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| World Breastfeeding Week 1-7 August |
| The theme for World Breastfeeding Week this year is focused on engaging and mobilising youth intergenerational work with the catchy slogan of: "Talk to me! Breastfeeding- a 3D Experience." The theme deals with communication at various levels and between various sectors. |
| World Population Day 2011 |
| July 11 is World Population Day, a day which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event, which was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues particularly in the context of overall development plans and programmes, and the need to find solutions. |
| MOTHER’S DAY 2011 |
| Southern Africa joins several countries in the world to commemorate Mother’s Day on May 8. This is a special day for honouring mothers throughout the world. It is that time of the year when people take time to spoil their mothers and the women who matter in their lives. |
| International AIDS Candlelight Memorial |
| She is all alone. Her five children died and left only memories behind. While she has seven grandchildren to remember them by, the burden of catering for their needs is at times too much for 80 year old Gogo Moyo. |
| World Health Day 2011 |
| Thami was not well and decided to go to the doctor. He was put on a seven-day course of antibiotics. Within three days he was feeling better. He decided to stop taking the medicines prescribed for him. As far as he was concerned he was cured. He just could not believe how powerful these tablets were; bringing him back from the grave in a matter of three days. And then he fell sick again and this time it was terrible, and more difficult to treat. |
| World TB Day |
On March 24 the world commemorates World TB Day. As we join in this commemoration as southern Africa the question to ask is why so many people continue to die of Tuberculosis (TB) when it can be cured.
In Africa, TB is the leading killer of people living with HIV. WHO estimates that in 2009, 1.7 million people died from TB. Of these 380,000 were women and an equal number were co-infected with HIV. The death toll equates to 4,700 deaths every single day.
This is happening when in many African countries screening for TB and TB treatment are free, which begs the question - why? |
| International Women’s Day: Where are we, 100 years on? |
| On March 8, the world commemorates International Women’s Day (IWD). This year’s commemorations are extra special, as 2011 marks 100 years since the first commemoration of International Women’s Day. |
| Valentine’s Day 2011 |
St Valentine’s day on the 14th February is just around the corner. This is a day when people all over the world celebrate the day of love and honour the special people in their lives. It is a good period for businesses with men and women across the world running around to find that perfect gift to show just how much they love their partners.
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| News Diary - Governance response to HIV and AIDS |
Welcome to the January 2011 edition of The Governance Response to HIV and AIDS- News Diaries from Southern Africa. Click through to get further information and more story ideas if you are a community journalist. |
| World AIDS Day 2010 |
| December 1 is World AIDS Day and this year the theme remains 'Universal Access and Human Rights.” Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money for HIV interventions, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. |
| 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence 2010 |
| Have relations between men and women in your country worsened over the past year? Were you unfortunate enough to be greeted by stories of rape and abuse of girls and women each time you read the paper during the course of this year? Are there women who lost their lives while giving life in your country this year? |
| Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Gender Based Violence Unmasked. |
Did you know that in an effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and improve sexual and reproductive health as it contributes to poverty reduction African Governments adopted a Continental Policy Framework on Sexual and reproductive health and Rights at a Ministers of Health meeting, in Gaborone Botswana in 2005? |
| World Humanitarian Day |
| On the 19th of August the world commemorated World Humanitarian Day, a day set aside to honour those who give their time and lives to aiding or saving the lives of others. The day was set aside to commemorate the bombings in Baghdad where humanitarian workers have been dying while saving other people’s lives. |
| International AIDS Conference 18-23 July 2010 |
| From the 18th to the 23rd of July the world will gather in Vienna, Austria for the International AIDs Conference, which this year is being run under the theme Rights Here, Right Now, which reflects high aspirations for the respect and protection of the rights of people living with HIV (PLHIV), coupled with the right to treatment and a demand for action so that these aspirations can become a reality. |
| The International Day of the African Child |
Theme:Planning and budgeting for children: our collective responsibility.
Maternal, infant and child health and development.
On June 16, the world commemorates the International Day of the African Child. It is time to fight for the cause of children in trouble, those children who are sleeping on the streets, going to bed on an empty stomach and the many children born with HIV who are not accessing treatment. |
| No woman should die while giving life |
| Maternal, infant and child mortality remains a silent emergency on the African continent. One in every sixteen women faces the risk of dying during childbirth, while thousands more face delivery-related complications and illness. |
| Africa Goal |
| The FIFA World Cup is coming to Africa for the first time ever. It will be hosted in South Africa. People from all over Africa and abroad, from different cultures, backgrounds and countries, will come together to support their favourite teams, share in the excitement of the football matches and to celebrate the event. |
| World AIDS Vaccine Day |
| More than 25 years since the discovery of HIV, there have been some advances in addressing the pandemic, most notably the availability of Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) which has resulted in People living with HIV in Southern Africa being able to live long and healthy lives. HIV no longer carries the death tag it carried before treatment became available. |
| MOTHER’S DAY |
| Southern Africa joins several countries in the world to commemorate Mother’s Day on May 9. This is a special day for honouring mothers throughout the world. It is that time of the year when people take time to spoil the women who matter in their lives. |
| World Health Day |
| April 7 is World Health Day and this year the focus is on urbanisation and health. Running alongside is the "1000 cities - 1000 lives" campaign, which seeks to open up public spaces to health, whether it be activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean up campaigns or closing off portions of streets to motorised vehicles. |
| WORLD TB DAY 2010 |
| Southern Africa joins the rest of the world in commemorating World TB Day on March 24 under the campaign theme for this year; “On the move against tuberculosis: Innovate to accelerate action.” |
| International Women’s Day (IWD) |
| On March 8, the world will commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD) with the theme s “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all." The theme seeks to highlight the importance of ensuring equal human rights and opportunities for the progress of nations and communities. |
| Valentine’s Day |
| February 14 is Valentine’s Day, what has become known as the day for lovers. The day is synonymous with flowers and presents as lovers throughout the world take turns to spoil each other. |
World AIDS Day |
December 1 is World AIDS Day (WAD) and this year the event is being commemorated under the theme ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’.
According to the World AIDS Campaign, the theme was chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The theme also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that discriminate against people living with HIV (PLHIV), women and marginalised groups. |
| The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender based Violence |
It’s that time of the year again when the world commemorates the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV), an international campaign commemorated every year since 1991. The main objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about GBV as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels.
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| The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender based Violence |
It’s that time of the year again when the world commemorates the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV), an international campaign commemorated every year since 1991. The main objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about GBV as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels. |
Is there a link between HIV and Poverty? |
The world commemorated the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October. This year, the day was commemorated in tandem with the observance of the 20th anniversary of the Convention on Children’s Rights, which will be celebrated in November this year. Thus the plight of children and families living in poverty and the need to fulfill children's rights, in partnership with them and in keeping with the Convention, were the main areas of focus for this year’s commemorations.
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World Hospice and Palliative care Day |
On October the 10th, the world commemorates World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) under the theme; "Discovering your voice". The theme seeks to provide an opportunity for people living with chronic illnesses, their families and carers to speak out about hospice and palliative care and what it means to them. |
International Day of Older Persons |
OCTOBER 1 is the International Day of Older Persons. This year it is being commemorated under the theme “Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of Older persons: Towards a society for all ages.” |
| Children living with HIV |
| With the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) over the past years, more children born with HIV are growing into adolescence and adulthood. In previous times, it was thought children born with HIV would not survive for long. Reports show that many of them did not make it past their fifth birthday, but some survived. |
| World Breastfeeding Week |
| World Breastfeeding Week runs from August 1 to August 7 and this year it is being commemorated under the theme “Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Response: Are you ready?” This theme draws attention to the vital role that breastfeeding plays in emergency situations. |
| TB and HIV Under the Spotlight |
Journalists must do more to report effectively on HIV, AIDS and TB issues in Africa, prominent health organisations have said.
This came out of the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which started in Cape Town, South Africa and will end on the 22nd of July. |
| Male Circumcision (MC) |
| The high HIV incidence in southern Africa has been attributed to multiple concurrent partnerships in an environment that has low levels of male circumcision. As a result several African countries have adopted strategies aimed at promoting male circumcision and faithfulness between partners. |
| WORLD POPULATION DAY |
When girls stay in school and get an education, poverty has no chance
July 11 is World Population Day and this year we commemorate it at a time when the world is reeling from the global economic crisis. No one knows yet what the full scale of this global economic crisis will look like.
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| FATHER’S DAY |
June 21 is Father’s Day and this year it is being commemorated at a time when several countries have adopted the One–Love Campaign, a campaign that seeks to promote faithfulness within relationships.
This campaign is regional and countries like South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe are implementing it. |
| International Day of the African Child |
| On June 16 the world will commemorate an important day on the calendar, the International Day of the African Child. This is a day that takes us back to the 1976 Soweto uprising, when thousands of black schoolchildren took to the streets to protest against the South African apartheid regime’s policies, which made life a nightmare for each African child. |
| The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial 2009 |
| Every third Sunday in May, people around the world gather to honour and celebrate the lives of those who have been affected in some way, by the global HIV epidemic. |
| INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA |
| May 17 is International Day Against Homophobia and the theme this year is “Homosexuality knows no borders.”. The proposed goal for the 2009 campaign is to make the general public and more specifically, ethno-cultural communities of all backgrounds, more aware of gay and lesbian issues, and sexual diversity. |
| MOTHER’S DAY |
| AS the world commemorates Mothers’ Day on the 10th of May it would be important for journalists in southern Africa to allow the voices of mothers across the region to be heard. |
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| Tomorrow, South Africans will take to the polls to elect national and provincial leaders for the country. These elections will be the fourth held in South Africa’s 15-year-old democracy, and will represent one of the most diverse races for power in the southern African country since the end of apartheid rule. |
| INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2009 |
March 8 is International Women’s Day and this year the global call is for women and men to unite and end violence against women and girls.
Looking at the challenges that face southern Africa as a region, among them the hunger, poverty, high HIV infection rates, high incidences of rape and violence against women, failure by girl children to get an education and an inability by women to advocate for safer sex- this theme is perfect as it sums up what needs to happen for the violence to end. |
| Valentine's Day |
It is Valentine’s Day on February 14th and love is definitely in the air.
Judging from the millions of advertisements in the media and the colourful decorations on the display windows of many a shop, there is going to be much loving on Saturday, all around the world. |
| TB and HIV: Linked Epidemics, Linked Coverage |
If you have not written about the linkages between HIV infection and Tuberculosis, you have not started telling the health story of southern Africa!
TB is the leading killer of people living with HIV today and the media cannot afford to underestimate its seriousness.
Because of the weakening effect of HIV on a patient’s immune system, TB and HIV are closely linked. |
| Provider Initiated Testing and Counselling |
| Recently, with financing from the Global Fund, Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) has been implementing media activities focusing on Provider Initiated Testing and Counselling. These have included the filming of television and radio programme series, as well as the holding of training workshops and briefings with journalists on the topic. Provider Initiated Testing and Counselling (PITC) refers to a model of HIV testing and counselling whereby a test is offered to the client by a health service provider such as a medical doctor or nurse. |
| 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence |
Reports from Zimbabwe indicate that major hospitals have suspended maternity services leaving pregnant women, the majority of whom, cannot afford private healthcare services- stranded. Zimbabwe’s private health sector, just like other spheres of the economy, is now powered by the scarce foreign currency, which only a few have access to.
As a result, for many Zimbabwean women, being pregnant is now more stressful than exciting. It has also become dangerous as women are at risk of losing their lives or their babies because of the shortage of health professionals that is prevailing.
This is despite the fact that basic human rights say every woman has the right to have a child in a safe and supportive environment. |
| World Rural Women’s Day 2008 |
On 15 October, the world will commemorate World Rural Women’s Day – a day specially set aside, annually, to :
- raise the profile of rural women, and
- sensitise both government and the public on their crucial, yet largely unfulfilled roles and obligation to rural women
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| World Hospice and Palliative Care Day |
| On October 11, the world will commemorate World Hospice and Palliative Care Day under the theme “Hospice and Palliative Care: A human right.” The theme seeks to highlight that without access to the care they need, people affected by life limiting illnesses suffer unacceptable levels of distress that amount to a violation of their rights. |
| TB and HIV: Linking Coverage |
| According to UNAIDS (2008), tuberculosis remains the most common opportunistic infection for people living with HIV. It is a fact that a person living with HIV is more likely to succumb to TB and that a person with TB is more likely to be HIV positive. People living with HIV have been shown to be twice as likely to have multi-drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) as people who do not have HIV infection (WHO, 2008). |
| XV11 International AIDS Conference 2008 |
The XV11 International AIDS Conference will be held at Centro Banamex in Mexico City from the 3rd to the 8th of August 2008. The theme for the conference is Universal Access Now. The theme emphasises the need for continued urgency in the worldwide response to HIV and AIDS and for action on the part of all stakeholders. |
WORLD POPULATION DAY |
July 11 is ‘World Population Day’. This is a day established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989 and observed every year to raise awareness of global population issues. |
International Day of the African Child |
June 16, is International Day of the African Child. This is a day commemorated every year since 1991 in recognition of thousands of black school children in Soweto, South Africa, who took to the streets in 1976 to protest against the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured. |
FIRST HIV AND TB GLOBAL LEADERS FORUM and UNGASS 2008 |
The first HIV and TB Global Leaders Forum will be held on 9 June in New York. The forum is aimed at emphasising bold leadership in the global fight against HIV and TB and to draw attention to the urgent need for collaboration. TB kills up to half of all AIDS patients worldwide. The outcome of the discussions are anticipated to influence deliberations during the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS (UNGASS) which will be held on 10 and 11 June 2008 to review progress and address challenges to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. |
GLOBAL AIDS WEEK OF ACTION |
The Global AIDS Week of Action (GAWA) will be held from the 18th to the 24th of May 2008. The week provides an opportunity for HIV and AIDS activists to unite, generate political pressure and demand a stronger response from world leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS. |
| ‘World AIDS Orphans Day’ |
| May 7 is ‘World AIDS Orphans Day’. The Day was initiated by the FXB International, an NGO dedicated to combating poverty and the AIDS pandemic, to raise awareness about the plight of orphaned children. |
World Malaria Day |
April 25, marks the first World Malaria Day (WMD).
It was established at the 60th World Health Assembly in March 2007 after member states of the World Health Organisation agreed that greater awareness on malaria was needed. It was also approved in recognition of the fact that the world health community recognises malaria as a global emergency that knows no boundaries. |
WORLD TUBERCULOSIS DAY |
March 24 is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day. This is a day designed to build public awareness around tuberculosis.
Despite the fact that it is curable, TB is an epidemic that causes the deaths of millions of people each year, mostly in Africa. The linkages between TB and HIV and AIDS have made the situation even worse. Globally, 9.2 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths from TB occurred in 2006, of which 0.7 million cases and 0.2 million deaths were in HIV-positive people. (http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/index.html) |
International Women’s Day |
March 8 is International Women’s Day; a day set aside to promote women’s social and political rights and also a time of celebration of womanhood. Women all over the world commemorate this day through several activities.
The global theme for this year’s commemoration is “Shaping progress.” It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. |
| VALENTINE’S DAY |
February 14th is Valentine‘s Day.
This day is traditionally recognised as a day when lovers express their love for each other. There is a lot of excitement around this day with lovers taking the time to spoil each other in a bid to express their devotion to their partners. |
| STIGMA and DISCRIMINATION- what can the media do? |
A woman sits quietly away from the rest of her family. She has her meals using her own “special” crockery and cutlery.
She even has a special rug that she sits on. If she dares to sit anywhere else, there will be no peace in that home.
People take extra care when they visit the toilet after her.
You would think the people she lives with are not her family but they are.
It all started when it was established that all her illnesses were a result of her being HIV positive. Her family began to treat her like she was not worthy of love and attention. They began to treat her like she was a disgrace and someone who ought to be kept away from everyone else.
Hers is not the only such sad story. |
| LEADERSHIP is theme for World AIDS DAY |
| The theme for this year’s World AIDS Day is Leadership. It will continue to be promoted with the slogan Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise. |
16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence |
HOW many women have been beaten, murdered or ill-treated in different ways during the course of this year in your country?
Judging by the number of headlines coming from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, among others, of women who were raped and girl children who have been sexually abused and infected with HIV and AIDS it is not difficult to conclude that thousands, if not millions of women throughout the world have suffered some form of Gender Based Violence in their lives.
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International Day For the Eradication of Poverty |
October 17, is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The observance of this day can be tracked back to 1987 when over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. |
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day |
The Southern African region joins the rest of the world in commemorating World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD), on 6 October, 2007. This is a day when millions of people around the world celebrate, support and raise awareness about the global hospice and palliative care effort and need. |
| Media Literacy |
A recent conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, brought to the attention of communication practitioners the importance of the concept of media literacy - the ability to sift through, and analyse media messages for truthfulness and accuracy. Lynda Bardfield, the Associate Director for Strategic Communication with Family Health International (FHI), gave the paper, entitled Linking behaviours: a challenge for strategic communication professionals at the practicum on alcohol, gender and HIV, organised by the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet). Over 80 experts in the fields of advocacy, mass media, interpersonal media and HIV counselling attended the practicum.
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| World Breastfeeding
Week: The Power of One |
| FROM 1-7 August, World Breastfeeding Week will be commemorated
in 120 countries in the world. This year’s theme is "The
Power of One: Breastfeeding Within One Hour of Birth”
which seeks to emphasise the powerful benefits of breastfeeding
an infant within its first hour of birth as the first
step towards reducing mortality of infants, as well as
children under the age of five. In fact, this can save
one million babies.
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| Men’s involvement and
participation can make all the difference in women’s lives. |
| Strong words but quite true. The theme for this year’s
World Population Day to be commemorated on 11 July is Men as Partners in Maternal Health. Haven't
we all heard of instances where fathers alone are still
making the decisions about when and who their daughter
marries, or whether they complete their education or not? |
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| African Day of the
Child, 2007 |
| Soweto, 1976 - Thousands of black school children take
to the streets in a protest march against their inferior
education systems under the then apartheid system, demanding
the right to be taught in their own languages. More than
a hundred people are killed in the marches and over a
thousand injured. |
| WHERE is Health Reporting in the region |
| A Health Reporting Conference under the theme “Opening
up New Possibilities through Dialogue”, took place from
the 10th to the 11th of May in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Organised by Wits University and Africa Media Assignments
the conference sought to find out the state of health
reporting in South Africa. Although the conference was
for South African journalists, the issues that came out
of it are of importance to all journalists south of the
Sahara as the issues are the same across the region. |
| Global
AIDS Week of Action, 2007 |
| The second Global AIDS Week of Action will be held from
the 20th to the 25th of May 2007. The week provides an
opportunity for activists to unite, generate political
pressure and demand a stronger response from world leaders
in the response to HIV and AIDS. The week starts with
the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day on Sunday
to recognise those who have died of AIDS around the world. |
| Disability:
Is enough being done in your country for them? |
| According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10
percent of the world's population is made up of people
living with a disability significant enough to make a
difference to their daily lives. Eighty percent of these
live in the developing world, with a larger proportion
in rural rather than urban areas. |
