The importance of prioritizing AIDS in the post-2015 development agenda was discussed during a key note debate at the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union in Strasbourg, France on 18 March. The debate was introduced by UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé.
Participants
Members of parliaments from 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, members of the European Parliament, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.
Key messages
- The response to HIV has been a key transformative pathfinder for broader progress on health and social justice.
- Stagnation or reversal of results in the AIDS response will have grave implications for millions of people living with HIV around the world.
- Continued shared responsibility and global solidarity through domestic spending and international financing needed to sustain and accelerate progress on AIDS.
- Further dialogue needed to reach consensus regarding the existence of punitive laws which prevent men who have sex with men from accessing health and treatment services.
The goal of ending AIDS must have a prominent position in the post-2015 agenda, as a leading force for health and social justice, which will leave no-one behind.
"I am deeply concerned with the new wave of punitive laws that undermine human rights, increase vulnerability to HIV and hamper effective HIV responses for populations most at risk, and call for their removal. The concept of cultural specificity cannot, in any case, justify the infringement of international law of human rights and universal values that define and guarantee absolute protection of privacy and the most intimate choices."
Louis Michel, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
"The AIDS response has been one of the most successful and innovative social movements in history. But we need to continue our fight against AIDS and for human rights. I am certain we can achieve this together—and ensure that nobody is left behind!"
Michael Cashman, Member of the European Parliament
"We have overcome indifference and scepticism. But in the response to HIV, we still face two major challenges: financial dependency and the continued exclusion and discrimination of the most vulnerable people in societies."
Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director
