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We, the members of the Human Security Network, namely Austria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland and Thailand, and with South Africa as an observer :

RECALLING the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted at the 26 th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in June 2001 that secured a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat HIV and AIDS in a comprehensive manner;

RECOGNIZING that despite encouraging signs that the AIDS epidemic is beginning to be contained in a small but growing number of countries, the epidemic continues to expand worldwide and urgent action is needed in order to achieve the intended goal of reversing the epidemic.

DEEPLY CONCERNED that despite efforts on all fronts, the AIDS pandemic remains a dire threat to human security, for the disease not only deprives societies of valuable human resources but also undermines the prospects for socio-economic development as well as the ability and rights of the affected people to live in security and in dignity.

ALSO CONCERNED that, in 2004, AIDS continued to claim 3 million lives and currently over 40 million people all over the world are living with HIV. Young people account for half of the new infections, with almost half of all persons infected between the ages of 15-49 being women.

RECOGNIZING that limited access to HIV prevention as well as essential commodities and activities for prevention, treatment, care and support is one of the major obstacles in curbing the epidemic and its negative consequences;

WELCOMING in this respect the new policy position paper to intensify HIV prevention endorsed on June 29 th , 2005 by the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board, which will help expand HIV prevention programs worldwide, document and coordinate best practices, and devise methods of measuring HIV prevention trends;

RECOGNIZING as well the sovereign right of Governments to protect public health;

REAFFIRMING that effective programmes in response to HIV and AIDS should respect the “Three Ones” principle and must encompass all stakeholders, with synergies among government, civil-society, private sector, HIV infected and affected people, development agencies, and international organizations serving as key players in programme implementation.

HEREBY AGREE to cooperate on the following areas:

1. Working towards a new generation of HIV-free young people by:

1.1 promoting human rights and gender equality as well as taking measures to eliminate discrimination and combat stigma as part of any comprehensive HIV and AIDS strategy;

1.2 increasing awareness and knowledge on HIV and AIDS by expanding and making more accessible public information on HIV and AIDS through various channels, including popular media;

1.3 scaling up education, including peer and life-skilled education on HIV and AIDS and sexual and reproductive health for young people in and out of schools, work place, community and other environments;

1.4 making universally available and affordable, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health care including access to male and female condoms;

1.5 promoting research into new prevention technologies, including vaccines and microbicides;

1.6 adopting evidence-based policies to promote prevention activities for young people and to protect every young person, especially young women, from sexual and economic exploitation, violence and abuse, including all forms of rape, forced marriage, and human trafficking;

1.7 making available to young people interventions to prevent HIV transmission through unsafe drug injecting practices, as well as to promote drug prevention and substitution treatment and harm reduction measures, including sterile needle and syringe programmes ;

1.8 increasing participation of young people in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV prevention activities.

2. Strengthening health systems , including human resource capacity to increase access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by :

2.1 engaging civil society, private sector, HIV infected and affected people as partners to play a greater role in providing and facilitating prevention, treatment, care and support;

2.2 promoting collaboration on knowledge transfer and technical assistance regarding effective functioning of health systems relevant to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support;

2.3 promoting sufficient and adequately trained human resources with the appropriate skill-mix and adapting and/or reinforcing existing or taking new measures including by developed countries to facilitate the retention of skilled health workers in developing countries;

2.4 calling on key partners and international agencies to intensify coordination with and assistance to countries, regional as well as inter-regional groupings on the issue of HIV and AIDS;

2.5 addressing factors hampering the availability, accessibility, affordability, provision, and distribution of medicines and diagnostics related to the treatment of HIV and AIDS, and, in particular, following up on the August 30, 2003 Decision of the World Trade Organization on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public Health, bearing in mind the specific interests of least-developed countries (LDCs) and other developing countries with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector and in this respect considering, whenever necessary, adapting national legislation in order to use to the full the flexibilities contained in WTO TRIPS Agreement;

2.6 encouraging that bilateral trade agreements take into account the flexibilities contained in the WTO TRIPS Agreement and recognized by the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health and the WTO Decision on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration.

3. Following up on progress regarding the above issues by reporting, as appropriate, to a meeting of HSN countries on an annual basis.

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