A South African woman became on Wednesday the first person living with HIV to address the UN General Assembly, urging countries to action rather than "empty promises" in the global fight against AIDS.
In remarks to the opening session of a UN high-level meeting on the AIDS pandemic, Khensani Mavasa, 27, made a special appeal to the governments of African countries where women constitute 77 percent of new infections.
"I call on African leaders sitting here to protect and promote the human rights of all people in vulnerable groups, particularly women and girls," said Mavasa, who wore a simple blue and white T-shirt with the words "HIV Positive."
PHOTO: AFP
"We ask that you do not fail us yet again," she added.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region in the world, being home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV.
Two million people died of AIDS in the region last year and there were 2.7 million new infections.
The UN meeting, which gathered 10 heads of state and government as well as some 80 Cabinet ministers, is aimed at adopting a blueprint for reaching the goal of providing "universal access" to AIDS care and prevention by 2010.
"Your big task now is making sure that this ... is not a document of empty promises, not a mere restatement of principle, but a platform for target based action," Mavasa told the conference.
Afterwards, the Swedish president of the general assembly, Jan Eliasson, said Mavasa had brought the reality of HIV/AIDS into the hall.
"If we multiply her face, multiply, multiply, multiply, ... we might get a slight notion of what this all means," Eliasson told reporters.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was