The Ministry of Social Development, in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), hosted the second annual Caribbean Summit for Children on HIV/AIDS from November 14-16 at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann 's.

The theme of the summit was Keeping the Promise, Putting Children First .

The summit seeks to empower young people to become advocates in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Research has shown that adolescents in the Caribbean were particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV/AID S , as 70 per cent of cases in the region occurred in the 15 to 44 age group, said Social Development Minister Anthony Roberts. about 50 per cent of these cases are among persons between the ages of 25 to 34.

Minister Roberts, who delivered the feature address, spoke on the topic of “Abstinence and being faithful”.

Children's lives were being threatened and many have been orphaned and made vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to UNICEF Regional Director, Nils Katsberg.

All the representatives from the Caribbean.

At centre, Lesley-Ann Nelson (president of Save our Children Foundation) with Mr Lashley (Barbados Minister of Transformation), left, and Dr Granado (general secretary, Caribbean Conference of Churches).

Sixteen countries were represented at the summit, which brought together young people from throughout the region.

Each participating country was requested to send two delegates to serve as ambassadors on the issue of HIV/AIDS.

The young ambassadors were accompanied by a chaperone, who was supposed to be someone engaged in HIV/AIDS-related work in his/her country.

Among those nations represented were our brothers and sisters from Haiti , who made a presentation on their multi-purpose centre for the care of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

The centre provides shelter, counselling and vocational training for its residents. It is financed by the Government, and there is a proposal to establish 46 other centres.

President of the Save our Children Foundation, Lesley-Ann Nelson, appealed to the government ministers present to facilitate networking among groups engaged in HIV/AIDS-related work in the region so that they could share resources with one other. Hence, the “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS” campaign was launched.

The Save Our Children Foundation was founded to enhance the quality of life for orphans and other children made vulnerable by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Trinidad and Tobago .

Youth facilitator and local psychologist, Claudette Frances, reported on the sentiments of the youths: “It is not AIDS that kills but sadness due to the discrimination many who are affected by the virus face.”

This reinforced the great need for educating the mass public about the HIV/AIDS virus.

Persons wishing to support the Save Our Children Foundation and the “Unite For Children, Unite Against AIDS” campaign can contact the Secretary at 712-3905 for further information.