NAACP Youth & College Division’s Partnership with the Young Leaders of the United Nations for Reaching the Millennium Developmental Goals by the Year 2015

Adopted

WHEREAS, The United Nations is trying to reach the Millennium Developmental Goals by the Year 2015 with a focus on eight priority areas; such as Ending Poverty, Universal Education, Gender Equality, Child Health as it relates to infant mortality and access to vaccinations for deadly diseases, Maternal Health, Combating HIV/AIDS, Environmental Sustainability, and Global Partnerships; and 

WHEREAS, the recent trip to Senegal provided the NAACP Youth & College Division's representative an opportunity to understand the need for the association to work closely with the Young Leaders of the United Nations in helping to achieve the Millennium Developmental Goals by the year 2015; and 

WHEREAS, the Young Leaders of the United Nations has chosen to start with the issue of HIV/AIDS as their entry point in helping the United Nations reach the Millennium Developmental Goals by 2015; and 

WHEREAS, the United Nations has made significant strides in combating HIV/AIDS over the past few years; and 

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations, every day, approximately 7,500 people become infected with HIV and 5,500 people die from AIDS; and 

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations most of these deaths are a direct result of the lack of HIV prevention and treatment services; and 

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations, the prevention and treatment services has helped to decrease the number of those infected with HIV from 3 million to 2.7 million; and 

WHEREAS, the prevention programs that have been implemented consist of creating awareness and advocating for protected sex; and 

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations, the universal treatment and prevention services have become more universally accessible to those who are infected with HIV/AIDS; the treatment consists of providing those infected with antiretroviral drugs; and 

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations, the proportion of those living with HIV and who receive treatment from antiretroviral drugs increased to around 950,000 in 2007; and 

WHEREAS, developing countries lack the financial resources to help the 2.7 million people infected by HIV/AIDS; and 

WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Blacks accounted for 48% of the 551,932 persons (including children) living with HIV/AIDS in 34 states; and 

WHEREAS, part of the mission of the NAACP Youth & College Division is to inform youth of the problems affecting all racial and ethnic minorities; and 

WHEREAS, the NAACP has a National Health Initiative that takes a firm stance on combating HIV/AIDS; and 

WHEREAS, the need to promote the awareness and address the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa and in the United States among African-American youth is no less of a pressing issue for any other group than it is for the NAACP Youth & College Division. 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP, through its Youth & College Division, develop a formal partnership with the Young Leaders of the United Nations through the National NAACP International Committee to assist in reaching the Millennium Developmental Goals by the year 2015; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the partnership between these two entities shall consist of strategic planning on how to promote awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic not only in the United States but in Africa; and 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the partnership will also develop educational training and resources to inform youth on measures to significantly decrease the cause and spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world, especially in the United States and Africa.