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Stephen Lewis 'Grandmothers to Grandmothers' Campaign and UNICEF Canada's 'Spread the Net' Campaign.
Ottawa (5 Jan. 2010) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has been pleased over the past year to support a number of worthy organizations, including the Stephen Lewis Foundation ‘Grandmothers to Grandmothers’ campaign and the UNICEF 'Spread the Net' campaign.
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| Grandmothers March in Swaziland |
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| SpreadtheNet.org |
'Grandmothers to Grandmothers'
The African grandmothers single-handedly cares for millions of children orphaned by AIDS in Africa, sometimes as many as 10 to 15 in a single household. These magnificently courageous older women are tragically called upon to bury their own children and then to look after their orphan grandchildren. This calls on astonishing reserves of love and emotional resilience. Yet they somehow manage to rise to the challenge, often with little or no support.
The Stephen Lewis Foundation supports community-based organizations working to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa. In 2006, the foundation launched the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. The campaign seeks to raise awareness and mobilize support in Canada for Africa’s grandmothers.
The funds that are raised provide grandmothers with much needed assistance such as food, school fees and school uniforms for grandchildren, income-generating projects, counselling and social support and coffins to allow for the dignified burial of their loved ones.
- To learn more about the Stephen Lewis Foundation please visit: www.stephenlewisfoundation.org.
- To learn more about the 'Grandmothers to Grandmothers' campaign please visit: www.grandmotherscampaign.org.
‘Spread the Net’
In Africa, malaria is the largest single cause of death among African children under five years of age. One child dies of malaria every 30 seconds - a total of 3,000 children a day. Many more children are left with persistent anaemia, lifelong brain damage or paralysis.
UNICEF Canada’s ‘Spread the Net’ Campaign is designed to raise money to purchase, transport and distribute 500,000 long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets (ITNs) for Liberia and Rwanda.
ITNs are the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent mosquitoes from biting and transmitting the parasite that causes malaria. Properly used, ITNs can reduce malaria transmission by at least 50% and overall child deaths from all causes by 20%. ITNs not only prevent mosquitoes from biting children, they also kill the mosquito and the malaria parasite, thereby further reducing transmission of the disease.
Liberia and Rwanda were chosen as the beneficiaries of the UNICEF Canada’s ‘Spread the Net’ Campaign because of the great need in both countries, their recent histories of civil strife, and a desire on the part of Canadians to support them as they rebuild.
- To learn more about UNICEF Canada, please visit www.unicef.ca.
- To learn more about the 'Spread the Net' campaign please visit: www.spreadthenet.org.
NUPGE has made a contribution of $5,000 to each of these worthy organizations to assist in the extraordinary projects for the good that they are carrying out.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE