AFXB-Declaration of Commitment for the UNGASS

[Guest guest]

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud Statement on the Critical Issues Paper

To the U.N. General Assembly, UNAIDS Secretariat and fellow Global

Citizens,

The Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) is an international

humanitarian action NGO, dedicated to improving the quality of life of

children and the poorest of the poor - particularly those adversely

affected by HIV/AIDS - around the world. AFXB has been involved in the

humanitarian rescue of impoverished children for over a decade. The

cornerstone of our work is to afford children in our programs access to

their basic human rights, especially as enshrined by the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We are currently at work on

every continent except Australia, serving hundreds of thousands of

children and families in 15 countries.

HIV/AIDS thrives in regions where human rights are ignored or abused.

Given the inextricable link between health and human rights, AFXB has been

actively advocating to world leaders and policy makers that the global

response to the AIDS pandemic be rooted in a health and human rights

framework. It's the approach we take in our development projects. It

produces long-term, sustainable and effective results. We applaud all

governments and agencies that recognize that human rights protection be

central to a country's AIDS eradication program.

As the most widely signed human rights instrument, the Convention on the

Rights of the Child provides a clear blueprint for governments seeking to

elevate its citizens from the grips of poverty. Paradoxically, it is the

only international human rights document whose target beneficiaries are

unable to lobby, advocate or push for its full implementation.

Funding for fundamental structures which provide children access to a

higher quality and better standard of living must be viewed as an

investment, not an expense - with lower infant and maternal mortality,

universal education, low unemployment and an educated and healthy

citizenry listed and documented as the tangible returns on that

investment. Anti-poverty projects that aim to address the needs of

children must be defined as an integral part of a country's overall

macroeconomic development program and Poverty Reduction Strategy.

We were honored to be able to participate in the first informal session of

the General Assembly's Special Session on HIV/AIDS and we thank the

Secretariats of the U.N. General Assembly and UNAIDS for pulling such an

exhaustive amount of documentation and information together in such a

short period of time. An enormous amount of effort went into assuring

meaningful participation by persons living with AIDS, NGOs and other

members of civil society. Clearly the task ahead is to make the process

more inclusive of civil society actors from Eastern Europe, China, South

and South East Asia, Latin America and Africa. We must insure programs

that counter discrimination and stigmatization.

Since children can't vote or lobby, it is important that adults in a

position to do so advocate forcefully for their rights. While specific

goals to Alleviate the Social and Economic Impacts of HIV/AIDS (Section

III.) and Care and Support (Section VI.) deal with affected children in

the Critical Issues Paper, we would propose that the Declaration of

Commitment make minimizing the impact of AIDS on children a priority, and

a goal that is given more central prominence.

Effective Leadership (Section II.) leads to improved health, education and

community infrastructures which have a direct impact on the well-being of

children. A strong component of Government leadership must also be to

aggressively promote national anti-AIDS messages via TV, radio and print

media from the highest levels of government, in local languages and across

ethnic groups in order to eradicate the stigma and discrimination many

young people and children affected by the disease face. The private sector

must be encouraged to play a pivotal role in the success of delivering

high-level government prevention campaigns through the development of

increased access to TV, radio and internet technologies.

Since 30% of all persons with AIDS are under 24, Reducing Vulnerability

(Section IV.) must be directed toward youth, with clear, straightforward

prevention messages devised and delivered in cooperation with youth. Plan

International recently presented a statement to the forum which laid out a

number of innovative and effective strategies which stress local

participation to meet these goals. Partnerships between national and local

governments and civil society actors are key to meeting all of our goals.

Under Section III, Alleviating the social and economic impact, paragraph

10 - We recommend the establishment of a trust fund for children affected

by AIDS. Such a fund should be created without any additional layers of

bureaucracy for its management. Funds should be distributed directly to

local NGOs and CBOs.

It is time to leave cynicism and paternalism behind as we look ahead to

creating funding mechanisms which adequately address the enormous scale of

this development catastrophe and which reach the pockets of need as

directly as possible. We encourage more government efforts like the funds

allocated in the United States in bill H.R. 3519, passed in August of 2000

which appropriated an initial sum of $US250 million for a trust fund for

AIDS orphans.

This devastating global public health emergency must be brought under

control through no less than a global mobilization for action by every one

of the planet's citizens, each doing their utmost to play a role.

We must keep hope alive, hope that the world's children, our children, as

well as all of our loved ones will be living longer are well cared for

and, for that day when AIDS will become just a chronic illness and not a

death sentence for most. That can happen only when the rights of all of

the world's citizens, including its children, are provided for, revered

and cherished.

Albina du Boisrouvray

Founding President, AFXB

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud

www.fxb.org

Carol DeVoe:

E-mail: carol@...

Please note that the full UNGASS Critical Issues Paper is available from:

http://www.unaids.org