34.3 million people in the world have AIDS -- 24.5 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly 19 million have died from AIDS, 3.8 million of them children under the age of 15 (UNAIDS).  The Convention on the Rights of the Child states, "in all countries in the world, there are children living in exceptionally difficult conditions and such children need special consideration."  This document is the most widely accepted of international conventions, and together with Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1924, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly and recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, it recognizes the need for special protection of children and the necessity of international cooperation to provide that protection.  However, despite the clarity of international law and international norms on this issue, the international community is virtually ignoring its obligation to the children who need it.  Countries who are party to these conventions are turning a blind eye to children within their own borders, and the thought of extending aid to children of other countries is seen as absurd.  Yet that aid is exactly what the international law necessitates.

    The situation of children in southern Africa demands nation and international action, and yet it is receiving neither.  AIDS has wiped out a generation in that region.  13.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS, 12.1 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/aids/stories/overview/).  Still, the epidemic continues to spread.  It affects the children of southern Africa in many ways, leaving them without parents, caregivers, or a source of income, infecting them through mother to child transmission, forcing them to die alone and shunned from society.  Yet, most of the governments of these countries ignore the problem or worse, de-legitimize the children's suffering by questioning whether or not there is even a connection between HIV and AIDS.  These children are alone, sick, and dying.  They need education, drugs, and guardians.  If their native countries cannot or will not support them, it is the responsibility of the international community to step in and fulfill their obligations from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  These children must not be abandoned.
 
 

    In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.  States Parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, States Parties shall undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation.   States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.  For the purpose of guaranteeing and promoting the rights set forth in the present Convention, States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.  A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State.  States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.  States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: (a) To diminish infant and child mortality; (b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care; (c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; (d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers;   States Parties undertake to promote and encourage international co-operation with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right recognized in the present article. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.  States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.  States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for the child, both within the State Party and from abroad. In particular, where the person having financial responsibility for the child lives in a State different from that of the child, States Parties shall promote the accession to international agreements or the conclusion of such agreements, as well as the making of other appropriate arrangements.