UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 5135UNGASS helped to putthe business response toAIDS on the map. BillRoedy from MTV andthen Chairman of theGlobal Business Coalitionon HIV/AIDS, addressedthe plenary of theGeneral Assembly.MTVPiot sees UNGASS as a defining moment in the global response to AIDS. “We’ve had so manyuseless meetings and conferences, but this one made a real difference … many Presidents andPrime Ministers went back to their country and established a National AIDS Commission undertheir authority. It provided the road map now for what to do about AIDS … and the fundingwent up in a big way, despite September 11”.The Declaration of Commitment became a benchmark for global action; it produced a clearglobal mandate that could be used to hold international leaders to account. Extensive mediacoverage on a scale unprecedented for a UN event contributed to raising awareness globallyof the epidemic and its impact.No country and no leader could any longer say they did not know about the exceptionalmagnitude of the AIDS crisis or about exactly what needed to be done. And for thefirst time ever, there were time-bound targets on HIV prevention, resource mobilizationand other aspects of the global AIDS response, serving to make governments clearlyaccountable 35 .As thousands of weary but generally elated people returned home from New York,work increased on the Global Fund. At UNGASS, several governments of developingcountries had pledged millions of dollars of their own resources as a sign of their supportfor the fund.35Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001). UN General Assembly 26th Special Session, No. A/RES/S-26.2.