[afro-nets] UN Foundation, Vodafone to Fight Measles and HIV/AIDS

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

UN FOUNDATION, VODAFONE ANNOUNCE SCHEME TO FIGHT MEASLES AND
HIV/AIDS
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New York, Jun 17 2004 1:00PM

Ted Turner's United Nations Foundation (UNF) and telecommunica-
tions company Vodafone announced today they will fund a joint
venture worth 15 million British pounds to help efforts by the
United Nations to vaccinate children against measles, fight the
HIV/AIDS epidemic and protect world heritage areas.

At a press briefing in Geneva, UNF President Timothy Wirth said
the five-year joint venture was the largest and longest corpo-
rate partnership ever organized by the UN Foundation
http://www.unfoundation.org/. Vodafone will provide 10 million
British pounds and the Foundation will provide the remainder.

Vodafone has previously supported the UN's anti-measles initia-
tives, but the new partnership is an expansion of those pro-
grammes. About 1.75 million extra children should now be vacci-
nated against measles this year.

The joint venture will also fund the piloting of a rapid-
reaction programme by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cul-
tural Organization (UNESCO)
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15006&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
to help preserve world heritage sites in danger.

Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Fund for International
Partnerships (UNFIP), which facilitates UN joint ventures with
the corporate world, hailed today's announcement. "It is these
kinds of public- private partnerships that could actually make a
difference," he said.

Set up seven years ago to distribute the $1 billion contribution
from Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network (CNN), the UN
Foundation targets projects that otherwise would not have enough
funds.