As delivered
Statement by H.E. Mr. Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the General Assembly, at the Event entitled “Moving forward together: Leaving no one behind” (on the occasion of the World AIDS Day (1 December))
30 November 2016
“H.E. Mr. Secretary-General and Mrs. Ban,
Mrs. Lorena Castillo de Varela, First Lady of Panama,
Mr. Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today is a day for the world to come together to remember those who have lost their lives to HIV and AIDS; to express our support and solidarity with people living with the disease; to advocate for greater investment in prevention and services; and to declare our collective resolve to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
It is a goal that we have already made real progress towards achieving.
Since the emergence of HIV and AIDS 35 years ago, fewer people each year are dying from AIDS-related issues, and people living with HIV are enjoying longer and more productive lives.
At present, around 18.2 million people have access to HIV treatment – testament to what the world can achieve when it rallies together around a common cause.
But if we are to end AIDS by 2030, we need to accelerate the pace of our progress.
We need to do more to help prevent the 2.1 million people who are infected each year.
We need to do more to educate and provide services to young, vulnerable and marginalized people who are disproportionately likely to be affected by HIV.
And we need to do more to counter the stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – our masterplan for a more equitable and secure future – set the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. It also provides the framework for actually achieving it.
In June this year the General Assembly built on this commitment by adopting the Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, which sets out clear, time-bound targets to measure our progress.
As an international community if we are to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals, we must ramp up our efforts to end the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
This includes enhancing international cooperation to support Member States to achieve universal access to health-care services.
It includes strengthening our partnerships with the scientific and medical communities, activists and civil society, the private sector and philanthropists, and community leaders and affected persons.
And this also includes acknowledging and developing targeted strategies to ensure that our work reaches vulnerable populations: children and young people; women and adolescent girls; sex workers; people who use drugs; men who have sex with men; transgender persons; persons with disabilities; prisoners; and migrants.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to add my voice and through me the voice of the GA to acknowledge the tireless efforts of the Secretary-General over the last 10 years in bringing global attention to addressing HIV and AIDS, and to putting people at the center of our responses.
Thank you Mr. Secretary-General for your commitment – it inspires us all to complete this unfinished business.
In closing, Excellencies, thirty five million people have lost their lives to AIDS-related causes. For the individuals who have suffered, their loved ones, and for humanity as a whole, HIV and AIDS have been a tragedy of historical proportions.
On this World AIDS Day we honor the memory of those who have passed, by committing to work together to end HIV and AIDS by 2030, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and to build a healthy, safe, peaceful, and sustainable future for us all.
I thank you.