We, African civil society organizations comprising organizations and networks of people living with HIV, young people, women, religious leaders and community workers at the frontline of the fight against AIDS, met in Abuja, Nigeria on April 10 to 12 2006 to develop a consolidated position for use during the review processes of the Abuja Declaration and Framework Plan for action, and the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment (DoC), and to chart a way forward regarding access for all people requiring information and services related to

We, Ministers of Health of the African Union, meeting at the 3rd Ordinary Session of our conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, 9 -13 April 2007 under the theme Strengthening of Health Systems for Equity and Development”;

Africa’s Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children Affected by AIDS is an update of the 2003 report Africa’s Orphaned Generations. It incorporates new and refined estimates of the number of children orphaned in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as current research on the impact of AIDS and orphaning. Information about orphans in the region has increased significantly in recent years and research has become more rigorous. And, while information on other vulnerable children in the region lags far behind, the situation of some well-defined groups, such as children living with chronically ill parents, is now being studied more systematically.

The report echoes the voices of African girls who have experienced violence - voices that often remain unheard. In doing so, it aims to enable them to reach policy-makers who can effect change on their behalf. Their voices are reinforced by the quantitative information from the surveys commissioned by The African Child Policy Forum to identify the magnitude of the problem of violence against girls. But it is important to remember that this report is not just a statistical synthesis and analysis. It is about real lives and about girls whose experiences of violence are very real; Josephine Wambui Mwangi from Kenya actually did receive a beating at school so severe that she died; 10-year-old Musa from Sierra Leone was really left to look after herself after rebels took her brother and sister away. The report's purpose is not to dwell on how and why we are failing girls in Africa. Rather, it is a call for action - to acknowledge our individual and collective responsibility to protect all children and meet the challenge of ending violence against girls in Africa.

This is the first edition of the largest global listing of health information resource centres, with data pertaining to about 1,000 centres. As an ongoing activity, we aim to refine the data, and invite all readers to suggest improvements and provide better information. Given time and resource constraints, it was impossible to verify data in any way. The information was included exactly as it was submitted by the questionnaire respondent. Thus, these data are only as good as the respondents’ knowledge and ability to express themselves in their chosen language. The HID project cannot be held responsible for
inaccurate, misleading or out-of-date information in the Directory.