Talks on Draft Declaration on AIDS Wrapped Up at UN

UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS Opens

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Delegations have wrapped up talks on the draft declaration of commitment expected to be adopted by the U.N. General Assembly's special session on HIV/AIDS, with Islamic States considering their response to the outcome, according to one of the chief negotiators.

"Essentially, the negotiations have concluded," said Ambassador Penny Wensley of Australia following intensive talks which ran throughout the weekend and into the early morning hours of Monday.

The Australian ambassador, who was involved in drafting the declaration, said it was up to member states to decide whether or not they were prepared to accept the draft.

She emphasized that all groups had accepted the draft reluctantly, saying that "when everybody is unhappy, then maybe you have a sense that you have found the middle ground."

"The group that is still considering their position is the Organization of Islamic States, because from the very beginning, it has been clear that they have profound concerns about language that may be, from their perspective, in conflict with their religious and cultural values," she said.

"Frankly, it has been a very difficult negotiation," she said, adding that this had been anticipated. "We knew from the outset that we were having to deal with issues that raise profound sensitivities."

Contentious issues, she said, "revolved around HIV/AIDS and human rights, women's rights, and how to refer to and describe vulnerable groups."

"Whatever the final decision of the group that is still meeting on the text, I believe that we have made enormous progress," she said. The declaration represented a "quantum leap" in terms of the international community dealing with the complex range of issues associated with the pandemic and would constitute a "valuable blueprint for future action."

The ambassador said that while compromise had been necessary, the scale of the problem required forceful action. "All groups feel that they have stretched well outside their comfort zones but there is the sense that we're all in this together and this is a global crisis that requires a global response."