Government, UNDP sign prevention programme

Liberia's government and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) signed on Thursday a two-year HIV-prevention programme expected to cost about US $529,000. The programme, which will focus on capacity building and promoting awareness to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and fight stigma and discrimination, is to be implemented in the capital, Monrovia, and Grand Bassa county in rural Liberia. It will support the development, implementation and monitoring of strategies and action plans against HIV/AIDS. It will also support targeted information, education and communication initiatives aimed at raising the population's awareness of HIV/AIDS, bringing about behavioural changes and fighting discrimination against people living with the HIV/AIDS. The targeted beneficiaries include population groups at risk of contracting the disease and already infected persons. The programme is to be implemented by the National AIDS Control Programme, National AIDS Commission, National Association of People Living with AIDS, local authorities, NGOs and community-based organisations involved in the fight aganst the virus. Through it UNDP plans to help the Liberian government develop an effective response to prevent the spread of HIV and to improve the situation of people living with AIDS. Speaking at the signing ceremony in the UNDP office in Monrovia, UNDP Resident Representative Marc Destannes de Bernis said HIV/AIDS was uniquely devastating in terms of increasing poverty and reversing developmental achievements. "In Liberia, 10 percent of the population is already affected by the disease and the number of persons affected is increasing every day," he said. "If we do not act in a determined and coordinated manner to stop the epidemic, there will be no future for the children of Liberia." Liberian Health Minister Peter Coleman described the programme as a positive step towards improving the health status of Liberians and assured UNDP of the government's commitment to ensuring its implementation.