southern africa: UN Call for Special Support for African Women Draws Condemnation

A United Nations proposal to give special assistance to women as part of the effort to relieve southern Africa's humanitarian crisis would unjustly discriminate against African men, who are disproportionately affected by illnesses and war-related injuries, a group of health organisations said. The group took issue with a recent statement by Carol Bellamy, executive director of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), who said women and children must be at the center of any response to southern Africa's humanitarian crisis, particularly the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are battling drought-induced food shortages and AIDS. One in four adults in these countries lives with HIV or AIDS; 2.35 million children in these countries have lost one or both parents to AIDS; and 600,000 children under 15 years of age in the region are HIV-positive themselves, U.N. figures show.