Kececioglu Awarded By Unaids

ISTANBUL (AA) - Melek Kececioglu, the good-will ambassador of the United Nations (UN) to Africa, was awarded by the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) for her valuable contributions to fight against AIDS.
     Kececioglu, who has been living in Africa for 22 years in order to assist the HIV positive patients, got her award from UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot at a ceremony in Geneva.
     In an interview with the A.A following the ceremony, Kececioglu said that AIDS had affected mostly children in Africa.
     ''I decided to donate this award of 100 thousand U.S. dollars to efforts to fight against AIDS, and to the patients,'' Kececioglu added.
     Kececioglu was appointed as special envoy of UNAIDS on December 7th, 2004.
     She has been acting as the president of Greek Action for Africa, a non-profit organization which is involved in improving health care availability in Africa. Her work on empowerment of women and supporting children affected by AIDS was considered noteworthy by many international organizations.
     The UNAIDS is the main advocate for global action on the epidemic. It leads, strengthens and supports an expanded response aimed at preventing transmission of HIV, providing care and support, reducing the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV/AIDS, and alleviating the impact of the epidemic.
     (UK-ULG)
2005-01-05