ROLE AND OBLIGATIONS OF PARLIAMENTS

Stephen Lewis, United Nations Envoy: "AIDS is the single greatest scourge in human history"

During the IPU Assembly held in Nairobi, the organization of world parliaments held a panel on HIV/AIDS and children, in cooperation with UNICEF and UNAIDS. At a press conference, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, pressed legislators to empower women and "to look at model legislation and to move it from country to country to make sure that it is enshrined, implemented and enforced".

Mr. Lewis asked members of parliament "to go home with a recognition that AIDS is the single greatest scourge in human history. There has never been anything like it before", he said, adding that the two areas of enormous neglect as far as AIDS is concerned in Africa are children and women. "Regarding children, priorities have to be set, such as: treatment for infected children, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, policies to respond to AIDS orphans and prevention among adults and teenagers". Finally "the parliamentarians of Africa and beyond have to take far more seriously the interventions on behalf of women, because what happens to women is tied to children and what is happening to women is a nightmare".

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa said that "there has to be legislation on sexual violence and rape, on property and inheritance rights, on quotas for parliamentary representation and on the elimination of user fees since they hamper women's access. The failure of the international community generally to respond to women has never been more dramatic than in the face of the pandemic. That is what I want to leave with the parliamentarians and I genuinely believe they are capable of making a major difference".

Referring to Africa, he said that the situation is still horrendous and the number of people dying unnecessarily is heart-breaking. "Africa cannot handle the costs alone. The ongoing failure of the international community is a travesty. I believe that parliamentarians have a tremendous obligation. It is not just a role, it is an obligation to build on positive initiatives from various countries. Kenya did a fascinating analysis two or three years ago of its various laws relating to AIDS and much of the gender dimension filtered through that. Education and legislation go hand in hand. But the gender dimension is the absolutely crucial question", he insisted.

	"EMPOWERING FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES TO FACE THE AIDS PANDEMIC" UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Mrs. Rima Salah, said that local, national and international communities cannot wait any longer if they want to combat the pandemic in an efficient way. "Leadership and political commitment are important. But we all have a role to play. It is very urgent that we play our role in empowering families and communities to really face the AIDS pandemic, change customs, practices and attitudes", she said. Mrs. Salah insisted that capacity-building of families and communities must be implemented. Access to services such as basic health, education and protection services is essential. For the UNICEF Executive Director, changing the status of women is also a priority . "I just met with Mrs. Graça Machel in Mozambique. She said that we cannot stop the pandemic if we do not change the status of women and if we do not really increase empowerment programmes for women". Last but not least, the role of the media is also important, "because they reach out to every community and every family", concluded Mrs. Salah.

IPU advisory group to help mainstream international HIV/AIDS commitments

In her address to the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS on 2 June, the Vice President of the IPU Executive Committee, Senator Margareth Mensah-Williams of Namibia, pledged that the IPU would work continuously to mobilize stronger support from the world’s parliamentary community in the fight against the pandemic.

The important role of parliaments in this process is in fact also reflected in the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS adopted by the United Nations High-Level Meeting at the end of its session. Through this Declaration, States have committed themselves to taking action to promote gender equality, the empowerment of women and the protection of girls, respect for the full rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, greater protection for all vulnerable groups, provision of the full range of HIV preventive measures, and the full engagement of the private sector and civil society, including people living with HIV, in the response effort.

The IPU address was made at the a Parliamentary Caucus held in New York on 1 June, and was organized by IPU in collaboration with UNAIDS and UNDP. The meeting, attended by some 60 MPs - many members of specialized HIV/AIDS parliamentary committees - stressed the need to raise greater awareness within parliaments about HIV/AIDS, mobilize the necessary political response, and enhance dialogue and interaction between parliaments and grassroots HIV/AIDS organizations. The Caucus said it would recommend that the IPU establish an advisory group that would seek to help mainstream international HIV/AIDS commitments and policies throughout the IPU’s 146 Member Parliaments. The group would also help further develop the growing relationship between the IPU and UNAIDS.