Peace and Security Commissioner meets UNAIDS Executive Director

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, December 19, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, met, on Monday 17 December 2012, at the AU Headquarters, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS), UN Under-Secretary General Michel Sidibe, to discuss avenues of cooperation between the Commission and UNAIDS in the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions 1308 (2000) and 1983 (2011) on the issue of preventing sexual violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Mr. Sidibé briefed the Commissioner on the recent developments on HIV response globally, especially on HIV/AIDS and Security in Africa and how AUC can catalyze the implementation of UNSC resolution 1983. He exchanged with the Commissioner about the upcoming meetings on AIDS and Security that will take place in Addis Ababa. Ambassador Lamamra expressed the readiness of the AUC to develop its cooperation with UNAIDS to enhance the ongoing efforts of the AU, in particular within the framework of the operationalization of the African Standby Force (ASF), Post- Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PRCD) activities, strengthening the AU Missions in Somalia (AMISOM), and other African led missions.

On the way forward, the two sides agreed that the Commission will appoint a Focal Point to liaise with the UNAIDS Office in Addis Ababa, headed by Ms. Rosemary Museminali, UNAIDS Representative to the AU and UNECA, to follow up on the practical aspects of the implementation of the cooperation between the two Institutions.

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