Background
The 2001 UNGASS Declaration of Commitment and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS established time-bound targets to be met and reported on by countries worldwide. The commitments aimed to address the needs of people who inject drugs, their families and the communities in which they live through an “urgent, coordinated and sustained response.”
The 2011 United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS held in New York from 8-10th June 2011 is one of the key international fora through which to advance progress on harm reduction and related drug policy reform. Ten years since the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, world leaders and civil society representatives will come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. At this meeting, Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.
Aims of the Declaration
At the 22nd International Harm Reduction Conference held in Beirut, Lebanon from April 3-7, Harm Reduction International is launching HIV and Injecting Drug Use: A Global Call to Action.
The declaration aims to hold the United Nations accountable to their commitments on HIV/AIDS for people who inject drugs worldwide. It does this by providing a clear platform for mobilising a broad constituency of civil society organisations and governments in support of evidence-based harm reduction interventions and drug policy reform as outlined in the Vienna Declaration. Ultimately, efforts around the declaration aim to raise the profile of these issues within the proceedings and outputs of the United Nations HLM on HIV/AIDS in New York.
International Drafting and Coordinating Committee
The Declaration has been drafted with contributions and feedback from our key partners around the world. We acknowledge the contributions of the following organisations to the early drafts of the document, and thank them for their support.
Alison Crocket
Senior Advisor
UK Department for International Development
Anita Krug
International Coordinator
YouthRISE
Daniel Wolfe
Director
International Harm Reduction Development Programme
Open Society Foundations
Elie Aaraj
Executive Director
Middle East & North Africa Harm Reduction Association
Gordon Mortimore
Founder and Managing Partner
one23
Joseph Amon
Director
Health and Human Rights Division
Human Rights Watch
Jude Byrne
Chair
International Network of People Who Use Drugs
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch
Director
Global Drug Policy Program
Open Society Foundations
Kevin Moody
International Coordinator & CEO
Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS
Mary Murphy
Policy Director
Penal Reform International
Mat Southwell
Project Manager
International Network of People Who Use Drugs
Mike Trace
Chair
International Drug Policy Consortium
Ralf Jurgens
Independent Public Policy Professional
Rebecca Schleifer
Advocacy Director
Health and Human Rights Division
Human Rights Watch
Richard Elliott
Executive Director
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Serge Votyagov
Program Director
Eurasian Harm Reduction Network
Susie McLean
Senior Adviser
International HIV/AIDS Alliance
