Dr. Gobinda Prasad Sharma new TU VC

February 3, 2003
3 MIN READ
A
A+
A-

King Gyanendra and Chancellor of Tribhuvan University Monday appointed Dr. Gobinda Prasad Sharma Vice-Chancellor of Nepal’s oldest University, a Royal Palace announcement said.

A committee headed by Education Minister Debi Prasad Ojha recommended Dr. Sharma. Dr. Sharma succeeds Nabin Jung Shah, a Nepali Congress appointee, who completed his fixed tenure.

Minister Ojha earlier said TU appointments had been politicized by past governments. nepalnews.com br Feb.3

Bellamy calls on South Asia to act against HIV/AIDS

Executive Director of UNICEF Carol Bellamy Monday called on South Asian leaders to act againstHIV/AIDS immediately or face disaster.

“The millions of children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS are living proof of the world’s

collective failure to protect them. This is the reality of South Asia: the tipping point has been

reached, and the window of opportunity to act is closing rapidly,” she told a two-day South Asian

regional conference in Kathmandu.

She called for investments in education to control the pandemic. “Increased investments in education, as well as improvements in its quality, will be of immense benefit to the children of South Asia, especially for girls, who are among those most vulnerable to the AIDS virus,” she said in an opening remark.

 

She urged open discussion, increased enrolment of children in schools and access to information

and services to the young for HIV prevention; she also pushed for addressing the needs of the

young involved in sex work and the use of intravenous drugs.

“While expanded action is required to halt trafficking and sexual exploitation and drug use among

adolescents, the realization of these young people’s right to sexual and reproductive health must be

a top epidemiological and ethical priority,” she said. Bellamy called for an end to all forms of gender-based discrimination and exploitation and abuse of girls and women in the region.

Dr. Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy of UN Secretary General for HIV/AIDS in Asia said:” Because of the

low levels of prevalence in our countries, we still have time to act: but action cannot be delayed.

Failure means a devastating outbreak in the very near future. One of the most serious obstacles is

the silence and stigma surrounding the disease.”

“Even the thought of the potential socio-economic devastation the disease would bring to us and our

children, if unchecked, is frightening, particularly in the weakest of economies,” Prime Minister

Lokendra Bahadur Chand told the launch.

Ms. Deluckshi Navaretnam, representing the young in the region said:” We need to have access to

correct information and knowledge about sexual and reproductive health.”