UNDP involves Egyptian Arts and media personalities in Anti-HIV/AIDS action in the Arab states

With over 500,000 people known to be living with HIV/AIDS in the Arab states, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is associating Egyptian renowned media and entertainment personalities to its anti-HIV/AIDS action in the Arab states.

UNDP says in a press release the action aims to create the awareness needed to keep prevalence rates down and prevent the further spread of the disease.

The UNDP outreach initiative on HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa echoes a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, delivered at the recent Pan-African Film and Television Festival. He stressed the central role artists can play in reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, one of the eight Millennium Development Goals set by world leaders at the Millennium Summit.

"The visibility of HIV/AIDS and the way artists and media can speak out on the issue, are critical determinants in how society responds to the challenge. UNDP believes that artists and the media can create an enabling environment for addressing the epidemic in a humane, proactive and effective manner," says Walid Badawi, Regional Program Adviser, UNDP's Regional Bureau for Arab States. "They are not only potential new leaders themselves, but have the added responsibility to create and intensify public leadership by setting an example for others in society to follow," he explained.

Prominent artists like Hussein Fahmy, who serves as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for the Arab States, Safia El Omari, Samir Sabri, Lubluba, Mahmoud Kabil, Hisham A'bas, Midhat Saleh and Hakim are among the figures associated to this endeavor.

The main goal is to engage the support of key personalities who can contribute to a process of exploring ideas and finding appropriate cultural leverages that will help form an effective response to HIV/AIDS in the region and help break the silence associated with it, says the UNDP.