UN peacekeepers are assisting with the implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes on the Eritrea/Ethiopia border, an international AIDS conference currently being held in Nairobi, Kenya, was told on Thursday.
The UN deputy special representative for Kofi Annan, Dr Angela Kane, said in a statement: "With the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), we have the very first successful case of being very active in HIV/AIDS issues in a peacekeeping mission."
The initiative follows a resolution passed three years ago by the UN Security Council, calling on member states to address HIV/AIDS among the peacekeeping forces.
Kane said the UNMEE force, working closely with the Eritrea Defence Force (EDF), had focused on training soldiers who then train their peers in HIV education techniques.
There are some 4,200 UNMEE troops on the border and the initiative has been extended to include youth groups, hotel staff and commercial sex workers.
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