De Beers, a member of the Global Health Council, will participate in the Council’s annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial.
This active personal display of remembering those who have died of AIDS and showing support for those who are living with HIV and AIDS will be led by the company’s Managing Director, David Noko, and Mr. Frans Baleni, General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), on 19 May 2008 at the De Beers corporate headquarters in the south of Johannesburg.
“It is fitting that De Beers, with its birthplace in South Africa and all of its large operations in the southern African region – the region most impacted by the AIDS pandemic – should participate in such an important global event together with the our employees’ largest Union, NUM, seeking to raise awareness of the disease at the workplace and around the world,” said David Noko.
De Beers provides a comprehensive treatment programme for all the De Beers employees and their spouses or partners, and the company committed R30 million to a programme which is proactively addressing the challenges of HIV/AIDS in the communities around the mining operations and elsewhere in the country.
Occurring annually every third Sunday in May, the AIDS Candlelight Memorial is the oldest civil society mobilization for HIV/AIDS awareness and is led by coordinators in almost 120 countries around the world, who will host memorials in their communities. This year marks the 25th Anniversary for the AIDS Candlelight Memorial.
This event also serves as a great opportunity to educate all citizens about AIDS, create community dialogue and to find unity within a global coalition of AIDS activists caring for all infected and those affected by the pandemic.
De Beers will be hosting Candlelight Memorials on many of its southern African mining operations between Friday 16 May and Friday 23 May. Aids activists in the company will be engaged with their colleagues in the workforce and in their communities in various events and common to all will be the ceremonial lighting of candles to highlight the theme that we should never give up and never forget.
You are invited to attend the Candlelight Memorial at De Beers Corporate Headquarters, Cornerstone Building, Cnr Diamond Drive and Crownwood Road, Theta Extension 4, at 12h30 on Monday 19 May 2008. Please contact Martie Smuts if you will be attending. Ends.
Enquiries:
Tracey Peterson
De Beers South Africa
Tel: 011 374 7388
Mobile: 083 408 7173
Email: tracey.peterson@debeersgroup.com