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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Welcome Speech to the Global Coalition on Women and Aids

2 February 2004

Welcome Speech by Deputy Secretary General Winston Cox to the Global Coalition on Women and Aids - Marlborough House London 2/2/04

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen: to all members, friends, supporters and advisers of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS welcome to Marlborough House.

We at the Commonwealth Secretariat are delighted to be chosen as your hosts for the first meeting of the Steering Committee and the launch of your group, the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. We have enjoyed working with UNAIDS in the preparations for this event, and hope our partnership with the Coalition will be a long and fruitful one.

Partnerships such as this are important to us if we are to achieve our mandate, not only in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but indeed in all aspects of our work with our members. We are therefore delighted to use our facilities at Marlborough House to host this important initiative.

It is estimated that some 60% of those infected with AIDS are to be found in the 30% of the world's population that lives in Commonwealth countries. By any measure this is a disproportionately large share of the global burden and it was recognition of this that prompted the Commonwealth Heads of Government, in their 1999 Durban Communiqué to refer to HIV/AIDS as a global emergency.

Werecognise clearly that gender inequalities are at the core of this pandemic - both as cause and consequence. I agree with Ms. Sandra Thurman of the International AIDS Trust that we must address these fundamental gender issues if we wish to make headway against this epidemic. Let us take to heart too Ms. Kathleen Cravero's timely reminder that: "We don't just want to talk about the vulnerability of women. We also want to talk about their resilience."

For too long too many societies have tried to solve problems by ignoring half of the available intellectual capacity that can be focussed on the problems - by working on half-brain one is tempted to say ­ - and by ignoring half of the victims. It is no surprise therefore that disease, illiteracy, hunger, poverty, and conflict between and within nations persist. We have a better chance of overcoming these evils when the role and influence of women in the cultural, social and economic life of the community, and in making public policy is equal to that of men.  We will support your efforts to educate female leaders, activists, health care providers and the general public about how gender inequalities retard social, economic and political development in general, and raise women's risk of AIDS infection in particular. If half the victims of HIV/AIDS are women then surely they must have an equal role in addressing the problem.  

Under the leadership of our Director of Social Transformation Programmes Division, Nancy Spence, and with the support of her colleagues, the Commonwealth Secretariat works closely with national commissions on AIDS, ministries and civil society partners to strengthen their capacity to respond to the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS, especially on women and girls. One of our programmes with young people is the Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living, represented at this meeting by Ms. Periasamy Kousalya, which mobilises young people as advocates and educators to help their peers combat the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.

We hope that programmes such as this will contribute to and strengthen our partnership with the Coalition, and invite you during the course of the day to look at the range of materials we've produced which highlight our work on HIV/AIDS.

Again on behalf of the Secretary General, on behalf of my colleagues and on my own behalf: welcome all of you to Marlborough House. I am confident that you will have productive deliberations and I look forward to seeing you later during the day.

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
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