Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Obama Makes AIDS Pledges, Including for Global Fund Replenishment
Obama also signed the reauthorization of PEPFAR yesterday. “Commemorating the 25th World AIDS Day a day late, President Obama announced an initiative Monday to find a cure for HIV infections that would be funded by $100 million shifted from existing spending…The president also pledged $5 billion over the next three years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria if other countries contribute twice that amount. The Global Fund is holding its fourth replenishment meeting this week in Washington, with a goal of topping the $9.3 billion pledged three years ago.” (NPR http://n.pr/1cPBA0X)
Unprecedented Number of Attacks on Aid Workers in Afghanistan
There have been 237 attacks on humanitarians, and 36 killed so far this year. “The number of aid workers killed in Afghanistan has more than tripled this year, making the country by far the most dangerous place in the world for relief work, according to data released by United Nations officials here. Officials were reluctant to attribute the increase to any single factor. But in a number of recent cases, Taliban insurgents have openly claimed responsibility — despite espousing an official policy that rejects attacks on humanitarian workers.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/18WrhsZ)
Syria Death Toll Tops 125,000
Another grim milestone. “The death toll in Syria’s civil war has risen to at least 125,835, more than a third of them civilians, but the real figure is probably much higher, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday…The Observatory, based in Britain but with a network of activists across Syria, put the number of children killed in the conflict so far at 6,627.It put the death toll among rebels fighting the Assad government at least 27,746 rebels, including more than 6,000 categorized as foreign fighters or unknown combatants.” (AFP http://yhoo.it/1cPC7jz)