Cambodia: Earth Hour

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia is celebrating the campaign of “Earth Hour” amidst the world campaign at 8:30PM on 26 March 2011. The event is known as the biggest campaign in contributing to the reduction of Climate Change.

Around 60 private companies in Phnom Penh city will turn off the light for an hour to join with the world in climate change. Over million people around the globe will also join the event to commit to actions that go beyond the hour.

There is increasing in number of cities participating in Earth Hour this year in further proof of Earth Hour’s exponential growth.

Protect Ourselves, Care the World

HIV and AIDS were known as an incurable disease which became the most popular actor around the world against human being. Not only you, but also your relatives, your family, your friends, and your society will be affected, if you don’t recognize it as the strongest disease of the world. You can’t even touch it, see it, nor task it. In contrast, it can touch you easily whenever you ignore it or forget about it. After it touches you, you cannot take it away from yourself for the whole life and you will stay with it until the end of your life. It’s not the nasty disease, it’s very gentle to come in your body, and it’s gentle to kill the bodyguards in your body one by one until you became unwittingly dead. It’s not the final destination of your life; it’s what you have to protect yourself from transmission widely.

In the setting of a concentrated epidemic, the main focus for youth interventions is recently targeted toward most at risk people (MARP), Orphan Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs), Injecting Drug User/Drug Users (IDU/DU), and Entertaining Workers (EW), which were defined as those who are practicing high risk behaviour. Why those become the target of HIV and AIDS? It’s because those young people did not recognize the strength of HIV and AIDS nor how it affects the body. Furthermore, they may get unclear information about the HIV and AIDS. Be sure, HIV and AIDS still exist in the world and are not far from us. So, protect ourselves to care the world from HIV and AIDS.

POEM FROM AFRICAN CHILD

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN CHILD..
N WAS NOMINATED FOR BEST POEM OF 2005

When i born,i blackWhen i grow up,i black

When i go in sun,.i black

When i scared, i black

When i sick,i black

n when i die i am still black!!!!

AND U DA WHITE FELLA

When u born,u pink

When u grow up,u white

When u go in sun,u red

when u cold,u blue

When u scared,u yellow

When u sick,u green

AND when u die,u gray

And u call me COLORED?????

HIV and AIDS, the Killers of the World

HIV remains a concern of the world, and many countries have tried its best to fight against HIV epidemic transmission. Numbers of population are increased, and most of people know what HIV&AIDS is, but numbers of HIV infected people are not cut down. Cambodia is one of the few countries that has the highest prevalence of HIV&AIDS in Asia and has seen declining HIV prevalence.

According to the Cambodia Gender Assessment, MoWA 2008, HIV transmission from husbands to wives accounts for 42 percent and peri-natal transmission from mother to child account for 35 percent of all new infections. HIV prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 decreased to 0.9% in 2006 from a revised estimate of 1.2% in 2003 the new estimate was showed by the 2006 HIV Sentinel Surveillance (HSS) and the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS). HIV prevalence among persons in the general population aged 15-49 years living in urban areas remains higher than among those living in rural areas, also there is higher HIV prevalence among women; 43% of new infections are occurring in married women, most of whom are believed to have been infected by their husbands. In addition, the HIV epidemic in Cambodia is concentrated in high-risk groups and is primarily driven by the sex industry, although there are indications of rising prevalence amongst injecting drug using populations and amongst men having sex with men (MSM). The increasing trend in HIV prevalence was stopped, reversed and has since steadily declined. A multi-sectoral collaboration led by the government with significant contributions from NGOs, donors, and other institutions has contributed to the reduction in HIV prevalence. Various prevention strategies tailored for different population groups included promotion of consistent use and social incorporation of HIV&AIDS in school curricula, community discussion, needle/syringe exchange, and use of media.

Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC) is one of organization, but it is known as the premier media organization working to improve status of women in Cambodia via producing TV and radio programs which are broadcast on Radio FM102, local TV channels, Contact provinces, and Mobile Broadcasting Units (MBUs). HIV&AIDS, Domestic Violence, rape, trafficking and so on are the main issues WMC has raised to contribute to the reduction of HIV/AIDS infection and to promoting the positive social change in Cambodia. In short, we hope the concern of the world will be relieved with the participation of people and the contribution of global donors as the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9) did in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia.

Empowering people, Strengthening Network

Empowering people, Strengthening Network is the main theme of the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP9), which was held on 9th-13th August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. The main focuses in the community forum to be discussed were Youth Forum, People living with HIV (PLHIV) Forum, Injecting Drug User (IDU) Forum, Women’s Forum, LGBT/IQ Forum, Men who have sex with men (MSM) Forum, Sex Workers’ Forum, Interfaith Forum, and Women’s Court. At the closing ceremony, the chair of ICAAP9 has reported that there were 5,547 participants (included 3,824 registered delegates, 2,234 abstracts, 138 abstract reviewers, 262 media delegates, 122 exhibitions, 218 volunteers, 291 security staff, and 589 technical staff) from 78 countries from around the Asia and the Pacific. 5 plenary sessions, 24 symposiums, and 2,334 abstracts were received and presented in the ICAAP9. Cambodia was one of the 10 top countries which most applicants were selected ranging as from Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Philippines. There were 487 participants receiving scholarship from the ICAAP9 included 130 full scholarships, 90 partial scholarships, and 267 free registrations.

The numbers of participants will be increased in the ICAAP10 which was supposed to be held in Busan, Korea, ASAP President Myung Hwan Cho, Min-Ki Kim of the 10th ICAAP Local Organizing Committee said at the media conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Busan, South Korea’s second largest city will be the next host for the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific with the main theme Different Voices-United Action. The 10th ICAAP will strive to bring together people of various backgrounds in the region to unite their action against HIV and AIDS. The website is being standby at www.icaap10.org . Please stay tune to visit the update information of ICAAP10.

The 9th ICAAP on the move toward an HIV free society

Today, I’m proud to be one of the ICAAP participants amongst others from the around the world. The 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) is being held from 9th-13th August 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. This ICAAP IX is attended by more than 4,000 people from 65 countries, not only in Asia and the Pacific region but also in Africa, Europe and the Americas. The main theme is “Empowering People, Strengthening Network. The largest regional events on HIV and AIDS, ICAAP, bright together people from different countries, religions, and different spheres of life working on HIV of one platform to discuss AIDS which is connected to many aspects of life. The events of ICAAP is an opportunity to fill the gaps of lacking network, low capacity and weaker links between the society and the government and looking for more collaborative future approaches. Thus, ICAAP is an important milestone to reenergize, revitalize –for what could be a long way toward an HIV free society.

At last, I hope that through this even, ICAAP will also be a chance to share experiences, wealth of knowledge and resources, and most importantly to empower people and strengthen network around the globe.