<Presented by Maria Mabetoa (Social Department, Republic of South Africa)  >

Master of Ceremonies, guests of honour, ladies and gentleman.

　　The Ministry of Social Development in South Africa would like to thank the State Council AIDS Working Committee Office, the Henan Provincial Government and UNICEF for inviting us to address this crucial International Seminar on Children Orphaned and made Vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.

　　This we believe is in recognition of the reality that, the protection of the rights of children who are orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS has become a universal challenge that can no longer be dealt adequately by individual states only. Conferences such as this one are commendable because they provide a platform for concerted effort regarding developing and sharing of strategies and best practices that strengthens the protection of vulnerable children globally.

　　South Africais part of the Sub-Saharan Africa which accounts for only 10 per cent of the world’s population.  However, 64 per cent of those living with AIDS reside in the sub continent.  An estimated half of all adults who acquire HIV become infected before they are 25 years old, which emphasizes the particularly high rates of infection amongst young people.

　　In South Africa, HIV and AIDS remains one of the major challenges facing the new democracy.  Through concerted efforts to prevent further infections, available evidence suggests that the rate of increase in prevalence has decreased significantly in the past five years and that HIV incidence has started to decrease. However, the estimates of new infections are still very high. Also, HIV and AIDS remains one of the leading causes of death in the country, especially among the under fives as well as the 25 — 44 age groups for both males and females. There is also an increasing number of children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS.

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Full text is available in the related annex