REPUBLIC OF

BOTSWANA

PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF

BOTSWANA TO THE UNITED NATIONS

103 EAST 3 7TH STREET a NEW YORK, N.Y. 10016

TEL. (212) 889-2277

Statement By

HIS EXCELLENCY MR. FESTUS G. MOGAE

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BOTSWANA

"The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century"

at the

Millennium Summit

New York

6th - 8th September, 2000

Mr. President,

A great many global issues of fundamental importance that need to be said have been said and fully articulated by others. Consequently, I will confine myself to the scourge of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.

I stand before you to claim the dubious distinction of being leader of a country most seriously affected by HIWAIDS in the whole world. The fight against HIWAIDS is therefore for us the challenge of the millennium.

In the last twenty-five years we achieved economic growth rates comparable to those of the Asian tigers, attained human development indices that were the envy of many, practised multi-party democracy, accountable and transparent governance, maintained an open society and ran an open economy.

Now we daily witness elderly mothers mourning the untimely deaths of their beloved children, babies born today only to be buried the next day and a growing population of orphans yearning for parental love and care. These are the traumatizing realities of HIWAIDS with which we live and have to contend.

Having enjoyed peace and security and steady economic growth, we suddenly find our gains in social upliftment reversed by this scourge. The economically active in our society, our most precious resource, is being decimated. Our life expectancy is calculated to have been. reduced by twenty from sixty-seven to forty-seven years.

It is frightening to note that, half of the people who become infected with HIWAIDS are those under the age of twenty-five.

Mr. President,

One of our major strategies to fight this rampant H1V/AIDS scourge has been to establish a multi-sectoral National Council that I personally chair. At the executive or technical level, we have established the National Aids Coordinating Agency, headed by a senior official, to implement anti-HIV/AIDS programmes. The thrust of our strategy is Information, Education and Communication and we have combined this with concerted efforts to destigmatize HIV/AIDS. We continue to hold consultative meetings with all key stakeholders. Our HIV/AIDS programmes include the prevention of Mother To Child Transmission through the use of anti-retroviral drugs. We have set up Voluntary Testing and Counselling Centres in our major settlements and more such facilities are being extended to other parts of the country. Community mobilisation is being undertaken through house to house counselling. We have established alliances with Botswana youth and other civil society organizations.

Our Government is also implementing a programme of Home-based care to ease congestion in the hospitals and other health centres. More manpower and financial resources have been allocated, including the diversion of development funds towards the fight against HIV/AIDS. We are grateful to governments, the UN system, private organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations that have established partnerships with us in the fight against HIV/AIDS. So far, the Government of Botswana funds 80 per cent of all HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities and this may not be sustainable. Our children have been infected at their very first experiment with sex. To spread our message as broadly as possible, we have established multi-sectoral HIV/AIDS committees in every town and every village in our country. We are determined to eradicate the scourge or at least, halt its spread.

Mr. President,

The HIVAIDS pandemic is a global problem which calls for global action. The pandemic threatens human development and social and economic security. There is, therefore, an urgent need for concerted action on the part of the international community as a whole to fight this scourge.

For mankind to prevail over this scourge, we need commitment and unity of purpose. For those of us more directly affected, one more day of delayed action is a day too late for thousands of our people. Our people are crying out for help. Let us respond while there is still time.

In his report, the Secretary-General has called for "... the reduction of HIV infection -rates in persons 15 to 25 years of age - by 25 per cent within the most affected countries before the year 2005 and by 25 per cent globally before 2010." To achieve this target, we will need an infusion of tangible and adequate resources.

As developing countries, we cannot deal on our own with the whole spectrum of requisites for education and sensitization, testing and counselling, adolescent reproductive health, prevention of mother-to-child transmissions, acquisition of retroviral drugs and medication and care for the affected populations. We, therefore, need to pool efforts and work with the United Nations and the private sector to seek an effective remedy to this pandemic.

I am confident that if, as world leaders, we act in unison in addressing this challenge that face our common humanity, we will have good reason to celebrate our contribution towards "... saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war..." - war in all its manifestations.

Thank you Mr. President.