UNICEF Appoints HIV-Positive Muppet a "Champion for Children"

UNICEF has appointed an HIV-positive Muppet who stars in the South African "Sesame Street" as a "global champion for children," agency officials said Monday. Kami, a mustard-colored Muppet appearing regularly on "Takalani Sesame," represents a five-year-old girl orphaned by AIDS. To help UNICEF promote messages of ending HIV stigma, Kami will appear in public service ads and as a representative for other joint projects between UNICEF and Sesame Workshop, the US-based nonprofit that makes "Sesame Street." UNICEF said Kami "has brought levity and compassion to a topic that so often evokes the opposite." The Muppet will debut her new role Wednesday at the presentation of a new UNICEF report, "Africa's Orphaned Generation," which details the impact of HIV/AIDS on Africa's children. By 2010, there will be 20 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS, the UN estimates. UNICEF and Sesame Workshop will work on projects ranging from literacy and health to fostering understanding and respect.

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