Request for suggestions and input on OVC in India

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

On September 7, we will travel to India to learn more about the state of orphans

and other vulnerable children (OVC) in India; and advocacy efforts needed to

better support OVC. We will be meeting with several grass roots civil society

groups, service providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. Our goal to

find effective ways to contribute to and catalyze international and in-country

advocacy efforts to advance the well-being of OVC’s. We will travel to Kolkata,

Chennai, Imphal, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Delhi.

We welcome your input, support, suggestions, and leads, especially related to

the following:

Suggested areas of focus

Suggested groups or individuals to meet with

Thoughts on making this visit as productive and comprehensive as possible

If you are working on orphans, orphans and children affected and infected with

HIV or child well-being, we would be very happy to hear from you to explore

possibilities of meetings

Below, please find a brief description of the visit.

Partners:

The Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII)

Global Action for Children (GAC)

Focus

· Learn and identify the in-country needs of orphans and vulnerable children

(OVC) from the grassroots – what’s working and what’s not;

· Catalyze an aggressive advocacy effort to spark an international response

based on grassroots needs;

· Find ways to support the in-country advocacy to advance the well-being of the

OVC of India.

Goals

· Increase resources from the U.S. and other G8 countries, as well as the

effectiveness of those resources;

· Provide international advocacy support to Indian advocacy on developing and

implementing a comprehensive national policy in India to protect OVC, creating a

holistic approach for the care of OVC, and obtaining universal access to

healthcare for all OVC including an elimination of user fees and increased

access to medicine;

· Influence the international advocacy on OVC based on the in-country advocacy

needs.

The Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative is committed to bringing together groups

and individuals to coordinate Indian and international advocacy efforts to build

and promote a holistic response to the HIV/AIDS pandemics in India. SHAII

especially focuses on galvanizing support from non-resident Indians in the U.S.

to influence Indian and international policies. To learn more, please visit

www.shaii.org.

Global Action for Children is a nonpartisan, results-oriented coalition

dedicated to advocating for orphans and other vulnerable children in the

developing world. GAC aims to increase the level of funding by the governments

of the wealthy countries for orphans and other vulnerable children in some of

the poorest countries of the world. To learn more, please visit

www.globalactionforchildren.org.

Vineeta Gupta MD, JD, LL.M

Executive Director

Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative

Phone: 202-589-0808 Ext 229

www.shaii.org

e-mail: <guptahr@...>