Refugee Week Events
posted: 25/05/2010
As part of Refugee Week, George House Trust exhibited Destination Unknown at the Manchester Museum on Saturday 12th June.
Destination Unknown is a powerful and thought provoking exhibition of photographs and digital stories put together by the African HIV Policy Network. This was followed by panel debate drawing on the themes of the exhibition: is it inhumane to deport people living with HIV who are on treatments to countries where these treatments are not accessible?
Other Refugee Week events in NW England 12th - 19th June 2010
Swot up on your refugee history at the Imperial War Museum North, Salford Quays. Bring out the artist in your kids with family workshops or explore the British history of sanctuary, through guided tours.
Escape to Safety Ever wondered what it feels like to flee your country? Then pop down to Swinton Precinct and immerse yourself in an interactive multi-media experience that puts you in the shoes of someone seeking sanctuary. Monday 14 to Friday 18 June, 9.30am to 5.30pm Swinton Precinct Shops, Unit 9-11
Meet the Scientist Refugee Week Special If experiments, mind-bending theories and mad professors are your thing, come and rub brain cells with refugee scientists at the Museum of Science and Industry. Saturday 19 June, 11.30am - 2.30pm, Museum of Science and Industry, Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester
Refugee World Cup
Sixteen football teams featuring players from all over the world will take part in a Refugee World Cup on Saturday 26 June, 10am–4pm, Salford Sports Village, Littleton Road, Salford M7 3NQ.
Teams including refugees, asylum seekers and British-born players will go head to head in the Seven-a-Side Refugee World Cup Shield.
A fun-packed day of football! Come down and cheer on the teams!
For information and to register please contact Belay Kahsay on 1061 202 8915 or email
More Refugee Week events in NW England including at Liverpool, Bolton and Blackburn
Simple Acts - do something to show you care in Refugee Week
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Free Computer and Internet for Children
posted: 14/01/2010
Want a grant from the government of up to £528 for a computer and internet access? Grants are now available for low income families with children living in England who don’t have access to the internet. This includes people on NASS or UK Border Agency Support.
Depending on what you need, you can get up to £528 to spend on a computer (the computer type could be a lap-top, desk-top, or net-book), and the cost of one year’s internet access.
Who can get this?
You need children in school years 3 to 9. This will normally mean children who are from 7 to 14 years old, at a state school.
It’s for families with lower incomes. This means
- if your child has free school meals OR
- you receive income support OR
- you get income-based Job Seekers Allowance OR
- you get child tax credit OR
- you get income-based Employment Support Allowance OR
- you get NASS or UK Border Agency support while claiming asylum (but not section 4 support) [It has to be ‘support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999’]
How to claim
- Ring the helpline for parents 0333 200 1004 for an application form. They will ask you some simple questions to check you can claim.
- Fill in the application form and send it with proof
- You get a decision within 3 weeks (and your proof documents returned – The decision will either be
- No, OR
- send more information, OR
- Yes
If Yes, approved, you will get
- a Notice of Entitlement
- Instructions on how to get the computer and internet
- They tell you who can supply the computer and internet package
- A Home Access Grant payment card preloaded with the money
- A PIN number (in another letter)
You then contact the supplier you choose to get the computer and internet package.
The rules are explained in more detail here
Companies offering the Home Access computer scheme
You can only get compter and internet access through companies that are part of the scheme. So far these include
How many people can get these grants?
The scheme will run for the next 18 months but there is a maximum of 270,000 grants available, one per household. We think the grants could run out quickly.
How to apply?
Call 0333 200 1004
Details at Home Access.
Please tell people who don’t have computers, who have school age children.
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5M Still Waiting for Treatment
posted: 01/10/2009
Although four million people are now receiving antiretroviral treatment in low and middle-income countries, another five million adults and children lack access to treatment, according to figures released today by United Nations agencies.
The report Towards universal access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector is published by the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNICEF, and is the third annual review of international progress towards the goal of universal access to treatment and prevention by 2010.
Although more than a million people are estimated to have been enrolled into treatment programmes during 2008 alone, the biggest annual increase since treatment scale-up began, only 42% of those in need of treatment in low and middle-income countries are currently being reached.
Mothers and babies
The report also reveals major gaps in two priority areas, the prevention of mother to child transmission and treatment of children.
The report estimates that 21% of pregnant women received an HIV test in 2008, and 45% received drugs to prevent mother to child transmission, of whom around one-third received only single-dose nevirapine, the least effective form of preventive treatment. Only one-third of those who tested positive were assessed for eligibility for antiretroviral treatment for their own health.
Although 38% of children with HIV in low- and middle-income countries in need of treatment received it, infant diagnosis continues to lag behind. In 41 reporting low- and middle-income countries only 15% of children born to HIV-infected mothers were tested for HIV within the first two months of life.
Background to universal access
In 2001 the convening of The United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS marked an historic beginning. For the first time a global set of targets was agreed in response to the crisis. In 2006 at the second United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, countries agreed to work towards the goal of “universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support” by 2010. The G8 Final declaration in L’Aquila, Italy in July 2009 claimed “We will implement further efforts towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010”
WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS in collaboration with other international monitoring and reporting mechanisms have been monitoring progress, nationally, regionally and globally, of the health sector’s response to HIV. The report presented today is the third in a series of annual progress reports towards universal access that includes HIV services for women and children.
Reports standardised
WHO together with UNICEF developed a joint reporting tool to request information from national programmes to collect data on the scale-up of health sector interventions in response to HIV. The goal of this process is to facilitate the collection of a standardised set of information.
By the end of 2008 between 3.7 and 4.3 million people were on antiretroviral treatment including an estimated 275,700 children (38% of those in need) under the age of 15 years.
Progress varies by country and region. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, where two-thirds of all global infections occur, an estimated 2.9 million people were on treatment by the end of 2008, with an approximate increase of 800,000 people during 2008.
edited from aidsmap
Reference
WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS. Towards universal access: scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector. September 2009.
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