The
President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé
and the President of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou
launched the “Protect the Goal” initiative on January 19 at the opening
ceremony of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in Johannesburg.
The
“Protect the Goal” campaign aims to raise awareness of HIV and mobilize young
people to commit to HIV prevention. Globally, an estimated 4.6 million young
people (15-24 years of age) are living with HIV. About 2 300 young people are
infected with HIV each day. Many young people living with HIV, who are eligible
for treatment lack access or do not know their HIV status. The “Protect the
Goal” campaign also stresses the need for ensuring all the 15 million people
eligible for life-saving antiretroviral treatment can access it by 2015.
“Accelerating
large-scale efforts for HIV prevention and treatment is imperative in Africa,”
said President Jacob Zuma. “With strong leadership from government and
community support, South Africa is showing results and its commitment to ending
AIDS.”
Earlier
in January, the President of Ghana, John Mahama attended an event to send off
the Ghana Black Stars National Football Team to the Africa Cup of Nations.
During the event, President Mahama signed a pledge supporting the “Protect the
Goal” campaign. The Captain of the Black Stars also signed and read out the
pledge. As part of advocacy activities in the lead-up to the tournament, UNAIDS
country offices were able to enlist the support of other national football
federations to the Protect the Goal campaign. As a result, team captains from
Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and Niger signed the
pledge to support the campaign. Other countries are expected to join the
initiative during the three week-long Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
During
the Africa Cup of Nations, UNAIDS is partnering with the Confederation of
African Football, the South African Football Association and the Tobeka Madiba
Zuma Foundation to implement the “Protect the Goal” initiative. During the
campaign, UNAIDS and its partners will disseminate HIV prevention messages on
large electronic screens to football fans in all stadiums where the Africa Cup
of Nations football games are taking place. The captains of each of the 16
teams participating in the games will read a statement calling on players,
football fans and young people to support the campaign. The “Protect the Goal”
campaign will continue until the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“Football
appeals so much to young people and I am thrilled to have such a groundswell of
support from the stars of African soccer,” said UNAIDS Executive Director,
Michel Sidibé. “I know this is just the start of an astonishing campaign which
will generate much enthusiasm among fans all the way to Brazil 2014.”
“We
are extremely happy to support UNAIDS in their efforts to roll out this
campaign across the continent,” said President of the Confederation of African
Football, Issa Hayatou. ”Our teams are committed to an Africa where AIDS is no
longer a threat.”
The
29th edition of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations will last until 10 February,
the day of the finale. It is the most prestigious football tournament on the
continent and happens every two years. The sixteen teams participating in this
year’s championship are: Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte
d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Niger,
Nigeria, South Africa (host), Togo, Tunisia, and Zambia.
