During a dinner hosted by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, ambassadors attending the African Union summit have pledged their support for the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS, to be held in New York, United States of America, in June.
Mr Sidibé described the meeting as a critical opportunity to advance the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. He underlined that the AIDS response would also contribute to progress on several other SDGs, including reducing inequality, achieving gender equality and achieving access to quality education and health for all.
Global targets were necessary, added Mr Sidibé, but they had to be broken down to allow the international community to focus on the people and places most in need. As the region most affected by the epidemic, Africa had to be at the centre of the response, he said.
Other guests at the dinner included representatives of embassies from the Americas, Europe and Asia, representatives of United Nations agencies and senior members of the African Union Commission.
“We are honoured to have been selected to co-chair the 2016 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS. As we approach June, let us be bold and let us work to deliver results. I am calling for an African Union Permanent Representative Council special session to discuss AIDS and the High-Level Meeting on AIDS.”
Susan Sikaneta, Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union
“I am very worried about dwindling finances for AIDS. Let us compare the cost of ending AIDS with the immense cost of doing nothing.”
Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission
“I will work to have high-level participation from my country at the High-Level Meeting on AIDS.”
Mull Katende, Uganda’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union
“The discussion on integration is music to my ears. There was competition between AIDS and other health conditions. I am glad we are moving to integrate efforts as we approach the High-Level Meeting on AIDS.”
Anneka Knutsson, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Ethiopia
“This is a defining moment because we have demonstrated we can win against AIDS. We need to put people at the centre of the response and accelerate efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.”
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS
