30,000 people sponsor Aids orphans in Ethiopia

22 December, 2007

A coalition of NGOs and charities has collected over 30,000 personal pledges in support of Ethiopian children affected by HIV/Aids.

The signatories are calling on all levels of government - local, regional and national - to devote greater investment to schemes for Aids orphans as well as spearheading new HIV prevention programmes.

Making a personal appeal to all citizens of the east African nation, the briefing also urges individual people to show their support for the cause by raising awareness of the problem.

It says real progress can be achieved simply through word of mouth - emphasising the need to proactively combat stigma and discrimination on a grassroots level as well as speaking openly about the disease and encouraging friends and family members to get tested.

Commenting on the dramatic success of the sponsorship drive - which had initially set out to enlist just 10,000 backers - Ethiopia's Daily Monitor reported one charity spokesperson as saying the briefing would help pave the way for policy changes.

"We look forward to working with policy makers at all levels to ensure that the resource and policies are in place to support the needs of orphans and vulnerable children," the spokesperson continued.

The country director said the pledges - garnered by over 35 local NGOs and 540 community-level organisations - would shortly be presented to the prime minister and national HIV/Aids policy makers.

Last month, Ethiopia's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency warned that one in five children living in the south-eastern Ogaden region suffer from acute malnourishment.