Politicians urged to focus on HIV/AIDS orphans

The UN's Childrens's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday launched a campaign urging politicians to address the plight of the country's 1.2 million AIDS orphans. The UNICEF campaign, "A Call to Action for Parliamentary Candidates", aims at putting the issue of AIDS orphans at the centre of Kenya's election race, the Nairobi newspaper The Nation reported. The campaign, which involves newspaper, television and radio spots, challenges candidates to make a "more responsive move" towards enabling orphans to access essential services. UNICEF country representative, Nicholas Alipui, said brochures outlined steps the candidates should take to ensure the enactment of policies that support AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children. "There is a greater need for attention on the issue, and this is why we are targeting parliamentary aspirants. Our aim is to get a specific policy and promise from these candidates which we can hold them to once they are seated in parliament," UNICEF's head of communications, Denise Shepherd-Johnson, told the UN news agency IRIN. The election campaign kicked off this week in the east African country. Kenyans are expected to go to the polls 27 December.