Credit: Women Deliver

The International Peace Institute, in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, Women Deliver, and Family Care International, hosted a policy forum entitled Prevention and Protection Save Lives: Girls, Women, and HIV on the sidelines of the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS on 8 June.

HIV is now recognized as the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age, the forum aimed to identify and strengthen the response to HIV and raise awareness about the interconnectedness of women’s health issue in relation to the broader development agenda.

In this light the high level panel brought together Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women; Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director (Programs), UNFPA; Carmen Barroso, Regional Director, IPPF/WHR; Jan Beagle Deputy Executive Director, Management and External Relations, UNAIDS; and Ms Lindsay Menard-Freeman programme officer at Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS to discuss lessons learned, current challenges, and the path forward.

“Young people are now the actors, mobilising for prevention, taking ownership of the AIDS response and shaping the attitudes of future leaders,” said UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassadors Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit who opened the forum. “We have to make sure that the next wave of leadership is equipped, engaged and sufficiently supported to maintain and develop the response.”

Also participating in the discussion was UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox, a strong women’s rights activist: “We have the knowledge, we have the treatment,” said Ms Annie Lennox and urged world leaders gathering at the High Level Meeting on AIDS to take action on women and girls: “This is our moment: Don’t let us down.”

The Executive Director of UN Women called for leadership on this: “We know what has to be done and we know what works. And we can do better to stop this epidemic. With political will we can create the fiscal space to make women and girls a priority,” said Ms Bachelet.

The discussion, moderated by James Chau, Goodwill Ambassador, UNAIDS and a journalist with China CCTV, highlighted that young women in particular are vulnerable to HIV.  As a result of a combination of biological and socio-cultural factors, nearly a quarter of all new global HIV infections are among young women aged 15-24. 

“Knowing your epidemic” in gender terms is critical. The human rights, including the sexual and reproductive rights of all women and girls – in particular women and girls living with HIV – must be protected and promoted in all HIV and global health programmes.”

However, progress has been made. More than 60 countries have shown their commitment to gender equality by implementing the UNAIDS Agenda for Women and Girls and HIV, engaging over 400 civil society organizations.

“It’s important to remember that young people are actors, and young people are asking for what they need,” said Ms Menard-Freeman. “Now that we are here [at the High Level Meeting on AIDS], we need the voices of young people to be heard.”

One of the critical examples raised as a model for a consolidated approach to women’s health was the United Nation’s Every Woman Every Child campaign. The campaign, launched during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit, has so far seen a US$ 40 billion commitment by countries to improve the health of women and children. If implemented, it is estimated that the strategy could save up to 10 million lives of women and children by 2015.

The new UNAIDS Strategy 2011 - 2015: Getting to Zero has made advancing human rights and gender equality for the HIV response one of its three key strategic directions, and is committed to ensure that the rights of women and girls in the context of HIV.

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

(Left to Right): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, United States Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby, President of the General Assembly Joseph Deiss at the Heads of State event - AIDS, Health, and Development, held at UN Headquarters, NYC, on June 8, 2011
Credit: UNAIDS/B.Hamilton

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 8 June 2011­­—More than 20 Heads of State and Government have come together at a special event focusing on leadership, cooperation and country ownership in the response to HIV. The event, attended by close to 400 people, was held during the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS to renew commitment and identify opportunities in scaling up the HIV response, improving health and achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, hosted the debate which outlined ways of accelerating action to help countries move closer towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

He outlined three main areas as key to the success of the AIDS response: leadership, ownership and collaboration. “Not a single country, not a single individual, business or entity can win this struggle alone,” he said. “Once the leadership and commitment is there in any country and any community, results begin to show.”  

The need to increase access to services for people most vulnerable to HIV and respect for human rights was central to the discussions. Strong and visionary leadership combined with commitment and global solidarity around HIV were underlined as essential to moving the response forward.

“We can bring HIV deaths and new HIV infections to zero,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Our targets may seem ambitious but they are achievable if we are united.”

Leaders at the event also looked to the future of the HIV response and the importance of investing in youth as the leaders of tomorrow and encouraging their full engagement in the AIDS response.

“If we want to transform the response, we have to bring a new agenda for the future,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “This will only be achieved if we engage young people to lead a new social movement around AIDS and ensure a sustainable response.”

The speakers stressed the need to overcome the challenges to sustainable and predictable financing. In a report launched ahead of the High Level Meeting on AIDS, UNAIDS outlined that US$ 22 billion will be needed by 2015 to halve new HIV infections and expand access to HIV treatment. However, the report also revealed that international funding for HIV had declined from 2009 to 2010.

“What we need is resources, best policy, and law to ensure and protect the rights of people living with HIV,” said Ms Anandi Yuvuarj, Regional Coordinator of the International Community of Women Living with HIV. “Everyone must have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, particularly people most vulnerable to HIV.”

Speakers emphasized the need for systematic improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of existing AIDS and health spending, as well as the importance of ensuring the best value for money through effective and efficient HIV programming. In addition, they discussed the need for countries to look for new streams of revenue from domestic, regional and international sources.

Success in South-South cooperation efforts were discussed as an effective way of finding new paradigms of development and sharing innovation within regions for an accelerated response to HIV.

Leaders attending the event pledged to increase efforts to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of their national AIDS responses to accelerate progress towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Ms Mari-Josee Jacobs, Minister or Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Luxemburg, Moderator Ms Kgomotso Matsunzane, Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Deputy Minister of Health of Brazil, Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme, and Jaevion Nelson, youth activist from Jamaica.
Photo : Photo ONU/Eskinder Debebe

Global rates of new HIV infections have steadily declined over the past years, with the annual rate falling by nearly 25% between 2001 and 2009. But with 7 000 new HIV infections daily, the rate of people becoming newly infected still outpaces the capacity to extend treatment access and cope with the effects of HIV. 

As part of the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, a panel entitled Prevention—what can be done to get to Zero new infections? chaired by Ms Mari-Josee Jacobs, Minister or Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Luxemburg, brought together the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Helen Clark, Jaevion Nelson, youth activist from Jamaica, and Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Deputy Minister of Health of Brazil engaged with the audience in an inspired and interactive session on how to amplify and sustain the momentum of this HIV prevention revolution.

Setting the scene, Ms Jacobs opened with stressing the importance on involving people living with HIV in all aspects of HIV prevention programming: “It is important to engage people living with HIV—and especially young people living with HIV—in HIV prevention efforts to improve programmes with full respect for human rights to all.”

Moderated by South African TV personality Kgomotso Matsunzane, the discussion centred around key questions such as ‘What stands in the way of getting to zero new infections?’ and ‘How are rights integral to prevention?’

“With this High Level Meeting we have a unique opportunity,” said Dr Barbosa as he opened the panel discussion. “We cannot wait for another 30 years to eliminate HIV. We need a strong declaration from this High Level Meeting that represents the political commitment, and that moves the agenda forward.”

According to the most recent population-based surveys in low- and middle-income countries, only 24% of young women and 36% of young men responded correctly when asked five questions on HIV prevention as well as misconceptions about HIV transmission. And while global new HIV infections are decreasing, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region in the world where new HIV infections are increasing.

In her opening address Ms Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator noted that there is a need to confront the social, sexual and gender norms that drive vulnerability to HIV.

“Legal frameworks need to accommodate effective responses to HIV. So often the law stands in the way of reducing risk and vulnerability, and of spreading access to treatment and prevention services. Where human rights are not upheld, genuine universal access to services is impossible,” said Ms Clarke.

Jaevion Nelson, youth activist from Jamaica, agreed: “Far too many programmes are failing because they are not based on the evidence that exists. We must all: as governments, as civil society and the international community do the right thing.”

HIV prevention investments only represent about 22% of all HIV spending in 106 low- and middle-income countries. Clearly much remains to be achieved to ensure that the vision of zero new HIV infections is reached.

In an impassioned intervention from the floor, Dr Nafsiah Mboy Executive Director of the Indonesian National AIDS Commission urged the panellists to remember to address a group who are commonly not considered most at risk, but indeed are—the ‘4 M’s’ as she called them—mobile men with money in a ‘macho’ environment. “Let us turn these men into responsible men. That way we will have zero new infections among our women and zero new infections among our children,” said Dr Mboy.

It was also agreed in the discussion that rapid access to both future and existing HIV prevention tools—including male and female condoms, male circumcision, the elimination of vertical transmission and treatment for prevention—is needed. The last point inspired by the recent announcements of the HPTN 052 study which showed that if an HIV-positive person adheres to an effective antiretroviral therapy regimen, the risk of transmitting the virus to their uninfected sexual partner can be reduced by 96%.

UNAIDS strategy 2011 – 2015: Getting to Zero outlines the bold goals for 2015: 1) sexual transmission of HIV reduced by half, including among young people, men who have sex with men and transmission in the context of sex work; 2) Vertical transmission of HIV eliminated and AIDS-related maternal mortality reduced by half; and 3) all new HIV infections prevented among people who use drugs. This is part of UNAIDS vision to reach zero new HIV infections.

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

L to R: Honourable Denzil Llewellyn Douglas, Prime Minister of the Federation of St Kitts & Nevis, Mr Søren Pind Minister for Refugees, Immigration and Integration and Minister of Development Cooperation of Denmark, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, and the General Secretary of the National Confederation of Municipal Workers in Brazil (Central Única dos Trabalhadores) and inter-American Regional co-President for Public Services International Ms Juneia Batista.
Credit: UNAIDS/B.Hamilton

A call for a new global deal of compacts to shift leadership of the AIDS response to countries was made in the first panel Shared responsibility–a new global compact for HIV on the opening day of the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. 

Chaired by the Honourable Denzil Llewellyn Douglas, Prime Minister of the Federation of St Kitts & Nevis, the panel brought together the UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, Mr Søren Pind Minister for Refugees, Immigration and Integration and Minister of Development Cooperation of Denmark, and the General Secretary of the National Confederation of Municipal Workers in Brazil (Central Única dos Trabalhadores) and inter-American Regional co-President for Public Services International Ms Juneia Batista.

Shared responsibility needed

Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, , the panel pprovided a unique opportunity to build consensus on a new global agreement for the AIDS response that could serve as a pathfinder to a new deal of shared but differentiated responsibility for health and development.

“Small is beautiful. And different,” said Hon Douglas sharing his experiences from the island Federation of St Kitts & Nevis “Shared responsibility is not an option for small states.  It is our reality. We have no choice in the Caribbean but to develop shared approaches in all sectors.”

Despite the increasing clout of emerging political powers and strong economic growth in many African countries, many national responses to HIV in low- and middle-income countries remain fragile, are largely externally-funded and driven by external development agendas. In 56 countries, international donors supply at least 70% of HIV resources.

Shared values for shared responsibility

Emphasizing the need for mutual respect and understanding in development cooperation Mr Pind encouraged participants to be truthful and work together.  “But there are certain principles that you cannot ignore. Like discrimination against populations at higher risk.  And this needs to be said,” he noted.  

According to the panel, country ownership and sustainability will require increased and predictable long-term domestic and international funding. “Don’t get me wrong, I am all for innovative financing. But certain donors can not hide behind the need for innovative financing to shy away from meeting their commitments on official development assistance,” said Mr Pind.

At the same time, governments must be accountable for increasing domestic investment where possible and allocating resources where they are most needed and putting in place an enabling environment said the panel.

“10 years ago we would not have had this debate. The world has changed completely and we have to reflect on this. It is time to think about a new paradigm of partnership based on share responsibility,” said Mr Sidibé. “And we need share responsibility based on shared values for a social compact.”

Panellists and audience alike discussed priorities such as assuring continued leadership and shared responsibility for the AIDS response, including a new generation of leadership; strengthening broad national ownership and engaging communities in order to foster local and sustainable solutions; securing long-term financing; and increasing efficiency and ensuring mutual accountability for the future global response. Importantly, as noted by Ms Batista: “Shared responsibility and intelligent investment does not mean that countries should in any way adjust in reaching their commitments.”

Outlines of a new global compact

In this light, the new global compact discussed in the panel can be formulated around three key pillars. The country’s responsibility, the international community’s responsibility and the shared responsibility for innovation:

The Country responsibility

• ensuring voice and participation in democratic governance
• delivering smart responses—including enabling environments and human rights
• increased domestic investment on basis of ability

International responsibility

• responsible ‘donorship’—including long-term predictable and aligned financing
• increased support from emerging countries and new development partners
• more coherent international policy on trade, regulation, etc

Shared responsibility for innovation

• innovative financing mechanisms—including the private sector
• innovative partnerships including South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation
• enhanced mutual accountability for the reciprocal responsibility in the compacts including joint planning and reviews of the smart responses

According to the participants, universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support can be achieved by spending smartly and increasing annual investment to between US$ 22 and 24 billion by 2015. These resources can be mobilized by diversifying funding sources and balancing responsibilities.

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

Principal actors in the AIDS movement join world leaders at critical crossroads

(Left to Right): Interpreter; Tetyana Afanasiadi, Human Rights and Community Activist; Paul De Lay, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programmes; Joseph Deiss, President of the UN General Assembly; Jean-Victor Nkolo, Spokesperson, UN General Assembly President at Opening Press Conference on June 7, 2011 at UN Headquarters, NYC. Credit: UNAIDS/B.Hamilton

NEW YORK, 7 June 2011—More than 3000 people will come together at the United Nations in New York tomorrow for the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. The meeting, which runs from 8-10 June, will provide an opportunity to take stock of the progress and challenges of the last 30 years and shape the future AIDS response.

The High Level Meeting on AIDS is taking place 10 years after the historic 2001 United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS, and the 2006 signing of the Political Declaration where UN Member States committed to moving towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. More than 30 Heads of State, Government and Vice Presidents are expected to attend the meeting which will include official plenary and five panel sessions along with 40 individual side events. On the final day of the High Level Meeting on AIDS, UN Member States are expected to adopt a declaration which will guide country responses to HIV over the next five years.

The opening and closing plenary sessions will be presided over by Joseph Deiss, President of the United Nations General Assembly. He said, “The momentum around this meeting is unprecedented and promises to make this an historic event. We are looking to UN Member States to make bold commitments which will help us reach our shared goal of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.”  

Although some countries are still struggling to reach their universal access targets, many have made significant strides in responding to their epidemics. Twenty-two countries have achieved universal access to services which prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

As well as country-led successes, considerable progress has been made in the global response to HIV since the 2001 UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS. The rate of new HIV infections has decreased by 25% in the last 10 years, deaths have reduced by 20% in the last 5 years and 6.6 million people are now accessing antiretroviral therapy, compared to just a few thousand in 2001. Progress has also been made in breaking down barriers to stigma and discrimination and in removing punitive laws such as travel restrictions for people living with HIV.

“Inequity, discrimination and laws against people living with or at risk of HIV continue to block access to HIV services for people most in need,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). “We need a response to HIV that is grounded in human rights and one which promotes equality and equity. Achieving this will open the way to a world free from HIV.”

UNAIDS recently reported that despite successes in HIV  prevention and treatment, more people than ever before were living with the virus, 34 million according to latest estimates. They also reported that international funding for AIDS had declined.

“If resources go down—people most in need will suffer,” said Tetyana Afanasiadi, Human Rights activist from Ukraine. "The lives of millions of people directly depend on the resources allocated. Today I am alive thanks to antiretroviral therapy and opioid substitution therapy which I had access to through prevention and support programmes. Reducing of the resources allocated to those programs is a direct threat for me and for millions of people around the world."

The High Level Meeting on AIDS is taking place from the 8-10 June at the United Nations in New York. It will bring together UN Member States, International Organisations, Civil Society, people living with HIV and public and private sector partners.

For more information and to see the full program and access feature stories, webcasts, videos, media information and related documents please visit the official website at: http://www.un.org/en/ga/aidsmeeting2011/

UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Amr Waked addresses guests during the launch of the "Graphic Intervention: 25 years of International AIDS Awareness Posters" at the Art Director's Club in New York, 06 June 2011.
Credit: UNAIDS/J.Szenes

Over the course of the AIDS epidemic, countries have promoted HIV awareness and safe sex through a variety of media, such as public service announcements, glossy magazine spreads, newspaper advertisements, radio programmes and the Internet. A new exhibition, now on display at the Art Directors Club in New York City, offers a glimpse at one of the most commonly-used visual media in the history of HIV campaigns: the poster.

“The poster as a medium is cheap and easy to produce locally, so it has been an effective way to reach specific groups with HIV messages,” said Elizabeth Resnick, curator of the exhibition Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters, at a launch event on 6 June attended by more than 300 members of New York’s art and design community as well as representatives from international organizations and civil society.

Graphic Intervention presents more than 150 posters from around the world covering a diverse array of artistic styles and languages. The posters address a wide range of themes in national HIV responses, including HIV transmission, condom use, access to HIV treatment and care, AIDS-related stigma and gender inequality.

Speaking at the launch on Monday, Egyptian actor and activist Amr Waked, a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, called for a revolution in his region’s response to HIV—similar to the Arab Spring movement that has swept across Egypt and neighbouring countries in recent months.

“I saw firsthand how youth unified their efforts and succeeded in the revolution as one!” said Mr Waked, who joined the demonstrations earlier this year in Egypt’s Tahrir Square. “It is time to harness the same energy and leadership among youth to bring a better world for people affected by HIV and AIDS, a world that respects human rights for all,” he added.

Graphic Intervention draws on the extensive international AIDS poster archive of James Lapides, a Boston-based collector, along with posters donated to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “The posters are a way of remembering those who have died due to AIDS—a graphic quilt of a different kind,” says Lapides, in an essay published on the exhibition web site. “The poster should be celebrated for its central role in promoting awareness, saving lives, raising donations, influencing the public debate and speaking out in the face of this terrifying global disease,” he adds.

A selection of posters from the Graphic Intervention exhibit have been reproduced in OUTLOOK 30, a new publication from UNAIDS commemorating 30 years of the AIDS epidemic.

Graphic Intervention will be on display during the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, a gathering of global leaders from 8-10 June 2011 that is expected shape the future course of the global response to AIDS.

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and Ms Alicia Keys, Artist and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive at the launch of the report report titled “In Women’s Words: HIV priorities for positive change”. New York, 7 June 2011.
Credit: UNAIDS/J.Szenes

To bring to the forefront priority actions for the AIDS response put forward by women around the world ahead of the General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, a special event was held on 7 June.

The event launched a report In Women’s Words: HIV priorities for positive change . The publication summarizes the key messages and findings from a global virtual consultation which engaged with nearly 800 women from over 95 countries and in nine languages. The consultation was a platform to give a voice to women living with and affected by HIV to express their priorities and vision for the future of the AIDS response. The publication enables the participants of the consultation to share their viewpoints and call to action to a wider audience.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion moderated by journalist and author Stephanie Nolen.

The President of Rwanda Paul Kagame described the efforts in his country to end gender inequality. “In Rwanda, we strive every day to empower every women and girl to claim their true value, not as a favour, not because it is politically expedient, but because it is their right and we embrace that.”

UNAIDS Executive Director echoed the importance of criticality of women’s empowerment. “We will never succeed in achieving zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and even zero stigma and discrimination, when women living with HIV are coerced into sterilization or abortion; or in a world where women cannot negotiate safe sex; a world where rape is not treated as a crime.”

Frika Chiya who is a young woman living with HIV, highlighted women’s calls to be fully engaged in scaling up the AIDS response saying, “I am a living proof that a lot has been achieved in the last 10 years; let’s not lose the momentum. Talk to us, not about us.”

International artist and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive Alicia Keys also participated in the event. “If we show the next generation of women and girls that we care by providing the resources to achieve universal access, this will empower them,” she said. “If we do that, we will stop the epidemic in its tracks.”

The event was co-organized by UNAIDS, UN Women, the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS and the ATHENA Network. Watch a video below:

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

(Left to Right): Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Anders Johnsson, Secretary General of the IPU; at Parliamentarians Meeting on June 7, 2011, at UN Headquarters, NYC.
Credit: UNAIDS/B. Hamilton

The world’s parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in an effective response to the AIDS epidemic. They provide leadership, help set the national agenda, formulate laws and authorize AIDS spending. How this influence can be harnessed in the challenge to HIV was the central theme of an important meeting for parliamentarians held on the eve of the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York.

Co-organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNAIDS, the forum was attended by a number of members of parliament and several ministers taking part in the High Level Meeting.

It explored a range of issues, including the impact of law on HIV interventions and how legislation can be used to reinforce, rather than hinder, public health and development responses. These were seen through the prism of three key themes: universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support; protection and promotion of rights of people living with HIV, and those most vulnerable to HIV, and discriminatory and punitive laws which are compromising AIDS investments.

The gathering also examined the underlying politics of the new global consensus on HIV and looked at the main outcomes likely to emerge from the High Level Meeting. The emphasis throughout was firmly on concrete and practical action and translating AIDS commitments into reality, using the full range of parliamentarians’ authority in the spheres of leadership, budget allocation and law making and reform.

In opening remarks Anders B. Johnsson, IPU Secretary General, said the role of members of parliament in the global response to HIV could not be underestimated: “We have entered a new era in the AIDS response where parliamentarians need to work in strategic partnership with UNAIDS and to pay greater attention to shared responsibility and mutual accountability.”

UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé made a powerful call for leadership from the parliamentarians: “Violence is a cancer, a gangrene growing inside of us. We may not see it but it is there. It undermines our foundation. It undermines what our ancestors wanted for us. Nonviolence is the only way to create social change. And you are the ones who have been chosen to lead that change.”

Other participants at the meeting included Representative Jim McDermott, US Congress; Petra Bayr, member of the Austrian Parliament; Christoph Benn, the Global Fund’s Director of External Relations and Partnerships; and the Hon Michael Kirby, Judge of the High Court of Australia (retired) and Commissioner of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.

The need for parliamentarians to effectively deploy legislation as a tool for ensuring and sustaining universal access to HIV services was reinforced by Petra Bayr and Hon. Michael Kirby who said: “In the HIV response, the law is not serving those most vulnerable – sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, injecting drug users. When parliamentarians make no mention of those most vulnerable to HIV – this means that these very populations are out of the reach of essential services and condemned to death. We are suffering from a new virus, ‘Legislative Silence Virus’. We must work together to prevent the spread of this new virus—that is what the Global Commission on HIV and the Law hopes to do.”

The meeting provided a valuable opportunity for the IPU to consolidate its plan of action in the coming years; HIV is a central strand in its new draft strategy, 2012-17. The organization’s commitment to challenging AIDS is long-standing and since 2006 there has been an IPU Advisory Group on HIV/AIDS.

This group focuses on providing members of parliament with access to relevant policy expertise and skills to properly exercise their duties of lawmaking, oversight, leadership and advocacy. It pays special attention to the objective of achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services, and the protection and promotion of rights as a prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goal 6 targets. 



Credit: WHO

On the eve of the 2011 General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, a side event on HIV treatment was organized by MÉdecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in collaboration with the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations.

The opening remarks were given by H.E. Mr Téte António, Permanent Observer, African Union and the moderated discussion was chaired by Morolake Odetoyinbo of Positive Action for Treatment Access, Nigeria.

Bernhard Schwartländer, UNAIDS Director, Evidence, Strategy and Results Department was an invited speaker and the other panellists included the Director General of the National Department of Health, South Africa, Malebona Precious Matsoso; Nelson Otwoma from Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK); Dr Direu Greco, Director of the National HIV/AIDS Department, Ministry of Health, Brazil; and Sharonann Lynch, MSF.

On 3 June a new investment model developed by Dr Schwartländer and colleagues was published in The Lancet. The new framework proposes a paradigm shift in the way AIDS funding is approached, with a greater emphasis on priority setting and optimization of AIDS responses, a shift to community mobilization to deliver programmes and greater synergies between programme elements. Implementing the model would require 30% more funding than currently available when expenditure would be projected to peak, in 2015.

Dr Schwartländer presented the framework which show that the implementation of the new investment framework would avert 12.2 million new HIV infections and 7.4 million deaths from AIDS between 2011 and 2020 compared with continuation of present approaches, and result in 29.4 million life-years gained. The framework is cost effective at $1 060 per life-year gained, and the additional investment proposed would be largely offset from savings in treatment costs alone

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

(Left to Right): Seth Berkley, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Paul De Lay, Robert C. Orr at Council on Foreign Relations for panel titled: AIDS 2001 - 2011: Then and Now.
Credit: UNAIDS/B. Hamilton

Ahead of the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS which will begin on 8 June, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) hosted a side event on 6 June at The Harold Pratt House in New York.

The evening, co-organized by the Global Health Program of the CFR and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reviewed the last decade of progress and lessons learned since the landmark 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS and the Declaration of Commitment.

The discussion focused on women and children's health and the prevention of new HIV infections among children. There was considered reflection on the need to engage donors and have good accountability frameworks. Best practices in specific countries were explored, including Botswana. South Africa and Nigeria were both cited as examples of countries with very strong responses.

The guest speakers were Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women; Robert C. Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination, United Nations; and Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS. The discussion was moderated by Seth Berkeley of IAVI.

Dr De Lay described how much has been achieved in the AIDS response in the recent past: “Ten years ago, no one thought we could overcome stigma and discrimination, and we’ve proved them wrong.” Looking ahead to the High Level Meeting on AIDS Dr De Lay described its significance saying “We are charting the way forward for the next 10 years of the response.”

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher.

UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world has come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.