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"This December 1st, we must reflect on our unpaid debts and unmet promises. No group of countries cares more about that than the Commonwealth, which is home to one-third of the world’s people, but two-thirds of its cases of HIV and AIDS." - Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon

Overcoming HIV/AIDS requires leadership from all parts of society – McKinnon

30 November 2006

Governments, civil society organisations, communities and individuals all have a part to play, Secretary-General says in World AIDS Day message

Overcoming HIV and AIDS requires leadership from all parts of society, Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has said in his World AIDS Day message for 2006.

"Without accountability and the full, active commitment of governments, civil society organisations, communities and individuals, we cannot confront and defeat a pandemic that threatens us all," stated Mr McKinnon.

'Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise' is the slogan for World AIDS Day this year, and its theme is 'Accountability'.

"The world is strewn with half-kept promises, whose makers are at best half-accountable," the Secretary-General said.

"Most people have broken promises, but few have -- however unconsciously -- caused millions to die in the process. Those promises are those of the international community, of governments, of civil society, of local communities -- and of us all individually."

The full text of Mr McKinnon's World AIDS Day message is available here.