Message by
H.E. MR. HARRI HOLKERI
President of the General Assembly
on the occasion of
Fourth Annual Race Against Poverty Awards
"Breaking the Silence on HIV/AIDS"
United Nations Development Programme
23 October 2000
I would like to convey
my special greetings to the Administrator of the United Nations Development
Programme and congratulate him for the work his organization is doing, together
with a variety of partners, in the race against poverty. I would also like to
acknowledge the valuable work of the Goodwill Ambassadors.
The theme of this year's poverty event, "Breaking the silence on HIV/AIDS" is
an extremely timely one. The vicious circle of silence and fear of stigma around
HIV/AIDS needs to be broken, before we can overcome this human tragedy of our
time. HIV/AIDS and poverty are accomplices. In fighting against the root causes
of poverty we also fight against HIV/AIDS, and vice versa. Poverty brings many
social problems, such as drugs and prostitution, which are conduits to the spreading
of AIDS.
My special greetings and congratulations go to the awardees and honourees of
this year. They are here today, because of their immense personal courage and
because, against the risk of scorn, discrimination, isolation, deprivation of
human dignity and sometimes violence, they have come forth and spoken of their
disease - they have broken the silence. The courage of the awardees will save
lives of their compatriots, and serve as an encouragement for others, who are
now better informed and who can better protect themselves against this deadly
disease.
Worldwide more than 34 million people have been infected with the HIV virus,
men, women, and children, who lost their future to this degrading disease. There
are a growing number of orphaned children, today already over 13 million, who
lost their parents to AIDS. At the same time, they lost the care, love and support
of their families. HIV/AIDS is an economic problem - it harvests people in their
prime working age. It has already reached such a magnitude that it threatens
the development and future of entire nations. It is a social problem touching
societies in all four corners of the world, but is most acute in the developing
world.
In various occasions I have spoken of the need for education. I want to reiterate
my strong conviction that by educating people, we also provide them with the
best weapon in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We can say that knowledge is the
best vaccine against it - and knowledge is available now. We need to ensure
that it is made available to everyone. In fact, it is our common duty to do
so.
Young people, in particular young women, are at the greatest risk. I would like
to remind you of the commitments made by Member States of the United Nations
at the 5-year review of the International Conference on Population and Development
last year. We decided that by the year 2005 at least 90%, and by 2010 at least
95% of young men and women, aged 15 to 24, years will have access to the information,
education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce
their vulnerability to HIV infection. We have committed ourselves to reduce
globally the prevalence of HIV in this age group by 25% by the year 2010.
The exemplary work of the awardees and honourees of this year will be a source
of inspiration and courage for all of us to help break the deadly silence around
HIV/AIDS.