In honor of International AIDS Orphans Day (May 7^th), Legal Advisory Services is hosting a seminar on the opportunities and challenges concerning the legal protection of orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS (OVC). Roberto Dañino, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, together with David Freestone, Deputy General Counsel in Legal Advisory Services, and Debrework Zewdie, Director of the World Bank’s Global HIV/AIDS Program, will open the seminar.

Three speakers will address the topic from different angles and national contexts.

• Annemarie Meisling, Consultant in Legal Advisory Services, will outline the principal elements of adequate legal protection of OVC, drawing mainly from international law;
• Lane Porter, Advisor on International Health Law and Human Rights, Futures Group, will discuss Tanzania’s AIDS law reform and its impact on OVC;
• Sara Sievers, Director, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Association, will describe problems of enforcing OVC’s rights in India and Latin America.

In addition, Norah Creppy, Resource Management Analyst at the WB Togo Office, will share her personal experience working with AIDS orphans in Togo; hers is a very inspirational story.

Alexandra Yuester, Senior Advisor on Child Protection at UNICEF and Rudy Van Puymbroeck, Lead Counsel, Public Health and HIV/AIDS in Legal Advisory Services, will wrap-up the seminar.

The seminar is open to all staff and interested individuals from outside the Bank.

For more information, please contact Ms. Milagros Divino at 202-473-3739.