Norway Devotes $1.2M to United Nations for Fighting Spread of HIV Among Peacekeepers
Norway announced Friday that it has allocated $1.2 million to help United Nations peacekeeping missions fight the spread of HIV, the Associated Press reports. Norway announced the funding project during Friday's U.N. Security Council meeting on AIDS. Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Kristin Sydnes said, "We know that in Africa, 10 times as many people die of AIDS as in armed conflicts. This is a threat to security and stability in many African countries" (Associated Press, 1/19). Sydnes added, "[I]n many countries HIV/AIDS is more prevalent among soldiers than in the general population. Furthermore, conflict situations increase the risk of becoming infected for peacekeeping forces, humanitarian personnel and vulnerable groups such as women and children." Sydnes noted that the "many armed conflicts ... in Africa are contributing to the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS on the continent" (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs release, 1/19). Norway's two-year membership on the security council began on Jan. 1 (Associated Press, 1/19). In July, the security council called for countries that contribute peacekeeping troops to counsel their soldiers on STD and HIV transmission and to track HIV/AIDS incidence among their ranks (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/7).
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