Date: 26 March, 2017

Venue: King Fahd Hotel, B01

Time: 14:00 – 16:00

Background:

The new Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, adopted by all member states during the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June 2016,⁵ calls on countries to Fast-Track the AIDS response towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.  The Declaration, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, affirms the need to intensify efforts towards the goal of comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care, while protecting human rights and the dignity of all people affected by HIV, with a specific focus on populations and locations with high transmission risk.  Cities and urban spaces play a critical and leading role in fast-tracking the AIDS response and actions taken in cities will to a large extent determine national and global success in ending the epidemic by 2030.

More than half the world’s population currently live in cities and population growth in the future is expected to be mainly urban. Because of the high population density, cities account for a large and growing proportion of people living with HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases. In addition, the risk and vulnerability to HIV and TB infection is often higher in urban areas because of dynamics such as social networking, migration, poverty and social/economic inequalities

Against this backdrop, Africa Development Week 2017 will feature a side event on the role of cities in ending the AIDS epidemic in Africa.