– As delivered –
Remarks by H.E. Ms. Tegan Brink, Chef de Cabinet on behalf of the President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
23 April 2021
Excellencies,
Dear friends,
This brings us to the end of a long and rewarding discussion today.
Before closing our hearing, I would like to make some concluding remarks behalf of the President of the General Assembly.
Firstly, some thanks:? can I thank Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAIDS, her team, and the multi-stakeholder task-force, for your efforts which were integral to the success of today¡¯s hearing.? And can I also thank our panellists and especially our moderators.? Interprefy is a platform that allows us to communicate in all 6 official Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ languages, but it is not the most friendly platform as we cannot see all the people with whom we are communicating!
Over the course of six hours, over forty people from all over this world took the floor. Thousands of you joined us from home, and perhaps most encouragingly, we received too many questions from the floor to count! Thank you your to our Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ IT colleagues in Mission Control for making it work.
To recap:? Today we have discussed how best to implement equitable and equal access to HIV services and solutions, feasible steps towards removing structural and social barriers to achieving HIV outcomes, methods of mainstreaming HIV into rapid response and long-term planning, and in the past hour, panellists have critically analysed how best to combine our efforts to build upon established best practices in order to address the critical gaps which prevent us from doing what we all want to do, which is to end AIDS.
I thank all panellists for sharing their perspectives and insights into the issues which at this moment are preventing the universal enjoyment of fundamental human rights. I know for sure, that this conversation will continue as we prepare for the high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS which takes place from 8-10 June.
As Ambassador Fifield mentioned, a summary of today¡¯s discussions will be circulated in due course, and will be made available on the website of the President of the General Assembly,
I trust that Member States will use this summary and reflect upon the lessons learned today throughout the informal consultations on the outcome of the high-level meeting. The Office of the President of the General Assembly stands ready to support you throughout the preparations, and thank you to Ambassador Fifield and Ambassador Gertz for their leadership in this process.
Can I also at this point re-iterate the President¡¯s call which he made this morning and he has made previously on Member States to adopt ambitious, inclusive, and bold Political Declaration that advances the Decade of Action to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. We really did hear today that the target we set ourselves to end AIDS is related in so many ways to other Sustainable Development Goals.
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Excellencies,
This is a life or death situation.
Over the past four decades over 33 million people have died as a result of AIDS-related causes. And we simply cannot allow this to continue.
If we are to end AIDS, we must end inequality. This was a very clear message to emerge from the discussion today.?
What does this meant to end inequality? It means ensuring equal access to HIV services, without qualification or distinction, for the most vulnerable in society including young people, and adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa.? As we have heard from various speakers today, this access should meet the needs of people with special vulnerabilities, people with disabilities, those living with tuberculosis, and those suffering from COVID-19 ¨C or at risk of contracting COVID-19 – to leave no one behind.
Now is the time to leverage the innovative approaches and access to marginalized groups that the HIV response has been championing for so many years.
Now, in order to do this, we need your help. We continue to need your help. For decades, civil society representatives have been the driving force behind the HIV/AIDS response. You¡¯ve shown that commitment, ?that knowledge and experience and that passion today and you should not give up.
Urgent action continues to be needed if we are to reach zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.?
After today¡¯s hearing, I am more convinced than ever, that this is in fact possible. Together, we can end AIDS by 2030 and create a more equal world for generations to come.
I thank you and the informal interactive multi-stakeholder hearing is now concluded.