Renewed commitment against HIV/AIDS

More than 40 volunteers from various NGOs and ten UN Volunteers supported a commemoration event on World AIDS Day. The successful event, which gathered hundreds of people despite the rain, was a joint effort between a number of UN agencies and civil society organizations.

In his closing speech, UNAIDS National Coordinator, Luis Angel Moreno, highlighted that UN Volunteers played an essential role in making the event possible.

Throughout the day, a variety of groups played music and danced while volunteers distributed condoms among passers-by. Volunteers from Scouts Colombia, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), to name just a few, interacted with the audience and engaged them in role-playing games to raise awareness about the use of condoms and other preventive measures.
    
Adriana Serdan, UNV Programme Officer in Colombia, signed a commemoration banner with the motto "Renew your commitment on HIV/AIDS".  Earlier that day, she also attended the launch of the first UNAIDS mail stamp, whereby the Colombian government wishes to signal its support to the organization in its fight against the pandemic.

Although the number of new infections worldwide decreased by 20 per cent between 1997 and 2010, "UNAIDS confirms its vision for the future: Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination, and Zero AIDS-related deaths", said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Bruno Moro.

The event closed with the traditional candlelight memorial whereby all volunteers and attendees lit up their candles and observed a minute of silence to commemorate the 30-year fight against AIDS, of remembrance, community mobilization and global solidarity.