|
The Official Miss Commonwealth Web Site for the search for Miss Commonwealth International 2008 The
Triple Crown Pageant
Miss Teen Commonwealth International & Mrs Commonwealth International ===============================================================
|
|
Exclusive !!! - Your fabulous Night-Out to the 2008 Triple Crown Contest this coming July
What have the queens been up to?
Miss Teen Commonwealth (Int'l)
Queen of Friends of the Commonwealth
Grand Final Contest Programme & Venue
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
|
RAHAP International PROJECTS A humanitarian initiative of the Miss Commonwealth Organisation
Introduction RAHAP stands for Resources Against HIV-AIDS And Poverty and is driven by Miss Commonwealth's commitment to Quality of Life improvement. RAHAP International is Miss Commonwealth's community welfare resources procurement project operating across the Commonwealth and the rest of the world to assist global efforts to eradicate HIV-AIDS and poverty.
Background Facts about HIV-AIDS AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome) or Aids (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in humans is a condition which exposes the affected person to infections as a result of damage by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) to his/her immune system. With time, the condition renders the affected person susceptible to infections from pathogens which would not normally affect someone with a healthy immune system, and to tumours. While there are treatments to slow down the progress of AIDS and HIV, cure is yet to be found. A person with Aids carries HIV in his/her bodily fluid, such as blood, breast milk, semen, pre-seminal fluid, and vaginal fluid. etc. HIV is transmitted from a carrier's bodily fluid when this comes into direct contact with another person's mucous membrane (of the nostrils, ears, lips, anus, genitalia, head of the penis, prepuce, glans clitoris, clitoral hood - through vaginal, anal or oral sex; etc) or bloodstream (through blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mum and child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, etc). Incidence: Notwithstanding its alleged origin in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century (1901-2000), HIV is now a pandemic, with an estimated 34million infected living people around the world and, as of January 2006, an estimated 25million infected dead people, since it was first recognised in 1981 (according to UNAIDS / WHO). An estimated third of the deaths are in the sub-Saharan Africa, and a large proportion of these are children. Economic impact The high HIV mortality rate slows down economic growth and destroys human capital. This is a devastating situation for many poor and developing countries in Africa, Asia and The Caribbean. Management setbacks Routine access to antiretroviral medication, which is capable of reducing the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, is not available in all countries. Also, management of the infection is adversely affected by the stigma associated with the disease and providers, including volunteers, involved with the care of HIV/AIDS sufferers. Help Many voluntary organisations around the world are making efforts to combat the spread of HIV and reduce the suffering, while research for better treatment and cure is ongoing.
HELP FROM RAHAP Help from RAHAP International is a project addressing HIV/AIDS and Poverty. Structure For effectiveness, the project has 5 segments:- ■ RAHAP Africa ■ RAHAP Asia-Pacific ■ RAHAP Caribbean ■ RAHAP Euro-Atlantic ■ RAHAP Extra (for the rest of the world)
Concept The concept of RAHAP as a Miss Commonwealth project lies in the realities that : HIV-AIDS spread and poverty are interlinked as they promote one another; HIV-AIDS poses a significant threat to human resource development and thus to nation building; its persistence as an epidemic promotes poverty and poses a real obstacle and threat to poverty reduction; reliable statistics indicate that increased HIV-AIDS education and the integration of sport in the prevention of its spread can greatly reduce the threats; these measures require the provision of necessary funds and equipment; and the procurement of these resources can be greatly assisted by our “culture and charity” ambassadors. Blue-print RAHAP Africa, RAHAP Asia-Pacific, RAHAP Caribbean, and RAHAP Euro-Atlantic projects are setting up working partnerships with local NGOs and other local organisations in the respective countries. The projects will assist local organisations by helping them with the procurement of resources needed to help the local fight against HIV-AIDS epidemic. (RAHAP will help promote the development of local NGOs where they do not already exist). Each national project will have a national representative to promote the procurement of resources for the respective nations. Our RAHAP representative for each nation will be each year’s reigning culture & charity ambassador (e.g., Miss Commonwealth Zambia), who will be assisted by each year’s Miss Commonwealth Africa, the chair of RAHAP Africa. As she is empowered to do, each year's national culture and charity ambassador will, with assistance from RAHAP Head Office in London, use her influence to attract needed resources from the international community to support local initiatives, including charitable fundraising, educational programmes, and sport development projects, etc, organised by local organisations, to promote increased awareness and prevention of the spread of HIV-AIDS in the nation. Each local RAHAP's overall aim is to facilitate the region's early achievement of sustainable self-help in HIV-AIDS spread prevention through the promotion of local capacity building. This requires a range of measures including the participation of the nation's government, local organisations, and key stake holders and development partners in the local economy in joint efforts to provide increased health education, sport, housing, and counselling, etc, for the empowerment of the community, and, especially, HIV-AIDS orphans and other disadvantaged children who must be rehabilitated. Inception Timescale RAHAP Head Office will, at the earliest opportunity, meet with each nation's government and local organisations to discuss timescales for the embedment of the operational structure and the implementation of the operational strategy for RAHAP in each nation.
|
|
|
