sou · GSB313d4 · 2005-01-01 00:00:00 — 31.Affirming the key role played by the family in prevention, care, support and treatment of persons affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, bearing in mind that in different cultural, social and political systems various forms of the family exist; 32.Affirming that beyond the key role played by communities, strong partnerships among Governments, the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations, people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups, , scientific and educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, the business sector including generic and research-based pharmaceutical companies, trade unions, the media, parliamentarians, foundations, community organizations, faith-based organizations and traditional leaders are important; 33.Acknowledging the particular role and significant contribution of people living with HIV/AIDS, young people and civil society actors in addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS in all its aspects, and recognizing that their full involvement and participation in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of programmes is crucial to the development of effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 34.Further acknowledging the efforts of international humanitarian organizations combating the epidemic, including the volunteers of the International and in the most affected areas all over the world; 35.Commending the leadership role on HIV/AIDS policy and coordination in the United Nations system of on HIV/AIDS (); and noting its endorsement in of the Global Strategy Framework on HIV/AIDS, which could assist, as appropriate, Member States and relevant civil society actors in the development of HIV/AIDS strategies, taking into account the particular context of the epidemic in different parts of the world; 36.Solemnly declare our commitment to address the HIV/AIDS crisis by taking action as follows, taking into account the diverse situations and circumstances in different regions and countries throughout the world; Strong leadership at all levels of society is essential for an effective response to the epidemic Leadership by Governments in combating HIV/AIDS is essential and their efforts should be complemented by the full and participation of civil society, the business community and the private sector A/RES/S-26/2 Leadership involves personal commitment and concrete actions At the national level 37.By 2003, ensure the development and implementation of multisectoral national strategies and financing plans for combating HIV/AIDS that address the epidemic in forthright terms; confront stigma, silence and denial; address gender and age-based dimensions of the epidemic; eliminate discrimination and marginalization; involve partnerships with civil society and the business sector and the full participation of people living with HIV/AIDS, those in vulnerable groups and people mostly at risk, particularly women and young people; are resourced to the extent possible from national budgets without excluding other sources, inter alia, international cooperation; fully promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; integrate a gender perspective; address risk, vulnerability, prevention, care, treatment and support and reduction of the impact of the epidemic; and strengthen health, education and legal system capacity; 38.By 2003, integrate HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and support and impact-mitigation priorities into the mainstream of development planning, including in poverty eradication strategies, national budget allocations and sectoral development plans; At the regional and subregional level 39.Urge and support regional organizations and partners to be actively involved in addressing the crisis; intensify regional, subregional and interregional cooperation and coordination; and develop regional strategies and responses in support of expanded country-level efforts; 40.Support all regional and subregional initiatives on HIV/AIDS including: the International Partnership against AIDS in (IPAA) and the ECA-African Development Forum African Consensus and Plan of Action: Leadership to overcome HIV/AIDS; the for Action for the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases in ; the CARICOM Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS; the ESCAP regional call for action to fight HIV/AIDS in and the Pacific; the Baltic Sea Initiative and Action Plan; the on HIV/AIDS in Latin and the Caribbean; and Union Programme for Action: Accelerated action on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the context of poverty reduction; 41.Encourage the development of regional approaches and plans to address HIV/AIDS; 42.Encourage and support local and national organizations to expand and strengthen regional partnerships, coalitions and networks; 43.Encourage the United Nations Economic and to request the regional commissions, within their respective mandates and resources, to support national efforts in their respective regions in combating HIV/AIDS; At the global level Support greater action and coordination by all relevant organizations of the United Nations system, including their full participation in the development and A/RES/S-26/2 implementation of a regularly updated United Nations strategic plan for HIV/AIDS, guided by the principles contained in the present Declaration; 45.Support greater cooperation between relevant organizations of the United Nations system and international organizations combating HIV/AIDS; 46.Foster stronger collaboration and the development of innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors, and by 2003 establish and strengthen mechanisms that involve the private sector and civil society partners and people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups in the fight against HIV/AIDS; Prevention must be the mainstay of our response 47.By 2003, establish time-bound national targets to achieve the internationally agreed global prevention goal to reduce by 2005 HIV prevalence among young men and women aged 15 to 24 in the most affected countries by 25 per cent and by 25 per cent globally by 2010, and intensify efforts to achieve these targets as well as to challenge gender stereotypes and attitudes, and gender inequalities in relation to HIV/AIDS, encouraging the involvement of men and boys; 48.By 2003, establish national prevention targets, recognizing and addressing factors leading to the spread of the epidemic and increasing peoples vulnerability, to reduce HIV incidence for those identifiable groups, within particular local contexts, which currently have high or increasing rates of HIV infection, or which available public health information indicates are at the highest risk of new infection; 49.By 2005, strengthen the response to HIV/AIDS in the world of work by establishing and implementing prevention and care programmes in public, private and informal work sectors, and take measures to provide a supportive workplace environment for people living with HIV/AIDS; 50.By 2005, develop and begin to implement national, regional and international strategies that facilitate access to HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for migrants and mobile workers, including the provision of information on health and social services; 51.By 2003, implement precautions in health-care settings to prevent transmission of HIV infection; 52.By 2005, ensure: that a wide range of prevention programmes which take account of local circumstances, ethics and cultural values, is available in all countries, particularly the most affected countries, including information, education and communication, in languages most understood by communities and respectful of cultures, aimed at reducing risk-taking behaviour and encouraging responsible sexual behaviour, including abstinence and ; expanded access to essential commodities, including male and female condoms and sterile injecting equipment; harm-reduction efforts related to drug use; expanded access to voluntary and confidential counselling and testing; safe blood supplies; and early and effective treatment of sexually transmittable infections; 53.By 2005, ensure that at least 90 per cent, and by 2010 at least 95 per cent of young men and women aged 15 to 24 have access to the information, education, including peer education and youth-specific HIV education, and services necessary A/RES/S-26/2 to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection, in full partnership with young persons, parents, families, educators and health-care providers; By 2005, reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20 per cent, and by 50 per cent by 2010, by ensuring that 80 per cent of pregnant women accessing antenatal care have information, counselling and other HIV-prevention services available to them, increasing the availability of and providing access for HIV-infected women and babies to effective treatment to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV, as well as through effective interventions for HIV-infected women, including voluntary and confidential counselling and testing, access to treatment, especially anti-retroviral therapy and, where appropriate, breast-milk substitutes and the provision of a continuum of care; Care, support and treatment Care, support and treatment are fundamental elements of an effective response 55.By 2003, ensure that national strategies, supported by regional and international strategies, are developed in close collaboration with the international community, including Governments and relevant intergovernmental organizations, as well as with civil society and the business sector, to strengthen health-care systems and address factors affecting the provision of HIV-related drugs, including anti-retroviral drugs, inter alia, affordability and pricing, including differential pricing, and technical and health-care system capacity. Also, in an urgent make every effort to provide progressively and in a sustainable , the highest attainable standard of treatment for HIV/AIDS, including the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, and effective use of quality-controlled anti- retroviral therapy in a careful and monitored to improve adherence and effectiveness and reduce the risk of developing resistance; and to cooperate constructively in strengthening pharmaceutical policies and practices, including those applicable to generic drugs and intellectual property regimes, in order further to promote innovation and the development of domestic industries consistent with international law; 56.By 2005, develop and make significant progress in implementing comprehensive care strategies to: strengthen family and community-based care, including that provided by the informal sector, and health-care systems to provide and monitor treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS, including infected children, and to support individuals, households, families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS; and improve the capacity and working conditions of health-care personnel, and the effectiveness of supply systems, financing plans and referral mechanisms required to provide access to affordable medicines, including anti- retroviral drugs, diagnostics and related technologies, as well as quality , palliative and psychosocial care; 57.By 2003, ensure that national strategies are developed in order to provide psychosocial care for individuals, families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS; A/RES/S-26/2 HIV/AIDS and human rights Realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all is essential to reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS Respect for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS drives an effective response 58.By 2003, enact, strengthen or enforce, as appropriate, legislation, regulations and other measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against and to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people living with HIV/AIDS and members of vulnerable groups, in particular to ensure their access to, inter alia, education, inheritance, employment, health care, social and health services, prevention, support and treatment, information and legal protection, while respecting their privacy and confidentiality; and develop strategies to combat stigma and social exclusion connected with the epidemic; 59.By 2005, bearing in mind the context and character of the epidemic and that, globally, women and girls are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, develop and accelerate the implementation of national strategies that promote the advancement of women and womens full enjoyment of all human rights; promote shared responsibility of men and women to ensure safe sex; and empower women to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality to increase their ability to protect themselves from HIV infection; 60.By 2005, implement measures to increase capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the provision of health care and health services, including for sexual and reproductive health, and through prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culturally and gender-sensitive framework; 61.By 2005, ensure development and accelerated implementation of national strategies for womens empowerment, the promotion and protection of womens full enjoyment of all human rights and reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS through the elimination of all forms of discrimination, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful traditional and customary practices, abuse, rape and other forms of sexual violence, battering and trafficking in women and girls; The vulnerable must be given priority in the response Empowering women is essential for reducing vulnerability By 2003, in order to complement prevention programmes that address activities which place individuals at risk of HIV infection, such as risky and unsafe sexual behaviour and injecting drug use, have in place in all countries strategies, policies and programmes that identify and begin to address those factors that make individuals particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, including underdevelopment, economic insecurity, poverty, lack of empowerment of women, lack of education, social exclusion, illiteracy, discrimination, lack of information and/or commodities for self-protection, and all types of sexual exploitation of women, girls and boys, including for commercial reasons. Such strategies, policies and programmes should A/RES/S-26/2 address the gender dimension of the epidemic, specify the action that will be taken to address vulnerability and set targets for achievement; 63.By 2003, develop and/or strengthen strategies, policies and programmes which recognize the importance of the family in reducing vulnerability, inter alia, in educating and guiding children and take account of cultural, religious and ethical factors, to reduce the vulnerability of children and young people by ensuring access of both girls and boys to primary and secondary education, including HIV/AIDS in curricula for adolescents; ensuring safe and secure environments, especially for young girls; expanding good-quality, youth-friendly information and sexual health education and counselling services; strengthening reproductive and sexual health programmes; and involving families and young people in planning, implementing and evaluating HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes, to the extent possible; 64.By 2003, develop and/or strengthen national strategies, policies and programmes, supported by regional and international initiatives, as appropriate, through a participatory approach, to promote and protect the health of those identifiable groups which currently have high or increasing rates of HIV infection or which public health information indicates are at greatest risk of and most vulnerable to new infection as indicated by such factors as the local history of the epidemic, poverty, sexual practices, drug-using behaviour, livelihood, institutional location, disrupted social structures and population movements, forced or otherwise; Children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS Children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS need special assistance 65.By 2003, develop and by 2005 implement national policies and strategies to build and strengthen governmental, family and community capacities to provide a supportive environment for orphans and girls and boys infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including by providing appropriate counselling and psychosocial support, ensuring their enrolment in school and access to shelter, good nutrition and health and social services on an equal basis with other children; and protect orphans and vulnerable children from all forms of abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, trafficking and loss of inheritance; 66.Ensure non-discrimination and full and equal enjoyment of all human rights through the promotion of an and visible policy of de-stigmatization of children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS; 67.Urge the international community, particularly donor countries, civil society, as well as the private sector, to complement effectively national programmes to support programmes for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in affected regions and in countries at high risk and to direct special assistance to sub- Saharan ; A/RES/S-26/2 Alleviating social and economic impact To address HIV/AIDS is to invest in sustainable development 68.By 2003, evaluate the economic and social impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and develop multisectoral strategies to address the impact at the individual, family, community and national levels; develop and accelerate the implementation of national poverty eradication strategies to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on household income, livelihoods and access to basic social services, with special focus on individuals, families and communities severely affected by the epidemic; review the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS at all levels of society, especially on women and the elderly, particularly in their role as caregivers, and in families affected by HIV/AIDS, and address their special needs; and adjust and adapt economic and social development policies, including social protection policies, to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on economic growth, provision of essential economic services, labour productivity, government revenues, and deficit-creating pressures on public resources; 69.By 2003, develop a national legal and policy framework that protects in the workplace the rights and dignity of persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and those at the greatest risk of HIV/AIDS, in consultation with representatives of employers and workers, taking account of established international guidelines on HIV/AIDS in the workplace; With no cure for HIV/AIDS yet found, further research and development is crucial 70.Increase investment in and accelerate research on the development of HIV vaccines, while national research capacity, especially in developing countries, and especially for viral strains prevalent in highly affected regions; in addition, support and encourage increased national and international investment in HIV/AIDS-related research and development, including biomedical, operations, social, cultural and behavioural research and in traditional medicine to improve prevention and therapeutic approaches; accelerate access to prevention, care and treatment and care technologies for HIV/AIDS (and its associated opportunistic infections and malignancies and sexually transmitted diseases), including female- controlled methods and microbicides, and in particular, appropriate, safe and affordable HIV vaccines and their delivery, and to diagnostics, tests and methods to prevent mother-to-child transmission; improve our understanding of factors which influence the epidemic and actions which address it, inter alia, through increased funding and public/private partnerships; and create a conducive environment for research and ensure that it is based on the highest ethical standards; 71.Support and encourage the development of national and international research infrastructures, laboratory capacity, improved surveillance systems, data collection, processing and dissemination, and the training of basic and clinical researchers, social scientists, health-care providers and technicians, with a focus on the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly developing countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of a rapid expansion of the epidemic; 72.Develop and evaluate suitable approaches for monitoring treatment efficacy, toxicity, side effects, drug interactions and drug resistance, and develop A/RES/S-26/2 methodologies to monitor the impact of treatment on HIV transmission and risk behaviours; 73.Strengthen international and regional cooperation, in particular North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, related to the transfer of relevant technologies suitable to the environment in the prevention and care of HIV/AIDS, the exchange of experiences and best practices, researchers and research findings and strengthen the role of in this process. In this context, encourage ownership of the end results of these cooperative research findings and technologies by all parties to the research, reflecting their relevant contribution and dependent upon their providing legal protection to such findings; and affirm that all such research should be free from bias; 74.By 2003, ensure that all research protocols for the investigation of HIV-related treatment, including anti-retroviral therapies and vaccines, based on international guidelines and best practices, are evaluated by independent committees of ethics, in which persons living with HIV/AIDS and caregivers for anti-retroviral therapy participate; HIV/AIDS in conflict and disaster-affected regions Conflicts and disasters contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS 75.By 2003, develop and begin to implement national strategies that incorporate HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, care and treatment elements into programmes or actions that respond to emergency situations, recognizing that populations destabilized by armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and in particular women and children, are at increased risk of exposure to HIV infection; and, where appropriate, factor HIV/AIDS components into international assistance programmes; 76.Call on all United Nations agencies, regional and international organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations involved with the provision and delivery of international assistance to countries and regions affected by conflicts, humanitarian crises or natural disasters, to incorporate as a matter of urgency HIV/AIDS prevention, care and awareness elements into their plans and programmes and provide HIV/AIDS awareness and training to their personnel; 77.By 2003, have in place national strategies to address the spread of HIV among national uniformed services, where this is required, including armed forces and civil defence forces, and consider ways of using personnel from these services who are educated and trained in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention HIV/ AIDS awareness and prevention activities, including emergency, humanitarian, disaster relief and rehabilitation assistance; By 2003, ensure the inclusion of HIV/AIDS awareness and training, including a gender component, into guidelines designed for use by defence personnel and other personnel involved in international peacekeeping operations, while also continuing with ongoing education and prevention efforts, including pre-deployment orientation, for these personnel; A/RES/S-26/2