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CNN Live At Daybreak

United Nations Teams With Coca-Cola to Fight AIDS in Africa

Aired June 22, 2001 - 08:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Coca-Cola is teaming up with United Nations to fight a major war in Africa. Entire generations are being lost to AIDS. And the United Nations has discovered it can't fight AIDS alone. So it's turning more and more often to the private sector for help.

The soft drink giant is a leading employer in Africa, so Coke is pitching in. U.N. AIDS Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Cravero is in New York and joins us now to talk a little bit more about this.

Kathleen, why is it important to have private-sector companies involved in the fight against AIDS?

KATHLEEN CRAVERO, U.N. AIDS DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Because, as Coca-Cola is discovering, as one of the largest employers of Africa, that this disease affects most -- the most productive people in their prime. And, therefore, it's extremely important to reach those people and to involve the private sector, which has an outreach that goes far beyond governments or other organizations.

MCEDWARDS: So how does this kind of partnership work? In the Coke example, let's take, what's the company actually pledging to do?

CRAVERO: Well, for example, after having worked 10 years in Africa, I know from personal experience that Coke gets everywhere. In the most remote villages, there are bottles of Coke. Therefore, what we want to do is team up with Coca-Cola to make sure that the messages -- preventive messages about AIDS -- materials, the things the people need to protect themselves against the virus will be also in those remote villages.

Therefore, we can provide Coca-Cola with the materials. Coca- Cola provides its network and its vast outreach to people and communities that we could never reach without them.

MCEDWARDS: So is it about putting information in with the product or, you know, condoms in the Coke distribution trucks. I mean, how far is the company and your organization willing to go?

CRAVERO: Well, this is the very first time we've worked with Coca-Cola.

So we're in the process of investigating many possibilities -- certainly signs on trucks, working with the bottlers of Coca-Cola -- of which there are many, many in Africa, as Coca-Cola employs well over 100,000 people -- materials, perhaps commodities such as condoms -- certainly getting the message out -- even using the truck drivers and the bottling companies of Coca-Cola, their employees as -- to pass messages to people about how to protect themselves against the virus.

MCEDWARDS: And how does your organization make sure that this doesn't become simply about a company putting its name forward?

CRAVERO: We're working with several companies. And we've found that the private sector is very willing to do this because they have their own self-interests. They have to reach their own employees. And it doesn't matter whether a company's name is put forward as long as the right message is also put forward.

And we've had very -- we've had many productive relationships with companies. And we believe Coca-Cola offers incredible opportunities throughout the continent of Africa.

MCEDWARDS: Can just maybe give an example of some of the other partnerships that you've set up? I mean, is there a success story you'd like to point to? Is there an instance where it really has worked, that you can point to this kind of partnership and say, "Hey, this saved lives"?

CRAVERO: One example, for instance, is MTV.

We've been able to work with MTV on a variety of levels to get the messages into the MTV spots that reach young people all over the world. And this has been extremely productive. Also, there have been other companies, food companies, various companies that reach people where they live and where they work.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Kathleen Cravero, we've got to leave it there. Thank you very much for your time this morning.

CRAVERO: Thank you.

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