Â鶹APP

– As delivered –

Remarks by H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the Â鶹APP General Assembly

23 April 2021

Excellencies,

Her Excellency Winnie Byanyima, Under Secretary-General, and Executive Director of UNAIDS,

Dear friends,

It is my pleasure to welcome you, to this multi-stakeholder hearing on HIV/AIDS, in advance of the high-level meeting which will take place from June 8th – 10th.

At the outset, can I thank the co-facilitators, Ambassador Neville Gertze of Namibia and Ambassador Mitch Fifield of Australia,?and their teams, for ably steering this process.

I also thank Her Excellency Winnie Byanyima, Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNAIDS and her team, for the invaluable work and support, to the co-facilitators and the Office of the President of the General Assembly.?

Furthermore, I wish to acknowledge the work of the multi-stakeholder task force, for their tireless efforts in preparation for this hearing.

I also thank you, for joining us here today. Your participation here today, is not taken for granted. I understand that many of you began advocating and organising after experiencing loss, suffering, discrimination, and marginalisation. I commend you for sharing your lived experience, in order to create a better world for all. Your resilience is unmatched.

I trust that today¡¯s hearing will provide you with an opportunity, to engage with others, to exchange ideas and best practices, to be seen, to be inspired, and to find the strength to continue your efforts ¨C for we cannot do this without you.

I urge all Member States, to engage constructively in the informal consultations, on the outcome of the high-level meeting.? If there is one thing we have learnt this past year, it is the precious value of health, in all its dimensions.?

Dear Colleagues,?

You understand the complexity and intersectionality of living with HIV, making you best placed to advise policymakers, on how to create legal and social environments, that uphold fundamental human rights and protect people from HIV. Your work in communities, bridging divides and filling existing gaps, is more important than ever as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, where service disruptions, have hampered efforts to reduce new infections, and AIDS-related mortality.

Four decades on from the first detected case of HIV, we have made great? strides towards ending AIDS. Our collective efforts have saved lives. Fewer people are dying of AIDS; fewer children are born with HIV; and thanks to antiretroviral treatment, there is far less suffering in the world.

Yet, we have not met the targets, set out for 2020, which aimed to ¡®fast-track¡¯ the HIV response. The most vulnerable, are hardest hit by HIV. Around the world, those who have been marginalised – migrants, and people trapped in humanitarian crises – are bearing the brunt of this disease. Of the 1.7 million people, who acquired HIV last year, 280,000 were adolescent girls and young women, with thousands more becoming newly infected with HIV each week.

Now is our last chance to switch into a higher gear. We must take urgent action to ensure equal access to treatment if we are to prevent the 12 million people living with HIV from dying of AIDS-related causes.

I call on all Â鶹APP Member States, to make this year a decisive turning point, in the response to the HIV epidemic. The world can end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

I ask Member States, to adopt an ambitious, inclusive, and bold Political Declaration, that advances the Decade of Action, to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

We need to work together, to prevent 1.7 million new HIV infections each year, and to ensure that the 12 million people living with HIV, have access to antiretroviral treatment.

Failure is not an option.

I thank you for your time, and I wish you well for a productive day ahead.