The third of four BvLF-funded workshops on psychosocial support for young children living in communities affected by HIV/AIDS was held in Abuja, Nigeria, this month. The workshop, on findings and field applications, is part of an effort to raise young children up the international HIV/AIDS agenda ahead of the XVI International AIDS conference in Toronto in 2006. Read more

Farm Orphans Support Trust of Zimbabwe has produced a training manual on psychosocial support for orphans and vulnerable children living in communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Based on years of training experience, it aims to demystify the concept of PSS and help in the training of teachers, NGO staff and community members.

The Oscar van Leer Award 2005 was presented to Kathleen Okatcha (pictured), executive director of Kenya Orphans Rural Development Programme (KORDP), by Trude Maas de Brouwer, chair of BvLF's board of trustees, in a ceremony in The Hague. Read more

The latest issue of the foundation's flagship journal, Early Childhood Matters, deals with responses to young children in post-emergency situations. It is a joint publication with the International Catholic Child Bureau.

Alex Fattal's exhibition of photos, taken in South Africa while working with the BvLF partner the Children's Rights Centre on a BvLF-funded Lewis Hine Documentary Fellowship, is now available for viewing on the Lewis Hine Documentary Initiative website.

The Centre for Jewish Arab Education's "Hand-in-Hand" schools and preschools, in which young Arab and Jewish children learn together, were featured in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad (Dutch language, registration required).

To celebrate the presentation of the Oscar van Leer Award to Kenya Orphans Rural Development Project (KORDP), the foundation has published a 54-page booklet. It describes in text and photos how KORDP's community-based work, supported by the foundation, improves the lives of HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in rural communities in western Kenya.

In a session co-chaired by the Bernard van Leer Foundation's executive director, Peter Laugharn, the Salzburg Seminar discussed early childhood development in a week-long conference earlier this month. The Salzburg Seminar is a non-profit organisation which aims to bring future leaders together to discuss global issues. Read more (link to Salzburg Seminar site opens in new window).

Mexican partner Melel Xojobal has a new website (in Spanish). The foundation works with Melel Xojobal to improve the lives of street children in San Cristobal de las Casas.

The Oscar van Leer Award for 2005 has been awarded to the Kenya Orphans Rural Development Programme (KORDP) for its Community Support to AIDS Orphans project. The award will be presented at a ceremony in The Hague on 3rd November. Presented every two years, the award honours 'excellence in enabling parents and communities to help young children realise their full potential'. Read more