Seated from left: Chris Dehring, managing director/chief executive, ICC Cricket World Cup 2007; Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF representative to Jamaica; Horace Dalley, Minister of Health, and Ambassador Courtney Walsh, who applaud the Ashe Ensemble (foreground) after its performance of 'Love and Protection' at Terra Nova Hotel in St. Andrew yesterday. -Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief Photographer

Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

The members of each team participating in the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) will strut into the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium for the opening ceremony on Sunday with a child by their side.

The significance of this gesture is to demonstrate love and support for children and to send a message to an estimated two billion television audience that everyone must unite for children and unite against HIV/AIDS.

Lending their support

And that is not all. For the next two months, top cricketers such as the West Indies' Chris Gayle, Australia's Michael Hussey and England's Andrew Flintoff will, through commercials and field visits, lend their support to the Unite for Children and Unite Against AIDS campaign.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies Inc., Chris Dehring, told journalists yesterday that both the ICC and the cricketers are committed to embracing children and fighting against HIV.

"May the best team win the World Cup and may we also win the fight against AIDS," he said.

Mr. Dehring was speaking at the launch of the campaign at the Terra Nova Hotel in St. Andrew yesterday.

Former West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh and Health Minister Horace Dalley also took their turn at bat and both pledged to play a lasting innings in the fight against AIDS.

Meanwhile, Bertrand Bainvel, the UNICEF representative to Jamaica, noted that while steps are being taken to fight AIDS, the world has been very late in realising how affected children are by the epidemic.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com