United Nations Development Programme (New York) - June 18, 2002
Surveys confirm the heightened vulnerability of girls: the infection rate among boys age 15 to 19 is eight per cent, while the rate for girls is 30 per cent.
The rate of infection among adults in Togo more than tripled between 1997 and 2001, rising from two per cent to seven per cent.
Studies funded by UNDP have found that more than 90 per cent of Togolese know how the AIDS virus is transmitted and how to prevent infection, but poverty and illiteracy are obstacles to effective prevention.
UNDP is allocating US$100,000 for the project, being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women and Child Protection.
Ashira Assih-Aissah, Minister of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women and Child Protection, said that the project is targeted at the most vulnerable groups. In addition to poverty and illiteracy, other risk factors for women and girls include low social and economic status, migration from rural areas and prostitution, she noted.
The project will work at the community level to increase awareness of risky behaviour and help vulnerable groups find alternatives by mobilizing civil society to help improve social, political and cultural attitudes. It will also target assistance to women selling products and working as porters in markets, helping them promote their businesses, gain access to small loans and improve their livelihoods.
Akouavi Assagbavi, representing an organization of women market porters in Lom , said: "No one is concerned about our well-being, and we are exploited because many of us are illiterate." The project will help her organization's members advance their own interests and open access to loans and better jobs, she said.
It will also help those infected with HIV, who face poverty and neglect, regain self-esteem.
UNDP assistance to Togo on HIV/AIDS focuses on support for strategic planning and integration of the campaign against HIV/AIDS into the national poverty reduction strategy, said C cile Molinier, UNDP Resident Representative. These efforts include steps to strengthen the anti-HIV/AIDS component in poverty reduction activities in local communities, with a focus on women, human rights, advocacy and information and communication.
The UN system in Togo is finalizing a joint project against HIV/AIDS that will support an integrated community response in Vo, Kozah and T|ne districts, noted Ms. Molinier. The initiative will promote information and awareness against risky behaviours, access to medical and and psycho-social care, and help prevent mother-to-child transmission.
For further information, please contact Essi Amegee, UNDP Togo, or Nicholas Gouede, UNDP Communications Office.
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