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Dozie Ezechukwu [ Profil ] |
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Fw: [af-aids] Action: WAC meeting with UN Secretary General
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| Envoyé: |
Jun 25th, 2009 - 06:12:01 |
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Chidozie Ezechukwu
Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
(NEPWHAN)
CSO House
4 Jaba Close, off Arthur Unegbe Street
Area 11, Garki, Abuja
Tel: 09-3145507, 08036123842 Fax: 09-3145506
e-mail: eizod3 (at) yahoo.com,dozie (at) nepwhan.com
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: AF-AIDS
To: AF-AIDS
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 8:59:00 AM
Subject: [af-aids] Action: WAC meeting with UN Secretary General
Action: WAC meeting with UN Secretary General
World AIDS Campaign (WAC)
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Extract from the Report on The World AIDS Campaign meeting with the United Nations Secretary General, UNAIDS and the World AIDS Day theme launch
Following the World AIDS Campaign call to sign onto a letter for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, posted to the eForum last week, below is an extract of the report from that meeting. Full report available at: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Report-on-The-World-AIDS-Campaign-meeting-with-the-United-Nations-Secretary-General-UNAIDS-and-the-World-AIDS-Day-theme-launch
The final sign-on letter can be viewed at: http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Letter-presented-to-the-Secretary-General-on-June-16
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The meeting in New York on 16 June 2009 with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was facilitated thanks to Michele Sidibe and UNAIDS, in follow up to the Global Steering Committee’s (GSC) discussion with him in Geneva in April.
This first face-to-face session with Mr. Ban Ki-moon coincided with the 63rd session of the General Assembly held in New York at which the Secretary-General presented a report on the progress made in the implementation of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.
During his remarks the Secretary General mentioned several causes for optimism but he also noted:
There are still nearly five new infections for every two people put on treatment.
He said the economic crisis should not be an excuse to abandon commitments, adding that a vigorous and effective response to the AIDS epidemic is integrally linked to meeting global commitments to reduce poverty, prevent hunger, lower childhood mortality, and protect the health and well being of women.
But to achieve the goal of universal access, he said, barriers to progress need to be overcome. Not just in battling the disease, but also in confronting obstacles that society puts in the way.
“The fight against AIDS also requires us to attack diseases of the human spirit – prejudice, discrimination, stigma.”
His report emphasized that achieving national universal access targets by 2010 will require an estimated annual outlay of $25 billion within two years, necessitating renewed commitment from all providers of HIV-related funding. Sustaining an effective AIDS response will require unprecedented leadership at all levels, including from Governments, civil society and affected communities.
The meeting also coincided with the launch of the World AIDS Day theme of “Universal Access and Human Rights”. It was enormously encouraging for AIDS campaigners and others to hear Mr. Ban Ki-moon address some of our key concerns, saying:
“In recent years, a growing number of countries have taken steps to criminalize HIV transmission.
In theory, this has been done to prevent the spread of infection. In practice, it has done the opposite – reducing the effectiveness of HIV prevention efforts by reinforcing the stigma.
Such measures send the message that people living with HIV are a danger to society. We must instead encourage tolerance, compassion and inclusion.
I call on all governments to review their legal frameworks to ensure compliance with the human rights principles on which a sound AIDS response is based.
This is not solely a medical or scientific challenge. It is a moral challenge, too.”
UNAIDS Executive Director Michele Sidibé also highlighted the human rights perspective in a joint news release with the World AIDS Campaign.
“Achieving universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support is a human rights imperative. It is essential that the global response to the AIDS epidemic is grounded in human rights and that discrimination and punitive laws against those most affected by HIV are removed.”
The theme has been chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and attain access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It also acts as a call to countries to remove laws that discriminate against people living with HIV, women and marginalized groups. Countries are also urged to realise the many commitments they made to protect human rights in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001) and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006).
Mr. Sidibe and his team were hugely supportive during the theme launch and the lead up to the meeting with the Secretary-General helping to ensure that a photo shoot was arranged where the campaign theme shirts were held up to cameras.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org
The World AIDS Campaign delivered a sign on letter from more than two hundred and fifty civil society groups to the Secretary-General which applauded his past efforts and asked him to commit to holding an open, inclusive, high level review of what we have or have not accomplished in achieving universal access by the 2010 target.
A secondary request in the letter was that, in light of the current financial crisis, the Secretary-General use the General Assembly in September to create an opportunity for additional emergency donations to the Global Fund.
http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Letter-presented-to-the-Secretary-General-on-June-16
The Secretary-General agreed to be a champion for the response to HIV and sees his role as an advocate.
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