AIDS could lock
southern Africa into poverty cycle

A combination of government unrest, food shortages, AIDS, and the millions of children left parentless due to the pandemic could leave southern Africa in a cycle of poverty, a senior United Nations envoy said Wednesday. The Associated Foreign Press reports that Kofi Anan's special envoy for humanitarian needs in southern Africa, James Morris, said that the pandemic is hitting countries such as Botswana, Swaziland, and South Africa the hardest.

"Until the HIV/AIDS pandemic is brought under control and orphans have an environment in which they can put their lives back together, southern Africa will continue to struggle to make long-term development gains and break the poverty cycle," Morris said. (The Advocate)