UNAIDS appoints Preity Zinta as a Goodwill Ambassador

Actor Preity Zinta has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in India. Miss Zinta has accepted the appointment as Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). As UNAIDS Ambassador, Miss Zinta will raise awareness on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, with an emphasis on women, children and the oppressed. Through her many contacts in the Film fraternity as well as the arts, Miss Zinta will support the UNAIDS mission of empowering people – especially women and girls – to protect themselves and live full, productive lives. Miss Zinta will also advocate in combating the stigma and discrimination faced by the people living with HIV through her universal appeal and her Indian Premier League team ‘Kings XI Punjab’.

Speaking on the occasion Preity Zinta said:

“All human beings, wherever we are, have the basic right to be happy and healthy. I see this as a great opportunity to bring the realities faced by people living with HIV to the forefront and to call for attention to the injustices faced by them. By putting people first, our priorities are clear, and with many hands - what is difficult becomes easy - what is impossible becomes possible.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Charles Gilks, Country Coordinator, UNAIDS, said:

“Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrities with a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of people living with HIV. Highly talented in their own right, they all share an ability to bring issues to global attention, to galvanize support from the public and leading decision makers, and to raise urgently, needed support and attention for vital UN programmes.”

“Today, I am very pleased to appoint Preity Zinta as UNAIDS Special Representative,” said Prof. Charles Gilks, UNAIDS Country Coordinator. “Through her determination to make a difference– I know that she will be a strong and eloquent advocate for an enhanced national AIDS response. I am also confident that the unique presence and passion that Miss .Zinta brings to this issue will remind concerned citizens across the subcontinent of the urgent need for serious and sustained action in the global fight against AIDS – and the vital role of the United Nations in this effort.”

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassadors represent the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which coordinates the HIV/AIDS work of UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA,UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. They raise the profile of HIV work and the fight against stigma and discrimination on HIV issues for every affected population around the world.

Contact:

Zainab Nedou| UNAIDS India| cell. +91 98103 83456 | nedouz@unaids.org

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland—with staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. The Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank. Contributing to achieving global commitments to universal access to comprehensive interventions for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is the number one priority for UNAIDS. Visit the UNAIDS website at www.unaids.org

Posted by :

Karishma Jethwani

Avian Media

karishma@avian-media.com

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Poor nations should consider overall health picture

Families in some poor nations are trapped in cycles of illness and poverty as authorities fail to tackle chronic health problems or meet goals on child health and tuberculosis, scientists said on Tuesday 2nd March 2010.

British and American researchers found countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe with the highest rates of HIV and chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are also failing to meet goals on reducing child death rates and the spread of tuberculosis.

Lesotho, for example, has seen a 25 percent rise in infant death rates over the past few decades and has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, they wrote.

In 2000, world leaders from 189 countries signed up to the Millennium Development Goals to reduce child mortality by two-thirds and to halt and reverse the spread of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV by 2015.

But the researchers said tackling both chronic problems like heart disease and infectious diseases like tuberculosis at the same time could be far more effective than pursuing a narrow focus against a few diseases named in globally-agreed targets.

Reducing HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- by 1 percent, or chronic diseases by 10 percent could help boost progress towards child health and tuberculosis targets by the equivalent of more than a decade of economic development, they said.

"It is important to look at the entire health experience of individuals and families and not focus on just one or a few diseases," said Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who worked on the study with colleagues from the universities of Oxford and California San Francisco.

"Success in global health means tackling the daily, interconnected risks people living in poor countries face, whether those risks are chronic or infectious."

Tackling joint epidemics of chronic and infectious diseases could especially help countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers said, where progress towards goals had been slowest.

They also said Eastern Europe was far behind on tuberculosis goals, a failure they said was "partly because of an explosive and uncontained chronic disease epidemic in the 1990s."

The study found it was not simply lack of money or infrastructure that hampered health progress, but that long-term diseases like HIV, heart disease and diabetes could trap households in "vicious cycles of illness and poverty".

"Traditional reasons for slow progress, such as economic development or health spending, are only a small part of the story about why poorer countries are falling behind," David Suckler of Oxford University wrote in the study in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine journal.

"Future progress will crucially depend on finding a way to break the cycle of illness and poverty caused by HIV and chronic illnesses." (Editing by Janet Lawrence)


Source: http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6210M1.htm


Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Chief Operating Officer required for NGO working for HIV/AIDS affected Family

Background

FXB Suraksha is a non profit company working for the rights of children and their families affected by HIV/AIDS. FXB Suraksha works for the children and their families affected by AIDS and poverty to provide them with education, medical and psychosocial support with training for income generation activities for a sustained livelihood beyond the project period.

Today FXB Suraksha reaches out to 3.5 lakh direct beneficiaries and covers an area with a population of approximately 13.5 million. At presently they work extensively in 15 states and Union Territories of the country with an intention to make a significant presence felt across the nation.

More information on the organization is available on their website www.fxbsuraksha.org

Reason for Hire:

This is a challenging position directly reporting to CEO and Chairman of the Governing Board, closely interacting with the functional directors, and supervising, managing and providing direction to all India activities of FXB India Suraksha.

Against this backdrop, FXB Suraksha is seeking to recruit a Chief Operating Officer (COO) with patience, resilience and a passion to work for empowerment of the marginalized and to bring out positive social change.

Roles and Responsibilities

The main responsibilities for the position will be to lead the organization and carry out all operational functions. The incumbent will also directly supervise the income generation activities, fund raising and social entrepreneurship projects. The incumbent will be supported by the other functional directors in that effort. Some of the key roles and responsibilities include:

· Provide strategic leadership for the development of FXB India Suraksha and its ongoing and future programs.

· Oversee design, marketing, promotion, delivery and quality of programs, products and services.

· Provide strong leadership and direction to FXB Suraksha staff and build a high performing management team committed to the organizations vision and mission.

· Effectively manage the human resources according to organizations personnel policies and procedures.

· Recommend yearly budget for Chief Executive and Board approval and prudently manage the organization’s resources.

· Develop, maintain and implement sound financial management in accordance with FXB India Suraksha’s standards and controls.

· To identify innovative strategies, interventions, opportunities and gaps for livelihood programmes (including advocacy) in the project areas/ regions.

· Developing partner relationships and support partners’ capacity and abilities in program, people and financial management.

· Lead planning to ensure that FXB Suraksha is acknowledged as an expert in the sector and maximize potential for influencing the sector in India.

· Oversee fundraising planning and implementation, including identifying resource requirements, researching funding sources, establishing strategies to approach funders, submitting proposals and administrating fundraising records and documentation

· Represent FXB Suraksha in a variety of forums and maintain external relationships within the sector including national government, key national and international NGOs, donors, academic, media and research institutions.

· Build the image of the organization and its mission, programs, products and services consistently relevant stakeholders

Must have:

· 10+ years of professional experience with minimum 3 years in a leadership role (at least functional), with experience in program planning and design, implementation, compliance, and Monitoring and Evaluation.

· Demonstrated business acumen (strong financial management skills), analytic skills, and administrative abilities.

· A record of attracting and retaining funds and funders.

· Aptitude and capacity for networking to establish effective working relationships and partnerships with diverse stakeholders.

· Excellent communication skills and capability to represent the organization in professional forums.

Preferable:

· Experience of reporting directly to a board of trustees/ Governors/ Chief executive.

· Experience and knowledge in marketing, small entrepreneurship development programs, banking, micro-enterprise or microfinance.

· International experience / exposure would be an advantage.

· Language skill in French will be an added advantage

Location: Based in HQ in NOIDA, Delhi NCR with frequent traveling all over India

Interested candidates can send in their CVs along with three references and a cover note to coofxb@gmail.com. Or contact us at 91 22 24371068/ 24371194.

The last date for submitting applications is 5^th Feb 2010. Only short listed candidates would be contacted.

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.