Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
1
Remarks by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
at the General Debate of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development under the auspices of ECOSOC on the theme Ensuring that no
one is left behind
New York, 20 July 2016
[Please check against delivery]
Mr President,
Ensuring that no one is left behind is a core principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. UNAIDS welcomes this as the main theme of the first HLPF since the
Agenda’s adoption.
In September last year, world leaders made an ambitious commitment to ending the AIDS
epidemic by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Last month, the UN
General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS adopted a Political Declaration
which sets bold time-bound targets to fast track the AIDS response in order to end the
epidemic by 2030.
Leaving no one behind and addressing the needs of all people living with, at risk of and
affected by HIV will be essential for achieving these commitments and targets. Yet, as noted
in the recent Political Declaration, key populations, including men who have sex with men,
sex workers, people who inject drugs, prisoners and transgender people are globally at
higher risk of HIV. Young women and adolescent girls, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa,
are more than twice as likely to become HIV-positive than young men and boys of the same
age. About half of all people living with HIV do not have access to treatment, with glaring
coverage gaps for children and adolescents. Migrants, displaced persons and persons with
disabilities also face increased vulnerability to HIV. The world will not be able to end the
AIDS epidemic if these groups continue to be left behind in the response.
In the 2016 Declaration, member states made commitments to reverse these trends, by
pledging to address persistent inequalities, including gender inequality, stigma and
discrimination, violence, harmful gender norms and punitive laws. The 2016 Declaration was
a first in the UN for mentioning ‘transgender people’ and UNAIDS applauds member states
for this.
A few points are particularly pertinent in the context of the HLPF, given the key role it will
play in monitoring progress against the 2030 Agenda. In the Declaration, countries pledged
to increase the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data and to
introduce mutual accountability mechanisms, that are transparent and inclusive, with the
active involvement of people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV and relevant civil
society and private sector stakeholders. They called for increased and sustained investment
in the advocacy and leadership role of civil society, including young women and girls. These
measures and strategic partnerships with stakeholders will be essential in rendering visible
those being left behind and ensuring their inclusion in decision-making and policy
development.
2
The AIDS response has strong foundations on which to build to make these commitments
come to life and to spur progress across the SDGs. For example, the Global AIDS Response
Progress Reporting is one of global health’s most rigorous and inclusive reporting
mechanisms, in which civil society are involved in the collection and validation of data, and
has galvanized accountability for results. Young people are leading the way in establishing
youth-led and data-driven accountability mechanisms for young people’s sexual and
reproductive health and rights through ACT!2015, a global youth initiative supported by
UNAIDS.
Given this combination of experience, the AIDS response is well-positioned to support the
development of community-owned strategic information across the 2030 Agenda, and
UNAIDS is ready to help countries and others to do so.
Thank you.
Remarks by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
at the General Debate of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development under the auspices of ECOSOC on the theme Ensuring that no
one is left behind
New York, 20 July 2016
[Please check against delivery]
Mr President,
Ensuring that no one is left behind is a core principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. UNAIDS welcomes this as the main theme of the first HLPF since the
Agenda’s adoption.
In September last year, world leaders made an ambitious commitment to ending the AIDS
epidemic by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Last month, the UN
General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS adopted a Political Declaration
which sets bold time-bound targets to fast track the AIDS response in order to end the
epidemic by 2030.
Leaving no one behind and addressing the needs of all people living with, at risk of and
affected by HIV will be essential for achieving these commitments and targets. Yet, as noted
in the recent Political Declaration, key populations, including men who have sex with men,
sex workers, people who inject drugs, prisoners and transgender people are globally at
higher risk of HIV. Young women and adolescent girls, in particular in sub-Saharan Africa,
are more than twice as likely to become HIV-positive than young men and boys of the same
age. About half of all people living with HIV do not have access to treatment, with glaring
coverage gaps for children and adolescents. Migrants, displaced persons and persons with
disabilities also face increased vulnerability to HIV. The world will not be able to end the
AIDS epidemic if these groups continue to be left behind in the response.
In the 2016 Declaration, member states made commitments to reverse these trends, by
pledging to address persistent inequalities, including gender inequality, stigma and
discrimination, violence, harmful gender norms and punitive laws. The 2016 Declaration was
a first in the UN for mentioning ‘transgender people’ and UNAIDS applauds member states
for this.
A few points are particularly pertinent in the context of the HLPF, given the key role it will
play in monitoring progress against the 2030 Agenda. In the Declaration, countries pledged
to increase the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data and to
introduce mutual accountability mechanisms, that are transparent and inclusive, with the
active involvement of people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV and relevant civil
society and private sector stakeholders. They called for increased and sustained investment
in the advocacy and leadership role of civil society, including young women and girls. These
measures and strategic partnerships with stakeholders will be essential in rendering visible
those being left behind and ensuring their inclusion in decision-making and policy
development.
2
The AIDS response has strong foundations on which to build to make these commitments
come to life and to spur progress across the SDGs. For example, the Global AIDS Response
Progress Reporting is one of global health’s most rigorous and inclusive reporting
mechanisms, in which civil society are involved in the collection and validation of data, and
has galvanized accountability for results. Young people are leading the way in establishing
youth-led and data-driven accountability mechanisms for young people’s sexual and
reproductive health and rights through ACT!2015, a global youth initiative supported by
UNAIDS.
Given this combination of experience, the AIDS response is well-positioned to support the
development of community-owned strategic information across the 2030 Agenda, and
UNAIDS is ready to help countries and others to do so.
Thank you.
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