UN Resident Coordinator remarks at the National Commemoration of the 2019 World Aids Day

I am delighted and honored to be among you today as we commemorate World Aids Day.

AIDS remains the world biggest threat that undermines the health and the well-being of the present generation.

Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030, as we committed to in the Sustainable Development Goals, will require a continuous collaborative effort.  As the theme of this year’s observance rightly highlights, communities make the difference.

The United Nations, Governments, civil society and partners have been working together to scale up access to health services and to halt new HIV infections. More than 23 million people living with HIV were receiving treatment in 2018.

For 25 years, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS – UNAIDS – has done commendable work in advocating for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

At the national level, the Kingdom of Eswatini, led in this endeavor by the Government and NERCHA, both supported by dedicated partners, has committed to ending AIDS, a major public health threat, by 2022 in line with His Majesty’s vision of a First World nation. This is a national commitment to fast track efforts to end AIDS.

 It also sends a strong message that communities cannot afford to be complacent. Greater effort is needed from all of us – individuals and communities - to make a difference in ensuring the prevention of new infections and in increasing access to treatment.

Communities around the world are at the heart of this response helping people to claim their rights; promoting access to stigma-free health and social services; ensuring that services reach the most vulnerable and marginalized; and pressing to change laws that discriminate.

In his message for today, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres stresses that ending AIDS by 2030 will require continuous collaborative effort.

The UN Secretary-General observes that, despite the commendable progress seen in recent years against the HIV pandemic, including in rising numbers of people diagnosed and treated accompanied by dropping rates of incidence and death, there are still unmet needs and gaps.

A record 38 million people around the world are living with HIV while resources for the response to the epidemic continue to decline. Last year, donor resources towards the response declined by $1 billion. This trend is a major threat to the gains achieved over many decades and is leading to gaps in resources needed to ensure adequate access to testing, prevention, and antiretroviral treatment.

Data shows that more than half of the people infected with HIV belong to populations marginalized by discriminatory laws, policies and stigmas. These include men who have sex with men, transgender women, sex workers, their clients and partners, and people who inject drugs.

More than ever we need to harness the role of community-led organizations that advocate for their peers, deliver HIV services, defend human rights and provide support.

Where communities are engaged, we see change happen. We see investment lead to results. And we see equality, respect and dignity.

• Communities promote HIV prevention.
• Communities demand access to HIV treatment.
• Communities help pregnant women living with HIV to have HIV-free babies.
• Communities demand harm reduction.
• Communities act to change laws that discriminate.

With communities, we can end AIDS. I thank you.