Tag: United Nations

Maryam Bukar Hassan, at the High-level plenary meeting to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations – General Assembly, 80th session.

Watch the full video here: https://youtube.com/live/Mws45VNffA0?feature=share

The impact of the funding cuts is already being felt in countries with high burdens of HIV, including Eswatini, Mozambique, and South Africa, which are now facing shortages of community health workers and data collectors. UNAIDS has warned that if funding is not fully restored, as many as 6 million people could become newly infected with HIV and 4 million people could die from AIDS-related deaths between 2025 and 2029.

Produced by acclaimed Hollywood writer and producer Ron Nyswaner, the film features high-profile advocates in the global fight against HIV, including Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Charlize Theron, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and actress Thuso Mbedu. Together they highlight the need for global solidarity and sustained support to end AIDS. It also includes Fabian Quezada, a Mexican-born HIV activist and Andiswa Cindi, a 22-year-old South African social media influencer who uses Tiktok to create awareness about HIV.

“The global HIV response has saved millions of lives for over two decades, bringing countries together in international solidarity to end the AIDS crisis,” said Mr. Nyswaner. “We hope the film captures that success while serving as a call to action for continued funding for this essential work.”

Mr Nyswaner’s deep connection to HIV was demonstrated in the 1993 film Philadelphia, that earned Tom Hanks an Oscar for his portrayal of a young lawyer fighting HIV discrimination. Mr Nyswaner continued this work in the acclaimed 2023 television series, Fellow Travelers, that brought the story of the AIDS crisis to a new generation.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who features prominently in the film, has long championed global efforts to end AIDS, supporting initiatives in countries including Botswana and Lesotho. “Right now, babies are being born with HIV due to interruptions in antiretroviral treatment for their mothers. Without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, 6 million more people will become infected with HIV while 4 million will die from AIDS-related causes within the next four years,” he said. “It is not just the at-risk communities that will be affected. We’ve proven that sustained investment saves lives and builds stronger communities. Abandoning this life-saving work now would be a devastating betrayal of progress for the millions who depend on these essential services.”

Academy Award-winning actress and philanthropist Charlize Theron and HIV advocate and basketball legend and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises Earvin “Magic” Johnson are not new to global HIV campaigns. Ms Theron is a longstanding leader in advocating for young people and tackling the systemic inequalities that drive HIV infections among young women and girls through founding the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), while Mr Johnson has lived openly with HIV for many years, helping to fight the stigma against the disease.

The film also highlights recent scientific innovations which could save lives, alluding to the groundbreaking new medicine lenacapavir, which is almost 100% effective in preventing HIV with injections just twice a year which could be a game-changer in stopping new HIV infections if it is made available and affordable to all in need.

“The end of AIDS is not a distant dream—it is within our grasp, built on decades of relentless activism, advocacy, and shared commitment. From groundbreaking treatments to global solidarity, we’ve built a path to epidemic control,” said Ms Theron. “And now, as world leaders gather at the United Nations General Assembly, we have the power to finish what we’ve started. The time to end AIDS is now, and we must have the courage to see it through.”

South African Hollywood actress, Thuso Mbedu, has been working with UNAIDS, encouraging world leaders to embrace human rights in the global HIV response and working with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to shine a light on critical lifesaving HIV work. “Ending AIDS requires collective action and support of humanity to ensure that no one who needs the lifesaving antiretroviral treatment in Uganda or Mozambique is left behind, she said. “World leaders must continue to invest in the global HIV response to save lives.”

The global HIV response has been transformative. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa the roll out of medicine to treat HIV, among other advances, has led to a rebound in life expectancy from 56.5 years in 2010 to 62.3 years in 2024. New HIV infections have been brought down by 40%, while AIDS-related deaths decreased by 56% since 2010.

The film highlights that no single country can end AIDS alone, and that the world must stand together in global solidarity to end AIDS.

“Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
As we mark the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, I invite you to return for a moment to our earliest days.
When the Organization first opened its doors, many of its staff bore visible wounds from war — a limp, a scar, a burn.
One of them was Major Brian Urquhart, the second person to be hired by the UN.
A British soldier during the Second World War, he had been blown up on a ship in the Channel;
Witnessed the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp;
And carried, for the rest of his life the limp from a parachute that failed to open.
He was not alone.
A clerk might quietly mention a bullet wound.
A delegate, the shard of shrapnel still lodged in his chest.
They had seen the worst of humanity — the horrors of the death camps, the cruelty of combat, cities entirely wiped out.
And it was precisely because of what they had witnessed that they chose to serve peace.

Excellencies,
There is a persistent myth that peace is naïve. That justice is sentimental. That the only “real” politics is the politics of power and self-interest.
But those early staff were not idealists untouched by reality.
They had seen war. And they knew:
Peace is the most courageous, the most practical, the most necessary pursuit of all.
In building the United Nations, they created something extraordinary.
A place where all nations — large and small — could come together to solve problems that no country can solve alone.
And yet, at this moment, the principles of the United Nations are under assault as never before.
As we meet, civilians are targeted, and international law trampled in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond.
As we meet, poverty and hunger are on the rise as progress on the Sustainable Development Goals falters.
As we meet, the planet burns, with fires, floods, and record heat raging through climate chaos.
At the same time, we are moving towards a multipolar world.
But without strong multilateral institutions, multipolarity has its risks –– as Europe learned in the First World War.
To meet these challenges, we must not only defend the United Nations, we must strengthen it.
That is the purpose of Agenda 2030, the Pact for the Future, and the UN80 initiative: to renew the foundations of international cooperation, and to ensure that we can deliver for people everywhere.

In honour of Peace Day, @JazzysWorldTV visited the United Nations to speak with current and future leaders about how we can all act now for peace.

Learn more at un.org/peaceday

Opening Segment
Statements by the United Nations Secretary General and President of the General Assembly
Overview of the Progress on the SDGs
World Leaders Panel Discussion: An interactive discussion with world leaders from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and Small Island Developing States to reflect on the progress made on the SDGs and share their strategic insights on what must be achieved to reach the 2030 Agenda milestone.
Multistakeholder Panel Discussion: The multi-stakeholder panel will convene change makers and thought leaders representing youth, businesses, women and people with disabilities, and fragile settings, to inspire accelerated action and targeted investments to ensure that development shapes a just and inclusive future.
Closing Statements

“Our warring world is crying out for peace.

This year’s International Day of Peace urges each of us to give voice to that call.

Around the world lives are being ripped apart, childhoods extinguished, and basic human dignity discarded, amidst the cruelty and degradations of war.

We are seeing an explosion of conflict.

International law flouted.

And record numbers of people fleeing their homes.

All they want is peace.

Peace is everyone’s business. The impacts of war ripple around the world.

We must silence the guns. End the suffering. Build bridges. And create stability and prosperity.

Sustainable development supports peace – nine of the 10 countries struggling most with development are suffering conflict.

And we must quell the racism, dehumanisation and misinformation that throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

Instead, we must speak the language of respect, open our hearts to others.

And use our influence to push for peace.

Where we have peace, we have hope.

Families unite, communities rebuild, children learn and play.

Peace cannot wait – our work starts now”.