UFI on the Move
Report from the UN: Countering the Specter of HIV/AIDS
By Cecil Ash and Linda Ash, Special UFI Representatives at the United
Nations
June 1, 2005
In preparation
for the June 2nd United Nations Conference on HIV/AIDS, we are meeting with
a number of key UN delegates whose countries are being devastated by the terrible
pandemic. For such countries, UFI 's Stay Alive program offers to fill a much-needed
niche in the education of youth, whose morals, we are told, are rapidly eroding
due to unprecedented cultural changes exacerbated by Hollywood and by ill-designed
UN programs. Stay Alive not only addresses the root behavioral cause of HIV/AIDS,
but in the process also promotes family values that vastly increase the possibility
that youth will grow up to live long, happy and productive lives.
One afternoon, at the invitation of a key delegate, we visited with him and his wife in their home. They were gracious hosts, politely offering us drinks before we got down to business. After our presentation, the delegate commented that the benefit he sees in the Stay Alive program is that it generates a discussion of a subject that unfortunately remains taboo among his people. People consider the disease shameful, he explained, and therefore don't discuss either the causes or the ways to prevent it, even though its effects are calamitous. Having parents and guardians discuss the causes of AIDS and the effects of proper choices will bring about open discussion of the problem.
Our meeting with him and others has revealed that at the present, the principal impediment to the introduction of this powerful program in the countries that most need it is simply a lack of financial resources needed to train teachers and acquire materials. To date, most of the appropriations of the UN have gone to programs that promote abortion and contraceptives as a way to prevent HIV/AIDS. We are hopeful that someday soon we can approach these countries and say, “Not only is Stay Alive a good program, but here are the funds to begin to implement it.” Then we would really have their attention.
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