Voice of Liberia

BAN KI-MOON’S FIRST PUBLIC WORLD AIDS DAY SPEECH AS UN SECRETARY-GENERAL

New York (28 November 2007): On Friday, November 30, 2007, Ban Ki-Moon will make his first public World AIDS Day speech as United Nations Secretary-General.  Additional speakers for the evening include: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, President & CEO of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria; Petra Berrios, co-founder of Sisterhood Mobilized for AIDS/HIV Research and Treatment (SMART); and Supriya Banavalikar of The Hunger Project.  CNN’s Soledad O’Brien will emcee the event.

This public ceremony, to be held at St. Bartholomew's Church located on Park Avenue and 51st Street in New York City , will commemorate those whose lives have been taken by AIDS. Since 1981, when the first clinical evidence of what would later be known as AIDS was identified, over 25 million men, women and children have died of AIDS. Today, more than 33 million people are infected with the virus. It has ravaged families, communities, nations and continents.

The event will underscore the often overlooked yet necessary component in the fight against HIV/AIDS—leadership. Leadership at all levels of society, from the grassroots to the highest elected offices, is integral to halting the spread of HIV. The speakers will discuss the achievements of leadership to date and the challenges leadership is facing, in the fight against HIV/AIDS. 

The evening will also include performances by Grammy award winning pianist Angelin Chang and the Harambee Dancers. 

Data on HIV/AIDS can be found at www.unaids.org. For information on Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon see www.un.org/sg/.  For information on Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS see www.businessfightsaids.org. For information on SMART see www.smartuniversity.org.  For more information on The Hunger Project see www.thp.org.

Organizers of this event include the United Nations, The Hunger Project, St. Bartholomew's Church, Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. It is co-sponsored by the amfAR, World Council of Churches, Riverside Church , EngenderHealth, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, MaAfrika Tikkun, the Population Council, Islamic Cultural Center, CHAMP: Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project, Student World Assembly and a growing network of organizations in the New York area.

All media are requested to RSVP via email to js@thp.org.  In your RSVP please indicate if you will be bringing any audio, video or photographic equipment.