AIDS and Security

Remarks by Hon. David Kilgour at the 2003 Symposium on Women, Conflict, Peace and Security: What have we learned and where are we going?

Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Parliament Hill, Ottawa 

                                                                    Check against delivery

Welcome, bienvenu à Ottawa ! Je suis ravi d’apparaître parmi vous pour discuter le sujet si important de la voix des femmes dans la consolidation de la paix.

You have heard today from people who have worked in Afghanistan about the lessons they learned on the ground there. You’ve wrestled with the difficult issue of sexual exploitation and humanitarian assistance. I understand that you also discussed how to raise women’s concerns effectively in tomorrow’s conference at DFAIT. I hope you are more than successful since the issues you have talked about today are crucial to any full consideration of peacebuilding and human security.

 I’d like to raise another issue, one of the most pressing issues facing women around the world today: the AIDS pandemic.

Forty million people are HIV positive today. According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa. Last year Nature magazine estimated that if current conditions prevail there will be 1 billion people infected with AIDS by the year 2050. The HIV crisis makes terrorism pale by comparison.

Right now, there are over 13 million AIDS orphans around the world. If current conditions continue, that number will rise to over 43 million by 2010. I’m told that in Zambia today there are villages where the entire adult population has been wiped out by AIDS and only the children remain to carry on. In regions across Africa, a whole generation is being raised by grandparents. And while AIDS strikes without discrimination, women are increasingly bearing the burdens of societies in breakdown because of the disease.

Sources of Hope

There are, however, sources of hope that we can look to.

Retroviral Drugs

First, the tide is turning on the issue of generic retroviral drugs for developing nations. There are drug companies in our country, I’m told, which have volunteered to provide batches of AIDS drugs at reduced prices to Africans; this humanitarianism on the part of the private sector needs to be applauded. I understand that pushing for the release of generic drugs in Africa and elsewhere will also be an important priority in the next government of Canada.

Peer Education

Second, the impact of peer education programs cannot be underestimated. My daughter Margot worked on an AIDS education program in Tanzania, and she had this to say as a result of her experience:

“Young people and children need to be included in the fight against HIV/AIDS. They have a right to determine their own futures. They offer the greatest hope for changing the course of the epidemic. Programs that involve young people are the most likely to succeed. Their input is invaluable and they should be empowered to take ownership in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.”

We must do all that we can to reach the AIDS-free generation of children under 12 before they too are caught in the web of disease. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Canadian students began partnering with their peers in Africa and Asia to work on AIDS education projects? They could have a tremendous impact on the next generation.

I believe that the challenge of AIDS will inform and impact foreign policy for the next century. Canada has an opportunity to meet head on an epidemic which some are calling the greatest challenge human beings have ever faced. For all of our sake, I pray we rise to the challenge. 

Merci bien.