UN High Level Meeting opened

The Crown Princess is in New York in her capacity as a Special Representative for UNAIDS. Part of yesterday was spent preparing young leaders to join the High Level Meeting. The meeting was officially opened today.

Opened by Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon officially opened the meeting at the General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters in New York. The aim of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS is for Member States to reach agreement on a new Declaration that will guide and sustain the global AIDS response in the years to come.

The negotiations will start today and will last until 9 June. This month marks 30 years since the first cases of HIV were reported.

Panel debate

Directly after the opening the Crown Princess attended an official panel debate organised under the auspices of the UN to address issues such as how the different countries can assume shared responsibility for the HIV/AIDs response. Another key topic was how to ensure effective and predictable planning at the local level, including securing funding for the implementation of the various measures.

Norwegian event on women’s and children’s health

In 2010 the UN Secretary-General launched a global campaign focusing on the health of women and children: The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. The aim of the campaign is to save the lives of millions of women and children through a major, global effort. The initiative acknowledges the importance of ensuring good health for women and children as a key factor in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.

In her opening speech the Crown Princess stressed the importance of the campaign launched by the Secretary-General:

The Secretary-General’s launch of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health and the global effort Every Women, Every Child last year provides a strong platform for all partners in making progress together towards 2015.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took an important and brave step when he lifted women’s and children’s health to the highest political level.

Today’s event was attended by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), which comprise four of the major UN organisations.

Moderated discussion

Later this afternoon, local time, the Crown Princess will attend a moderated discussion between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame.

The aim of the discussion is to identify areas of potential binding cooperation and find ways to secure the full commitment of the various countries to the global HIV/AIDS response.