European Commission Statement - United Nations: High-level meeting on HIV/AIDS

Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to speak today at this High Level Meeting on behalf of the European Commission. I will not repeat here, what has already been expressed so eloquently in the statement of the European Union earlier today, just express the full support and agreement of the European Commission. Instead, I would like to bring to your attention issues, which are particular pertinent for the European Commission in our joint response to the AIDS epidemic.

As many of you have expressed, it is encouraging to see that our investments in the form of political commitment, financial contributions and years of dedicated community action are paying off, with evidence of progress in many regions. Millions of people are gaining access to treatment, the number of new HIV infections has decreased globally and encouraging progress is made in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. It is, however, abundantly clear that progress is uneven, major gaps and barriers withstand at all levels and extraordinary efforts are required to achieve the target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in 2010.

The biggest challenge is the fact that the AIDS epidemic will not disappear any day soon. It will remain an exceptional global challenge to human security and socio-economic development for decades to come. Those starting on treatment today will be in need of lifelong effective treatment and management of HIV/AIDS as a chronic condition. Furthermore, unless we accelerate and sustain our prevention efforts, this challenge will continue to grow, as today two to three people are becoming infected, for every one person accessing treatment.

Sustainable and robust country-led responses to HIV/AIDS are the keys to our future success, to our efforts to foster resilience at global, country and community level to the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic. Such responses will require long term political leadership, continued investments, and greater involvement of people living with HIV and affected communities.

Part of the progress made is closely related to the extraordinary, steep increase of financing for AIDS in recent years. However, as stated in the report of the UN Secretary-General, the gap between available resources and actual needs is increasing annually. The world will fall short of achieving universal access, without a significant increase in the level of resources available for HIV programmes in low- and middle-income countries.

Collectively the European Union already provides 60% of the global development aid and is strongly committed to provide more aid and reach the UN goal of 0,7% ODA/GNI by 2015, with a interim collective EU target of 0,56% ODA/GNI by 2010. At least half of this significant increase will be allocated to Africa, the region most affected by AIDS.

Moreover, the European Union is strongly committed to provide better aid, in adherence with the principles of the Paris Declaration on country ownership, donor harmonization and alignment with country priorities and processes. As we are approaching the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September and the Doha Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development in November, the European Commission is working closely with the Member States to ensure that the European Union will deliver on these commitments for more and better aid.

In line with the Paris Declaration, the European Union, with the Commission in the lead, is moving from earmarked project financing towards budget support modalities and results orientation, where circumstances permit. This move is critical to strengthen country ownership and provide fiscal space to strengthen social sectors, e.g. allowing countries to invest in recurrent costs such as health workers' and teachers' salaries. As called for in the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, the Commission and the EU Member States are also introducing more predictable financing modalities, notably the MDG contract, which will expand the funding commitment to six years and focus on MDG related results.

Considering the weight of European Union development aid, these new modalities provide great opportunities for predictable financing of a long term response to AIDS, which is fully aligned to country priorities and processes. The challenge will be to ensure that partner countries have the political leadership, capacity in planning and management, strong civil society involvement and measures of accountability, which are required to make optimal use of these resources and deliver results.

Part of the support for HIV/AIDS will be channelled through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, where the European Union collectively provides 60% of the total contributions. The European Commission has provided a total of € 622 million to the Global Fund and pledged additional € 300 million for 2008-2010. For our efforts to ensure sustainable country led responses to AIDS, the European Commission considers it of critical importance to ensure better alignment and integration of the Global Fund and other global health initiatives in efforts to strengthen and transform health, education and social service delivery.

We would not be where we are today, if not for the persistent and strong engagement of people living with HIV/AIDS and civil society. Your movement has managed to change the global agenda and make access to treatment a right and a global entitlement, where a few years back it was considered the privilege of high income populations.

Respect for human rights is a fundamental common value of the European Union. It is at the core of our move towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. It is also the human rights agenda that we will have to consistently pursue and broaden to ensure the right of every human being to a life in health and dignity.

On this note, I would like to conclude by reiterating the strong commitment of the European Commission to the full implementation of the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, with the aim of achieving the target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 and the MDG target of having halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mr. President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you for your attention.

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• Questions and Answers on HIV/AIDS (30/11/2007)
• Stepping up the fight against HIV/AIDS - President Barroso announces substantial EC contribution to the Global Fund for the period 2007 to 2010 (31/5/2007)
• EU Presidency Statement - United Nations follow-up to outcome of 26th Special Session on HIV/AIDS (22/5/2007)