HORIZON INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS SITE

UNICEF launched its first interactive feature in Swahili on October 30,2006. It is an online game that empowers young people to make good life choices about and prevent HIV. 

The game, called ‘Ungefanyaje’ or ‘What would you do?’ in Swahili, takes the player through a series of relationship-based scenarios that emphasize the importance of HIV prevention and testing.

“Translating the game into Swahili makes it accessible to East African adolescents and young people,” says Voices of Youth Coordinator Amber Oliver.  “By speaking openly about the threat that HIV and AIDS poses to young people, we can help give them the knowledge they need to keep them safe from infection.”

Although prevention is essential to half the spread of HIV/AIDS, an alarming 80 per cent of all young people still don’t know how to protect themselves from the virus.  Sub-Saharan Africa has been especially hard-hit by the epidemic. 

 “It is estimated that of the 2.3 million children under 15 living with HIV, two million are in sub-Saharan Africa,” says Oliver.  “Reaching young people with prevention education and services is a crucial step towards an AIDS-free generation.”

‘What would you do?’ can be accessed online in English and Swahili at http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/aids/explore_1360.html. 

Report from Unicef, Nairobi, Kenya,  30 October 2006

For more information, please contact:
Amber Oliver, Voices of Youth, UNICEF, aoliver@unicef.org,

Tel:  +212-326-7050
Gerrit Beger, UNICEF Media, gbeger@unicef.org,

Tel:   +212-326-7116
Elizabeth Losleben, UNICEF Media, elosleben@unicef.org,

Tel:  +212-326-7172