Dear Conference Participant:

On behalf of the Conference planning committee, we would like to
welcome you to the 4h Annual Conference of the Institute for the
African Child. We are very pleased that you could attend. In
addition to all of those who have worked with the planning
committee, we would like to extend our appreciation to the following
Deans of the member colleges of the Institute for the African Child:
Dr. Leslie Flemming, College of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Kathy Krendl,
College of Communication; Dr. James Heap, College of Education;
Dr. Gary Neiman, College of Health and Human Services; and Dr.
Jack Brose, College of Osteopathic Medicine. Their support has been
truly invaluable to the overall conceptualization and growth of the
Institute for the African Child.

This year's conference seeks to address the complex nature of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic for Africa's most vulnerable population, its children.
According to the United Nations, of the 2.7 million children globally
living with HIV/AIDS, 2.4 million live in Sub Saharan Africa, while 95%
of all HIV/AIDS orphans are also from the continent. It is further estimated
that by the year 2010, 40 million children globally will be HIV/AIDS
orphans, with the vast majority from Africa. These numbers only begin to
tell the story about the impact of HIV/AIDS on African children. The issues
explored in this conference are therefore extremely timely, and the need
for an expanded vision of how to address this crisis can be felt by all.

In the past few years, the international debate has centered on forging a
partnership between the public and private sectors to successfully tackle
the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 2001, United Nations Secretary General Kofi
Annan called for the establishment of a global health fund to help fight
HIV/AIDS and other opportunistic diseases such as Tuberculosis and
Malaria. To date, the global health fund has received a total pledge of
about $2 billion from world governments and the private sector. Although
it is a good start, it falls far below Annan's proposed figure of $7 10 billion
annually. In many respects, this conference is an attempt to expand the
conversation around the crafting of a cohesive partnership between the
public and private sectors in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. By focusing
on the plight of African children, we hope that the deliberations over the next
two days will provide useful insights into the magnitude of the crisis at hand,
promote new strategies for addressing problems that affect all of humanity,
and ftirther inspire the international community to marshal its resources to
fight the global war against HIV/AIDS.

Once again, welcome to Ohio University!

Mr. Abdul Rahman Lamin
Conference Coordinator

Dr. Diane Ciekawy
Conference Convener