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Children in the world's developing countries face an "increasing threat" from HIV/AIDS, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) State of the World's Children 2003 report.
According to the report, children in the poorest nations were more susceptible to contracting HIV and the spread of the disease was producing an "ever-growing cohort of orphans," detracting from children's overall well-being.
About 6,000 children and young people are infected with HIV every day, and there are 13.5 million AIDS orphans worldwide, the report found.
The UNICEF report also found that 150 million children still suffered from malnutrition, and that 120 million school-age children (the majority girls) were not in school. Engaging children and young people and including them in the decision-making processes and in prevention efforts that affected their lives was essential to addressing these problems, it added.
"Listening to the opinions of children does not mean simply endorsing their views," the report noted. "
In the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, access to information was a matter of survival, the report noted. Surveys gathered from 40 countries showed more than 50 percent of people aged 15 to 24 "harbour serious misconceptions" about the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
To access the report: http://www.unicef.org/sowc03/
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
