
‘’If I hear that my classmate has HIV, I will still be his friend”
Fighting discrimination
On 17 August , Noël, a 7-year-old boy, received a thunderous applause for his testimony on HIV/AIDS in front of an audience of more than 400 people in Goma. It was during an awareness raising session on HIV/AIDS (UN CARES) organized for the United Nations employees and their dependents.
“What would you do if you hear that a classmate of yours had HIV?” asked one of the facilitators in a room full of mostly young people, women and children.
The young boy calmly answered: “If I hear that my classmate has HIV, I will still be his friend”.
Informing and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS
This short and spontaneous answer summarizes perfectly the message conveyed by Fernando Arroyo, Deputy Head of United Nations OCHA in DRC to the United Nations personnel.

“HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. Anyone can have it — men, women, adolescents, older adults, the poor, the rich, White or Black, the vulnerable and the oppressed. It is we who discriminate the vulnerable, the oppressed, the poorly treated. We ignore them, we let them suffer, then we let them die. If we want to put an end to HIV/AIDS, we must begin by healing our hearts”.
The adults were impressed by Noël’s response, but it was also a reminder of the need to talk openly about HIV/AIDS to children, to make them aware of risky behaviors by having them take part in various awareness-raising plays.

“I was surprised at my son’s answer. But I think it’s a result of discussions we have in our family. The UNCARES Day helped me talk openly about HIV/AIDS with my children”, declared Ange-Mimy Sikubwabo, Noël’s mother and a staff member of the World Food Programme.
Breaking the silence to save lives
According to UNAIDS, there were 2.3 million people around the world in 2016 with HIV/AIDS, 150,000 of them were children. In DRC alone, 22,000 people died from AIDS during the same year, leaving more than 150,000 orphaned children.

Faced with this sobering fact, the OCHA Deputy Head of Office reminds that the solution to HIV/AIDS is found not only in laboratories or offices. It is also found through awareness raising sessions in communities, schools, churches, mosques and on the street. The solution lies in the hands of young people who have always been the engines of social change.
“Last year, I learned the definition of AIDS. Today, I learned that an HIV- positive mother can give birth to a healthy baby if she goes to the hospital and receives anti-retroviral treatment during her pregnancy”, declared 11-year-old Christelle, at the end of the awareness raising session.

A call by the United Nations to break the silence
Established in May 2008 by the United Nations Secretary General, the “UN CARES” initiative offers a system of action and collaboration which provides access to quality information and services for United Nations personnel and their families.

Staff and their dependents meet once a year to discuss HIV/AIDS and to fight against discrimination in the workplace.
« It is impossible to efficiently fight HIV/AIDS without a well informed and well equipped staff » says Marthe Idumbo, HIV/AIDS focal point, UNICEF/Goma.
The 2017 session was held at WFP office in Goma with more than 400 participants from the 14 agencies and the United Nations mission in the DRC.
By Djaounsede Madjiangar, UNICEF’s Communication Specialist for the Eastern Zone, DRC.
Translated from French by Marguerite McMillan
