Five local communities from around the world were honoured here with the newly created Red Ribbon
Awards for their outstanding contributions to the frontline response to HIV and AIDS.
UNAIDS Special Representative
HRH the Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway presented the award for best practice in overcoming women’s inequality to Zimbabwe’s
Girl Child Network, which counsels and supports girls in rural areas, including victims of sexual abuse.
The Girl Child
Network was joined on the honours list by a Ukrainian lobbying group that works with public institutions to combat discrimination,
secure treatment and organize support for people living with HIV/AIDS; a Thai organization that successfully campaigned to
bring anti-retroviral treatment into the country’s public-health system; a youth-led network of communities in Zambia that
sews school uniforms for AIDS orphans; and a Bangladeshi project to educate, protect and advocate for sex workers and their
families.
The 2006 Red Ribbon Award winners, by category, are:
1. Providing access to care, treatment
and support for people living with HIV/AIDS:
Thai Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Thailand
2. Addressing
stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS: The All Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Ukraine
3.
Addressing gender inequalities that fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic: The Girl Child Network, Zimbabwe
4. Promoting HIV/AIDS
prevention programmes: Durjoy Nari Shongo, Bangladesh
5. Providing support to children orphaned by AIDS and other
vulnerable children: Mboole Rural Development, Zambia
Nearly 600 communities around the world were nominated for
the Award. Through a rigorous review process, a committee of 50 international HIV and AIDS experts identified the top 25 candidates,
who were invited to attend the AIDS 2006 conference.
An international jury that included the Norwegian Crown Princess,
Oscar nominee Naomi Watts, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson and pioneering doctor Paul Farmer whittled the 25 finalists
down to five, one in each award category.
“The Red Ribbon Award is a great opportunity to bring communities together
that have fought this disease,” said Kemal Dervis, United Nations Development Programme Administrator. “Sometimes they work
in extremely difficult situations, in contexts of war or extreme poverty, and yet they have found ways despite these obstacles
to make things happen, to generate some real success on the ground.”
“You know the challenges, the many disappointments,
the small and large victories that come with AIDS prevention work on the ground and it is thanks to the work of people like
you that we already can see some successes in fighting AIDS in certain countries,” said UNAIDS Special Representative HRH
the Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, speaking at the award ceremony.
The Crown Princess presented the Red Ribbon
Award for best practice in overcoming women’s inequality to Zimbabwe’s Girl Child Network, which counsels and supports girls
in rural areas, including victims of sexual abuse."
Each of the five winners receives US$20,000 in prize
money, while the other 20 finalist communities are each awarded US$5,000. The checks will be presented to the finalists on
World AIDS Day, 1 December 2006.
The Red Ribbon Award, making its debut this week in Toronto, will henceforth
be presented every two years at the International AIDS Conference. It provides a unique opportunity to support and publicize
the most outstanding and least recognized experts in the global effort to stop the epidemic.
The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) is leading the Red Ribbon Award, working in partnership with UNAIDS, the Community and Leadership
Program Committees of the XVI International AIDS Conference and the governments of Canada, Norway, Austria, Finland and Ireland.
Other partners include Care International and UNESCO.
More details of the real-life stories of these communities
and the challenges they face in responding to the HIV epidemic are available at: www.redribbonaward.org.
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