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World AIDS Day: In 2001, 3 million people died of AIDS

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Coinciding with World AIDS Day, this Saturday, December 1, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children is calling on the world community to recognize the toll that HIV/AIDS takes on refugees and internally displaced persons.

In 2001, 3 million people died of AIDS, of these deaths 1.1 million were women and 580,000 were children under 15 years, according to UNAIDS.

"HIV/AIDS spreads fastest where there is poverty, powerlessness and social instability," said Sandra Krause, Director, Reproductive Health Project of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. "Displacement as a result of conflict increases the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS."

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium (RHRC), a group of seven member organizations, including the American Refugee Committee, CARE International, Columbia University, International Rescue Committee, JSI Research and Training Institute, Marie Stopes International and the Women's Commission, are working to increase access to quality HIV/AIDS and adolescent services for refugees and displaced populations.

With a grant from the US Bureau of Population, Migration and Refugees, administered by the Women’s Commission, RHRC is strengthening reproductive health projects at refugee sites and providing small grants, training and technical assistance that build local and international institutions' capabilities to prevent and manage HIV/AIDS.

"This grant enables us to continue to develop successful model projects; such as, HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and tests among refugees and adolescents," said Ms. Krause.

Editor’s note: For more information, please contact Christine Gordon, Media Liaison, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children: Tel: 212 551 0959 or Email:

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www.womenscommission.org

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children seeks to improve the lives of refugee women and children through a vigorous program of public education and advocacy, and by acting as a technical resource. The Commission, founded in 1989 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, is the only organization in the United States dedicated solely to speaking out on behalf of women and children uprooted by armed conflict or persecution.