Reconfirming Commitment to Young People

On behalf of the United Nations Population Fund and the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministers of Youth of Botswana, Jamaica, Namibia, Morocco and Sri Lanka and the Member of Parliament from India for their leadership, immense support and participation for this important event. I also would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the many young leaders from around the world who have come to contribute to this event.

As the International Year of Youth comes to a close this August, the theme, “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding,” has given us a wonderful opportunity to invest in and partner with young people as agents of change.

Recent data shows that HIV prevalence has dropped by more than 25% among young people in 15 of the 21 countries most affected by HIV. This is because young people are leading by example, choosing to delay sexual debut, have fewer partners and use condoms.

It’s clear that the choices young people make have a profound impact on our world. Their idealism, energy and drive for social change and development can change the course of history, as we have seen in the Middle East and North Africa.

However, the ability of young people to manage their risks and vulnerability to HIV is not solely a function of individual behavior. It is also dependent on social, political and economic inclusion.

They must be empowered and given access to opportunities –allowing them to understand and navigate risks, make informed choices that are context specific, and gain greater influence over their lives.

In this forum, I am very happy to launch a report on young people and HIV, entitled Securing the Future Today, which contains a synthesis of strategic information on HIV and young people. The report is produced by the global Interagency Task Team on HIV and Young People and is a contribution to the International Year of Youth from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The report clearly states that significant progress has been made towards the achievement of the MDGs, but we have yet to achieve universal access for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support:

Today, 5 million young people in the world live with HIV. Young people accounted for 41% all new HIV infections in 2009.

Although HIV-related knowledge among young people has increased, in low and middle income countries, only 24% of young women and 36% of young men demonstrated accurate and comprehensive knowledge of HIV in 2009. This is well below the 95% target identified in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment.

Access to HIV prevention, treatment and support is limited and the special needs of young people – particularly young women and young people within key populations, such as young sex workers, young people who inject drugs and young men having sex with men – are inadequately addressed within national AIDS responses.

Stigma and discrimination fuel HIV and act as barriers to accessing age- and gender-appropriate reproductive health services, including HIV/STI prevention and treatment.

Young people are increasingly demanding opportunities to participate in decision making and policy development that affect their well-being – including for rights-based, evidence-informed sexual and reproductive health services and sexuality education. We need to make those opportunities available to them.

They are increasingly connected: Innovative social media and electronic networks help design innovative behavior change strategies and provide new ways of networking. We can take advantage of these networks to reach more young people to provide sexual and reproductive health services and education.

Today’s dialogue will focus on some of the key elements illustrated in the report’s summary and recommendations. I encourage you to use and disseminate the report widely.

I am excited to be a part of this dialogue between young leaders and high-level policy decision makers from Governments to explore how we can work together to achieve “Zero new HIV infections,” “Zero discrimination” and “Zero AIDS-related death.”

This is an opportunity for national policy makers to hear the voices of young people and to make commitments for continued dialogue and partnerships so we can achieve the goal of reducing sexual transmission by 50% by 2015.

Upon its conclusion, I hope that this forum will send a strong message to world leaders to reconfirm their commitments to young people, who are every nation’s most valuable asset, and propel us towards an HIV-free generation.

Thank you.