The 26th Special Session of the General
Assembly on HIV/AIDS Convenes: The 26th 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.