SECRETARY-GENERAL TO CIVIL SOCIETY HEARINGS FOR HIGH-LEVEL AIDS MEETING:  ‘WE MUST

KEEP OUR FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, NAVIGATE THE LONGER ROAD MAP AT THE SAME TIME’

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at civil society hearings for the General Assembly high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, today, in New York:

I am honoured to meet today with some of the courageous civil society representatives at the vanguard of the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

You know better than anyone that AIDS is one of the defining issues of our time.  It has impacted all sectors of society and revealed humanity’s darkest prejudices.

The role of national Governments is to serve, protect and uphold the rights of all citizens -- whatever their age, social standing, sexual preference or lifestyle.

Yet still, to our collective shame, many are failing in their responsibility.

Stigma and discrimination remain a major impediment to achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, and to reaching the Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the spread of the epidemic.

We must do more to eliminate all discrimination against people living with HIV and uphold their rights -- including the right to health, the right to work, and the right to travel.

That is why you are all so important in pushing the struggle forward.  Without civil society, including people living with HIV, there is no way we would have got to where we are today.

One of my most rewarding experiences as Secretary-General has been my meetings with the United Nations’ own group of HIV-positive staff, UN Plus.  They are wonderfully courageous and motivated people.  I am determined to make the United Nations a model workplace in embracing them, and all our staff living with HIV.

Today, I pay tribute to all of you who have led the struggle for the past decades, and I applaud the new leadership and new energy coming along, to take the response forward to the next phase.

This next phase requires an approach that combines here-and-now emergency crisis tactics with strategic long-term thinking.

We must keep our foot on the accelerator, and navigate the longer road map at the same time.

This is not an easy thing to achieve, but with your inspiration and energy, we can do it.

I thank every one of you for your commitment, and hope that many more will follow your example.

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For information media • not an official record