese-made computers.
A woman named Aleya, 55, sat down on a small plastic chair and handed
Ambia
a scrap of paper with a London phone number. She said that her
18-year-old
daughter was getting married and that she was calling her uncle in
England
to ask him to help pay for it. Aleya said her husband is a construction
worker who earns about $70 a month, barely enough to feed their five
children.
Ambia dialed the number on the keyboard of his computer, connected by a
cable to a Motorola cellphone. The call connected using VoIP (Voice
over
Internet Protocol) technology, which allows calls to be placed from a
computer to another computer or a telephone anywhere in the world --
for
little or no cost.
VoIP technology is growing rapidly. One of the biggest brands, Skype,
was
founded in August 2003 and now has 136 million registered users.
Companies
such as Vonage and Yahoo also offer the service and are expanding
exponentially.
Aleya picked up the small telephone handset connected to the computer
and
her face lit up. Her uncle, who owns a restaurant in London, promised
that
he'd make arrangements to send money for the wedding.
The five-minute call cost 8 Bangladeshi taka, about 11 cents.
"An 8-taka call has earned me thousands," Aleya said with a broad
smile.
Before Ambia's center opened in February, Aleya said, she would have
called
her uncle on a borrowed cellphone at a cost of more than $2, her
husband's
daily wage.
The only other option would have been to take a bumpy bus to Sylhet, a
city
about 20 miles down the road, to make the call from an Internet cafe
there.
She said rutted roads and ancient buses making frequent stops often
turned
that into an all-day errand that would cost her nearly $3.
As Aleya spoke on the phone, Komoruddin, 50, was waiting to make a call
to
his son, an electrician living in Saudi Arabia. Komoruddin said he and
his
other son and five daughters live largely on the money his son sends
home.
"I used to have to make a plan and spend a whole day to make a call.
Now I
can just come in here and relax," he said. "I never thought I'd see
anything
like this here. Some people still don't believe it."
Cyber Vows
Ambia, a lanky 26-year-old, said he was running a small shop doing
cellphone
repairs when he heard about GrameenPhone's plan to create hundreds of
village Internet centers.
"I love browsing the Internet, but I used to have to go to Sylhet to do
it,"
he said. "When I saw the opportunity to combine browsing and business,
I
took it."
He said his business is growing fast, fueled by villagers' delight at
being
able to connect with a world beyond theirs. Ambia also sells cellphones
in
his shop, and each month he signs up about 500 new customers, who pay
about
$4 to activate a phone.
Ambia said Internet access is a logical next step in Charkhai's digital
evolution. In recent months, he noted, local people have been making
long
walks through the fields and crossing wide rivers to log into
cyberspace.
Before, getting a passport application could take weeks, or would
require a
bus trip to Sylhet. News of overseas job opportunities used to come by
word
of mouth. But now people browse online employment bulletin boards, then
use
the center's scanner to submit completed applications for jobs that
before
they might never have known about.
Students cram into the two-room center to use computers to check
results of
their standardized exams, instead of walking miles or taking a bus ride
to
get them.
Ambia has created a database of land and houses for sale around
Charkhai,
which better-off Bangladeshis in London or the Middle East use to
browse for
investments in their homeland.
He is working on databases listing doctors and other basic services. He
said
a program would soon begin to allow local doctors and their patients to
hold
video conferences to consult with specialists in Dhaka.
"People are just beginning to know about this," he said. "They are
excited
to get this kind of information."
One of Ambia's most popular services is video conferencing, using the
little
Hyundai Web camera mounted atop one of his computer monitors.
Entire families crowd in front of the center's camera to hold video
conferences with relatives overseas. Ambia said a mother came in
recently to
hold up a newborn to give the father, working overseas, his first
glimpse of
his child.
"People even come here to see how things are being cooked in London,
how
they are cutting the fish," he said.
And Ambia was preparing to add a 21st-century twist to a traditional
ritual,
by hosting his first video conference wedding.
Aslam Ahmed, 25, said he planned to sit in front of the Web camera in
Charkhai and marry his girlfriend, Jasmine, 17, who would be in front
of a
Web camera in her home in London.
Weddings conducted over the telephone are common in this part of
Bangladesh.
Many marriages are still arranged between conservative Muslim families,
and
often the bride or groom is living overseas.
A marriage certificate is also a fast route to getting a work visa to
leave
Bangladesh -- and conducting the wedding by phone is faster and cheaper
than
arranging for the overseas partner and family to travel home for a
wedding.
An imam is present at both ends of the call, along with a civil
official who
certifies the vows. Duplicate sets of paperwork are then exchanged by
mail
for everyone's signatures.
Ahmed and his bride had planned a wedding by cellphone and knew they
would
have to pay $30 or $40 just for the call. The video conference over the
Internet, however, would cost a fraction of that, so the imams
conducting
the ceremony would not have to rush through the prayers to save money.
Jasmine's family moved to London in 1986. Ahmed said he had met her
just
once, in 2002, when her family came back to Charkhai to visit. They
spoke on
the phone and exchanged e-mail regularly after that -- and once Ambia's
center opened, they saw each other regularly by video conference, even
though they live 5,000 miles apart.
"I don't know what other people say, but as far as I'm concerned she's
Miss
World," Ahmed said.

They hopped, jumped and gyrated on the dance floor as if they were possessed by the sprit of Bacchus. In fact, they had their eyes on the world record and the coveted prize of N2 million including Nokia N91 music phone each.

But they made it. Sweating and panting like a mad dog, the Zebra group eventually breasted the tape. They broke the world dance record and thus made history as the new titleholders of the Guinness Book of World Records.

It all happened in the early hours of Nigeria’s 46th Independence at the Nokia Danceathon held at the Silverbird Studios in Lagos where a group of young Nigerians were crowned with a new dance party record of 53 hours 50 minutes that would go into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s longest dance party.

The event began at 6.00pm on Friday, September 29, 2006. Before setting the new record at four minutes past midnight on Monday, October 2, the team, at exactly 10.14pm on Sunday night had erased former world record of 52 hours 3 minutes set by the Heart Health Hop of the United States at a contest that began on July 31, 2003.

Representative of Guinness World Records, Ms Sandra Aghaizu, formally announced the new world record at 12.38am on Monday. An ecstatic Vithesh Reddy, Nokia’s Area Manager for Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia, said thus: "The partnership of this event by Nokia is a clear vindication of the trust and confidence that we continue to repose in Nigeria."

He explained that the Nokia N91 music phone partnered the Silverbird Danceathon, providing the music platform and contributing to the process of social mobilization through young people and music. "Music is a very potent weapon for mobilizing young people and the Nokia N91 is an enabler of good music; it is resilient, it is versatile and it is potent, with a massive memory that can accommodate thousands of CD quality music tracks."

In sponsoring the Silverbird Danceathon initiative, Reddy said, Nokia found a great partner in the Silverbird Group, easily one of Nigeria’s leading entertainment conglomerates. He added that the partnership between Nokia N91 and Silverbird has helped to facilitate a reawakening of the tremendous talent that is innate in millions of Nigerian youths.

Chairman of the Silverbird Group, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, said Nigeria’s achievement of this feat restates the fact that Silverbird is a record breaking, proudly Nigerian brand and will continue in this streak.

The winning dance team will take away collective cash reward of N2 million while the last dancer standing will, in addition, receive a cash prize of N1.5 million and a Nokia N91 phone.
"The winning Zebra team and the last dancer standing have helped to demonstrate that all it takes to being a world champion and consolidate Nigeria’s standing on the world stage is team spirit, discipline and determination; we trust that millions of youths out there will be inspired by this positive message, which the Nokia N91 music phone is helping to propagate," Reddy said.

I love to share this with you, what do you think?
If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay. Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior. Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache. Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be. Slower is better. Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy. If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't "be friends”. A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend. Don't settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is. Don't stay because you think "it will get better.” You’ll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better. The only person you can control in a relationship is you. Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women. He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently? Always have your own set of friends separate from his. Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up. Never let a man know everything.* He will use it against you later. You cannot change a man's behavior.*ycorvette78 Change comes from within. Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are... even if he has more education or in a better job. Do not make him into a quasi-god. He is a man, nothing more nothing less. Never let a man define who you are. Never borrow someone else's man. If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you. A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you. All men are NOT dogs. You should not be the one doing all the bending...compromise is two way street. You need time to heal between relationships...there is nothing cute about baggage... deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...a relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals...look for someone complimentary...not supplementary. Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right. Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always know where you are, and you're always readily available to him - he takes it for granted. Never move into his mother's house. Never co-sign for a man. Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.* Keep him in your radar but get to know others. Share this with other women and men (just so they know)... You'll make someone smile, another rethink her choices, and another woman prepare. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them. Advice from an Angel, Scared of being alone is what makes a lot of women stay in relationships that are abusive or hurtful Dr Phill You should know that you're the best thing that could ever happen to anyone and if a man mistreats you, he'll miss out on a good thing. If he was attracted to you in the 1st place, just know that he's not the only one. They're all watching you, so you have a lot of choices. Make the right one. Ladies take care of your own hearts....This communication together with any attachments transmitted with it

Yesterday, the Vatican announced that it has
concluded its study on condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
This 200-page study on condoms, which the Vatican will not make
public, has been passed on to the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith for additional theological and doctrinal opinions. Finally
it will end up in Pope Benedict XVI's hands, and he will decide
whether or not to lift the ban on condoms.
As an individual committed to health and rights for all, you may be
aware that the Condoms4Life campaign has launched an international,
interfaith effort to encourage Pope Benedict XVI to lift this ban
and join us in preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS around the
world.
Time is running out, and we want to officially launch this campaign
on World AIDS Day with as much support as possible. It is vital
that the pope hears from Catholics and non-Catholics all over the
world to know that this is a life-or-death issue for many, and you
can help today.
Please join us and add your name to the Condoms4Life
letter to Pope Benedict asking him to lift the ban on condoms.
On World AIDS Day (1 December), people from all over
the world will officially begin asking the pope to help stop the
spread of HIV and AIDS. We need your help to ensure that the pope
receives the message loud and clear – the ban on condoms is wrong,
dangerous and irresponsible, and it should be lifted as a matter of
justice!
If you have already signed the letter, THANK YOU.
Thousands of individuals from more than 100
countries in the world have already signed this letter, but we still
need your help. Please forward this email to five friends, family
members, colleagues or co- workers, and ask them to join you by
signing the letter asking to lift the ban today.
To sign the letter online, please go to the CFFC
Action Center. Or you can send an email to info@condoms4life.org
and tell us your:
Name
Email
Country
This pandemic continues to take the lives of people
throughout the world - young and old alike. Recent data from the Joint
UN Program on HIV and AIDS shows that since Benedict became pope on
19 April 2005, approximately

5.5 million people have acquired HIV, and
3.7 million people have died of AIDS-related causes.

Lifting this cruel and stigmatizing ban on condoms
would be a positive and life-affirming move for Pope Benedict. The
hierarchy can no longer talk about a culture of life and turn a blind
eye to the suffering and dying. It can no longer tell people to love
and care for one another and deny them the means by which to protect
each other.
We need you to help us make the voices of all the
people within our communities heard. Please join us and send the
message to Pope Benedict and the Vatican that the time has come and
the ban on condoms must end now!


email: info@condoms4life.org
phone: +1 202 986 6093
web: http://www.catholicsforchoice.org

For some time now i have not posted in my blog, what a bad habit, anyway not entirely fault of mine but a great persentage to my work.
I will only tell u a bit about my day today, the rest, i will tell you later.
i went to see the Nigerian Television authority General Manager today trying to secure a date for an advocay visit to him, he rejected the request on the ground that he did not know of my network and was too busy. i insisted i wanted to see him personally, all the staff in his office sat ready for a fight. they told me thier boss was a lecturer ao they were looking for who would win for he argument. Long story, in the end i won and i have my adcocacy visit on the day i want it. Every one was shocked though young and small to behold, i did the unimaginable for them.
Men lets make this forum better, post that inof i need to hear it.
David
see yal next time

Event: Nigerian National Health Conference 2006

Dear Colleagues,

The Nigerian National Health Conference 2006 (a.k.a. NHC2006) is a
collaborative effort initiated by the Senate Committee on Health of
the National Assembly and the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria
(HERFON). It would be recalled that in 2003, the Change Agent
Programme (CAP) led by current Honourable Minister of Health Professor
Eyitayo Lambo, produced a document named 'PUTTING HEALTH HIGH ON THE
POLITICAL AGENDA', which was disseminated and discussed with all the
registered political parties.

Since 2003 and following on the heels of the advocacy effort, Nigeria
had embarked on another journey towards better health, through a
robust Health Sector Reform regime aimed at strengthening the National
Health System; culminating in the current National Health Bill (NHB)
awaiting final passage by the National Assembly. As 2007 elections
approaches, a new leadership is expected, and engagement with the
political actors and policy makers is extremely necessary for the
sustenance of current reforms through the next democratic regimes;
especially in the various States of the Federation, using Change
Agents and other stakeholders.

The NHC2006 has been generated, mentioned, discussed and accepted in
interactions between the Senate Committee on Health, Federal Ministry
of Health (FMoH), HERFON, Partnership for Transforming Health Systems
(PATHS), ENHANSE/USAID, World Health Organisation (WHO), UK Department
for International Development (DFID), Advocacy Nigeria, Pharmaceutical
Society of Nigeria (PSN), Health and Managed Care Association of
Nigeria (HMCAN), European Union (EU), Nigeria Economic Summit Group
(NESG), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), National Association of
Community Health Practitioners (NACHP), NANNM, Committee of Chief
Medical Directors (CCMDs), Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Association of
General and Private Medical Practitioners of |Nigeria (AGPMPN),
Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), etc., as a 'doable' approach
towards 'recovering the years that the locust had eaten' in our health
system; as epitomized by the current reforms in the health sector led
by His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Honourable
Minister of Health Professor Eyitayo Lambo.

Already, a National Steering Committee for the Conference, chaired by
the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health Distinguished Senator S.I.
Martyns-Yellowe (M.D.) has been constituted and inaugurated. Speaking
during the inauguration, Distinguished Senator Martyns-Yellowe
lamented the problems of the Nigerian Health Sector over the years. He
said that in view of the fact that the country is now working towards
democratically transiting from a sitting President to a new one, the
NHC has become imperative as an all-embracing fast-tracking effort to
urgently focus on 'Health in Nigeria in the 21st Century - Sustaining
the Reforms Beyond 2007'; while the outputs of the conference shall be
vigorously marketed to all stakeholders in the Nigerian Health Sector,
nationally and internationally.

Also speaking during the inauguration, the Executive Secretary of
HERFON Dr. Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe whose vision and that of his
organization the conference is emphasized HERFON's commitment and
concern to use the current transition period in the country to commit
the political class to basic national objectives in the health sector.
He opined that as stakeholders, members of the committee, the
institutions they represent and indeed all stakeholders; need to work
assiduously on the country current health priorities, with an
intention of setting national targets for the next democratic era. He
expressed HERFON's appreciation that Distinguished Senator
Martyns-Yellowe and the Senate Committee on Health shared this vision
and has gotten his tremendous support behind it.

The National Steering Committee shall oversee the organization of the
conference; provide the strong political leverage and recruit more
partners as needed, for the successful organisation of the NHC and
marketing of its outcome; mobilise the resources needed for the NHC
and its zonal equivalents; market the outcomes of the NHC for
sustainable health systems reform and improvement in health status of
Nigerians; and consider other measures needed to organise the NHC and
fully realise its objectives.

The conference secretariat has been set up within the premises of
HERFON, and the Conference Coordinator appointed in the person of Dr.
Uzodinma Adirieje [former Programmes Manager, ICASA 2005]. He also
functions as the Secretary of the NHC's National Steering Committee.

The goal of National Health Conference 2006 is 'to develop a Health
Agenda for Nigeria in the twenty-first (21st) Century and disseminate
this Agenda to Stakeholders at all levels of Government, Development
Partners and NGOs, nationally and internationally'; with the
objectives of:
i. Creating a forum for interactions among key stakeholders [The
Presidency, National Assembly, State Governments, local governments,
FMoH and line Ministries, SMoHs, Policy makers, Development Partners,
Professional organizations, Parastatals and institutions, Health care
financiers, health care providers, Facility owners, Community leaders,
Traditional healers, pharmaceutical manufacturers/suppliers,
clients/patients, etc.] in order to increase their understanding of
issues and challenges of the Nigerian health sector and participation
in various plans to address them.
ii. Reviewing the current situation of the Nigerian Health Sector in
relation to existing health policies
iii. Reviewing and propagating the achievements of the ongoing Health
Sector Reform Programme [HSRP]
iv. Developing locally appropriate, acceptable and affordable
approaches for the consolidation of the achievements of the ongoing
reforms
v. Developing the focus and agenda for Nigeria Health Sector for 2007
and beyond; and
vi. Developing the plans for disseminating the agreed Agenda to
political actors, policy makers, healthcare professionals and other
stakeholders at all levels

The expected outputs of the conference are:
i. Comprehensive report of the activities, presentations, sessions and
decisions of the conference;
ii. Summarized report of the key decisions and agreed activities by
the forum – that is The Agreed Agenda;
iii. Programmatic work plan for the implementation of the decisions
arrived at during the conference;
iv. Establishment of a monitoring group with a secretariat that would
follow-up on relevant stakeholders to ensure that the proposed work
plan is adopted/adapted and implemented at the various levels of
governance in the country; and
v. Advocacy document(s) in a very simple and summarized format that
could be used as a marketing document to various stakeholders.

The expected outcomes/impacts of the conference include:
i. Effective national health systems
ii. Better and appropriate health services and health-seeking
behaviours within the population
iii. Improved health indices for the population
iv. Better health outcomes
v. Enhanced human development
vi. Increased general life expectancy

Kindly direct all enquiries and comments related to the NHC2006:

The Conference Coordinator
Nigerian National Health Conference 2006 Conference Secretariat c/o
Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON) # 10 Sakono Street, (opp.
AP Plaza), off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja
Ph: 09.4618496; Fax: 09.5240433
Mob: 0803.4725905
Email: nationalhealthconf2006_ng@yahoo.com
Web: www.herfon.org

Thank you.

hello, i found this intersting and thot i should share it with u.
David

I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.




FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED.



FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.



FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE



FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. .


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.



FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.



FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN
CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.



FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.


AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL


BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

A young persons agressive nature towards AIDS. i find it particularly interesting because, it expresses anger as well as optimisim that soon and very soon HIV/AIDS would be doomed. Malaria at one times was just as dreaded as HIV/AIDS is now, but today, it's more like a battle won.

H-How you came to this world
I-I don’t know you beast, you made us a
V-Victim of your evil plot you the

A-Adversery of our soul what a way to
I-Invest sorrow and pain on both young and old to
D-Derive pleasure in the of the innocent
S-Surely in just a little time you will be doomed.

The Nigerian position on Orphans And Vulnerable Children
UNAIDS and WHO estimates for 2004 show that there is a huge and growing number of orphaned children in Africa. Estimates for 26 African countries suggest that the number of orphans from any cause will increase by around 50% between 1990 and 2010.

The extent of the epidemic in Africa makes it qualitatively different from other regions. Traditionally, it used to be said “there is no such thing as an orphan in Africa”. Children who lost one or both parents were incorporated into a relative’s family. But the combination of increased orphan numbers, reduced numbers of caregivers and weakened extended family systems, combined with poverty, means that vulnerable children are more likely to fall through the extended family safety net. Rising numbers of orphaned children of all descriptions, not just orphans due to AIDS or other causes are suffering as a result of the epidemic.

Orphaned and Vulnerable Children are being affected economically, socially and psychologically. Economic and social impacts include malnutrition, reduced access to education and health care, child labour, migration and homelessness. Psychological impacts include depression, guilt, anger and fear caused by parental illness and death. The social, economic and psychological impacts of AIDS on children combine to increase their vulnerability to a range of consequences including HIV infection, lack of education, poverty, child labour, exploitation and unemployment.

National Overview:
The National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS, 2003) indicated that Nigeria is one of countries that has one of the highest number of AIDS orphans in the world, with an orphan population of about 1.4 million children. According to the survey, the planning status of births in Nigeria showed that 10% of all pregnancies are unwanted while 22% are unplanned. Also, there is high level of misconception about how to avoid HIV with only 19.5% of respondents knowing all the five UNAIDS indicators on transmission. Moreover, the attitude of Nigerians towards family members living with HIV/AIDS is discriminative. According to the NARHS report, 40% of males and 52% of females in Nigerian do not care about PLWHA as well as Orphans and Vulnerable Children by HIV/AIDS.


According to recent statistics, Benue State has the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS with about 10.2 following a decline of 16.8% from 1999 to 9.3% and 10.2 However, the state is at the exponential and explosive face of the epidemic with potentially grave consequences. One of which is the increased number of orphans and vulnerable children with or without education.
Recommendation:
 Strengthen social economic, nutritional and psychosocial support program at all level for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
 Impart mitigation; care and support of OVC should be embarked on by Government, NGOs and stakeholders.
 Policy should be made to protect the interest of OVC against discrimination and stigmatization in schools and the society.
 Scholarship schemes and grants for indigent OVC for education should be established and properly monitored.
 Establish HIV/AIDS OVC desk officers and focal points in all work places.
 Create increased awareness of the plight of OVC at all tiers of government to enhance support for OVC.

Conclusion:
The plights of OVC hardly need preaching to be appreciated. It is the collective responsibility of the government, the law makers, CSOs, NGOs, FBOs and stakeholders for the effective mitigation of the impacts of HIV/AIDS in our community.