• We need more focused efforts to scale up interventions for children affected by HIV/AIDS. We also need to change the commonly held belief that AIDS is mainly a problem for adults, not something that affects children. Too often it is overlooked that HIV/AIDS has a child's face.

• “Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS” will help to achieve a seismic shift in knowledge and scale and catapult the issue of children and AIDS into the public eye and onto the public agenda.

• Public attention needs to be drawn to how AIDS redefines childhood in a way that is qualitatively different from any other disease, and that the pandemic threatens the very nature of childhood for millions of children . As a result of the campaign, when people think of AIDS they will think of millions of children growing up alone, children growing up too fast, children not growing up at all.

• The impact of HIV/AIDS on children can be best highlighted by explaining what is missing from their lives. Missing elements - elements that prevent children from living a happy childhood.

• Missing my Mum, Missing my Dad. 15 million children are missing their mothers, missing their fathers because of AIDS. By 2025 there will be 25 million children missing one or both of their parents.

• Missing Childhood. Millions more children are missing out on their childhood, because they can't go to school. With their parents gone, they have to grow up too soon to fill the shoes of adults and provide for their families.

• Missing a Future. Children are missing the other essential caregivers who usually stand in when parents are gone and who can safeguard their future. Schools are missing teachers; hospitals are missing doctors and nurses. In the worst affected countries an entire generation is missing.

• Missing Information. Around 70 percent of children lack the information, skills and services essential for prevention. Millions of children cannot name a single way to protect themselves from HIV infection. Millions of young intravenous drug users are unaware of the dangers of sharing needles.

• Missing Options. Many, many children, but in particular girls are growing up without the option of protecting themselves from AIDS. In many countries girls lack the power to demand that their partners wear condoms. Girls and boys, made vulnerable or orphaned by AIDS, are forced by economic necessity to engage in unsafe “survival” or prostitution with infected older men. Girls and young women are physically more vulnerable to HIV infection than boys. In the 15- 24 year old age group they account for 75% of infections in sub- Saharan Africa, the worst affected region.
• Missing Medicine. Over 90% of infected pregnant women are not being offered the drugs that could prevent their babies from being born HIV positive. Nearly 99% of children infected with HIV are missing out on the drugs that could keep them alive.

• Missing Protection. The majority of orphans and vulnerable children are missing protection, care or support. They are missing the protection of their families, often drop-out of school and don't have access to basic health services.

• Missing You. Your voice is missing in an effort that can make a real difference . We are not just asking for people's money. We want you to ask your elected officials what they are doing to help. Tell your friends and colleagues. Spread the word that countless millions of children are suffering because of what AIDS has taken from them. They need your voice and your help to “Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS”.

• “Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS” will mobilize additional funds and intensify and accelerate support to countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe to keep present and future generations safe from HIV infection and help vulnerable children, adolescents and young people affected by HIV/AIDS.

• The campaign focuses on four key result areas, known as the ‘Four Ps' . These areas have been the subject of growing local, national and international action over recent years but have still to gain more momentum to make a real difference in beginning to reverse and halting the spread of HIV and AIDS among children, adolescents and young people.

•  ‘Four Ps' include:

• Primary Prevention : More than halve the number of new infections among youth by 2010. The only sure way to turn back the tide of the AIDS pandemic is through primary prevention. The cornerstone of primary prevention is safe sex. UNICEF embraces the “ABC” approach for educating young people on how to protect themselves from HIV – Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use Condoms. The ABC approach has been endorsed worldwide as the most effective and comprehensive method of saving lives. Currently, only 30 percent of young people have access to the information, skills and services that are essential for HIV/AIDS prevention. The campaign aims to expand coverage to 80 percent by 2010.

• Prevention of Mother-to-Child-Transmission (PMTCT): Increase coverage of the proportion of pregnant women living with HIV who are being offered services to prevent mother-to-child transmission. of HIV from 3 percent to 80 percent by 2010. The vast majority of the half a million children under the age of 15 who die from AIDS-related illnesses every year become infected through mother-to-child-transmission. Yet the vast majority of women living with HIV have are not being offered treatment to prevent the infection from being passed on to their children during pregnancy, child birth and breastfeeding. The campaign aims to increase coverage of women being offered these services from 3 percent to 80 percent by 2010.

• Paediatric treatment : Provide antibiotics such as cotrimoxazole and anti-retroviral therapy to children. Children living with HIV/AIDS are likely to die from opportunistic infections and common childhood infections if they have no access to treatment to prevent the infections and to anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy. Antibiotics such as cotrimoxazole protects children against opportunistic infections including malaria and pneumonia, has been shown to reduce mortality in HIV-positive children by as much as 43 percent. At just US$ 0.03 a day, cotrimoxazole is a feasible, low-cost intervention that could make a real difference to children exposed to HIV. Yet only one percent of children born to HIV infected mothers have access to it.

• Children respond well to anti-retroviral treatment. However, despite the enormous progress achieved in improving access to treatment for adults, currently less than 2 percent of children who need anti-retroviral therapy are receiving it. “Unite for Children. Unite against AIDS” aims to promote and establish better follow-up, identification, care and support of children in need of both cotrimoxazole and ARV treatment.
• The greatest need for ARV and cotrimoxazole treatment among children is in sub-Saharan Africa , with respectively 370,000 and 3.5 million children. The campaign aims to provide access to medical treatment to 80 percent of the HIV-positive children in need by 2010.

• Protection, care and support for children affected by HIV/AIDS : Reach 80 percent of the children most in need of protection and essential services and support by 2010. Despite displaying extraordinary resilience in assuming the care of children orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS, extended families are stretched to the breaking point. The campaign will support programmes to strengthen families; mobilize community responses; ensure access for orphans and vulnerable children to essential services, including education and healthcare; ensure that governments protected the most vulnerable children through improved policy and legislation; and raise awareness at all levels to create a supportive environment for children and families affected by HIV/AIDS.