The 26^th Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS Convenes: The 26^th Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS convened from 25-27 June 2001 at U.N. Headquarters in New York. The Special Session focused on the HIV/AIDS crisis and concrete and effective measures to combat and prevent the rapid spread of the deadly disease. During the Session, which raised public awareness of the magnitude of the epidemic, the international community stressed the importance of developing effective and preventive strategies as well as increasing the availability of resources.

The Permanent Observer of Palestine to the U.N., Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa, headed the Palestine delegation and delivered a statement on 27 June 2001. During his statement, he expressed support for the Member States most impacted by the epidemic and called for an increase in support for efforts to assist them in all fields in the battle against the HIV/AIDS virus.

The Special Session on HIV/AIDS adopted the "Declaration of Commitment", which commits U.N. Member States to addressing problems in this regard, including: "underdevelopment, economic insecurity, poverty, lack of employment, lack of information and/or commodities for self-protection; all types of sexual exploitation of women, girls and boys, including for commercial reasons." It also specifies a 2-year and 4-year timetable for Nations to develop programs to deal with such issues and translate them into action.