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2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS
General Assembly, UN, New York, 8-10 June 2011

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Statements and Webcast

Ireland
H. E. Ms. Anne Anderson, Permanent Representative

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

10 June 2011

  • Statement: English (Check against delivery)

Statement Summary

ANNE ANDERSON ( Ireland) recalled that five years ago, Ireland had pledged to spend over €100 million annually on HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases. “ Ireland has kept that promise,” she said, noting that in the five years leading to 2010, the Government had spent €695 million of its ODA in that fight, which, at today’s rate, amounted to almost $1 billion. In the current year, Ireland would allocate over €100 million of its ODA budget. In parallel, Ireland had maintained a deep policy engagement, having committed to allocating 0.7 per cent of its gross national product (GNP) to ODA. Lauding the Security Council’s attention to the link between HIV/AIDS and international security, she also was encouraged by the scope and substance of the political declaration to be adopted at the Assembly’s High-Level Meeting.

Turning to another “stark” truth, she said: “the fight against HIV and AIDS is unwinnable unless the international community does more to protect and empower women”, and Ireland looked to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to address women’s vulnerabilities in a resolute and integrated manner. Adequate nutrition for pregnant and lactating women with HIV was crucial to improving their well-being and for reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Ireland resolutely supported the goal of eliminating that transmission by 2015, and voiced unreserved support for the goal of zero discrimination. The United Nations must continue to lead efforts to ensure that resources were spent effectively, by strengthening coordination on the ground, among other things. Leadership cost nothing, but was vital to combined efforts.

Source: GA/11093