According to the World Health Organization, the main cause of mortality in Africa today is AIDS. UNESCO collaborates actively with the other United Nations agencies in the conduct of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). HIV/AIDS preventive education is an accessible and effective strategy for containing the epidemic in developing countries. Taking advantage of its skills in the fields of education, culture and communication, UNESCO accordingly organizes a large number of workshops and seminars in Africa so as to heighten awareness of the impact of this pandemic disease, in particular among young people and women, and to ensure that preventive education is incorporated education systems. The African NGOs are involved in these activities. Attention should be drawn to the pilot project launched in Côte d’Ivoire in partnership with the World Foundation for Research and Prevention of AIDS, directed by Professor Luc Montagnier, for the establishment at Abidjan of an Integrated AIDS Bioclinical Research Centre. The Centre conducts on its premises both basic research and applied research for the clinical monitoring of patients; its priority objectives are to transfer scientific knowledge of AIDS to the subregion of West Africa, to contribute to training of scientific and medical personnel and to develop research to find more suitable forms of treatment for patients in this particularly affected part of Africa
(go to http://www.unaids.org).

This context provides a background for the project to organize mega-concerts which will raise funds to combat this plague.