Side event to the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS
The role of parliaments in addressing inequalities to end
AIDS by 2030
7 June 2021
9:00
–
10:30 EDT (New York), 15:00
–
16:30 CEST (Geneva)
Concept note
A United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS will be convened on 8-10 June 2021 to review
progress towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 and guide the HIV/AIDS response beyond 2021.
It will provide an opportunity to mobilize political commitment and ensure that COVID-19 recovery
applies the lessons learned from the colliding epidemics of HIV and COVID-19 to create more resilient
societies. The United Nations General Assembly adopted modalities for the High-Level Meeting,
which specifically invite the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to contribute. The IPU Governing Council
is expected to adopt a statement to provide a parliamentary contribution to the meeting.
Forty years since the first cases were identified, AIDS remains an urgent global crisis and most
countries are not on track to end AIDS by 2030, the target set by the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). In 2019, 38 million people globally were living with HIV and more than 12 million people still
did not have access to HIV treatment. Stigma, discrimination and underlying inequalities, including
gender, structural, legal and economic inequalities, continue to fuel the HIV epidemic, marginalize and
criminalize communities, and restrict access to health, education and other essential services.
Women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and key populations continue to be disproportionately
affected by the HIV epidemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is further threatening the gains already made;
modelling of the pandemic’s long-term
impact on the HIV response shows a setback with an
estimated 123,000 to 293,000 additional new HIV infections and 69,000 to 148,000 additional AIDS-
related deaths between 2020 and 2022.
Where parliaments and parliamentarians are effectively engaged in the AIDS response, they can
provide critical leadership in realizing a new vision that makes the end of AIDS a reality by building
public awareness and acting in the interest of people living with HIV and key populations; amending
laws that undermine access to HIV and health services and criminalize HIV transmission while
enacting laws that promote the right to health and protect against stigma and discrimination; and
using oversight and budgetary powers to enable effective prioritization and more efficient allocation of
resources for HIV and health.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is convening a side event in collaboration with UNAIDS to
discuss the new Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 and the main lines of action that will emerge from
the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. The event will address the following questions:
- What are the core goals of the new Global AIDS Strategy and how can parliaments contribute
to their achievement and ensure adequate investment in HIV and health?
- How are inequalities driving the HIV epidemic? What is the impact of law on the HIV response
and how can legislation support the commitments emerging from the High-Level Meeting to
end AIDS by 2030?
- What lessons can be drawn from the colliding HIV epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic and
how can parliaments ensure that COVID-19 response and recovery plans support the HIV
response?
The event will take place virtually and will be open to all interested parliamentarians and
parliamentary staff as well as other stakeholders involved in the HIV response. The working
languages will be English, French and Spanish (simultaneous interpretation).