Statements and Webcast
President of the 65th Session of the General Assembly
H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss
10 June 2011
- Statement: English (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
In closing remarks, General Assembly President JOSEPH DIESS ( Switzerland) underscored the importance of this week in the fight against HIV/AIDS, saying “the world has watched as we forged a new Declaration that will shape the endgame of the AIDS epidemic”. By that text, Member States had committed to clear targets to ensure that by 2015 no children were born with HIV; close the global resource gap for AIDS and work towards increasing funding to between $22 billion and $24 billion by 2015; increase universal access to antiretroviral therapy to get 15 million people onto lifesaving treatment by 2015; reduce deaths from tuberculosis in people living with HIV, by 50 per cent; and reduce transmission of HIV among people who injected drugs, also by 50 per cent.
“These bold new targets set by world leaders will accelerate our push to reduce the transmission of AIDS,” he stated, admitting that he had been heartened by the resolve shown by Heads of State and Government during the week. He stressed that mothers and their future children would benefit immeasurably from the new “Global Plan towards eliminating new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive”, which had been launched yesterday. Meanwhile, the Security Council on Tuesday had adopted an important resolution on HIV/AIDS in the context of peacekeeping, which addressed the issue of sexual violence and the rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.
The challenge now remained to implement those commitments, he said, noting that leadership and mutual accountability would be crucial. Thanking the facilitators, as well as UNAIDS and all co-sponsors of the Declaration, he said, “We must succeed; we must win our battle against AIDS. And we will”.
Source: GA/11093