Mr. President and Mr. Secretary General of the United
Nations,

Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In this year’s follow-up to the 2001 Declaration of
Commitment on HIV/AIDS, it is imperative that migration enters the
debate. AIDS and migration are eminently cross-national issues.
Every country in the world is touched by migration today, as a
country of origin, transit, destination or return, and most
countries are all of these.

Five years ago, 189 countries committed to developing and
beginning to implement, by 2005, national, regional and
international strategies for HIV prevention for migrants and mobile
workers.¹ However,
the draft country reports prepared for this high-level meeting show
a mixed picture:

Many of the country reports recognize the vulnerability of
cross-border migrants, mobile populations, victims of trafficking
in human beings, refugees, and/or displaced populations, but less
than half describe programmes. Very few transit or destination
countries take into account the issue of return migration, although
reports from some countries of origin illustrate its importance: in
at least three countries a significant proportion of those living
with HIV are nationals who were infected while working abroad.

Overall, the country reports touch upon a number of critical
issues, such as the epidemiology and demographics of HIV as they
are related to population mobility, and of irregular migration and
of stigma. The AIDS prevention programming as described in the
country reports vary for the different groups - labour migrants,
ethnic minorities, forced migrants, tourist industry workers, and
people who move from one place to another for professional
reasons.

Particular difficulties are described in providing access to
treatment, care and support for migrants and mobile populations,
especially when those diagnosed with HIV or AIDS are in transit or
have irregular status. Other barriers, even for migrants in regular
status, are linguistic and cultural, but also legal, such as
“…laws that may hinder the delivery of HIV prevention
and treatment services to vulnerable and at-risk populations
[including] … use of residency status to restrict access to
services.” ^"#2">2

Other issues are barely touched upon in the reports. Gender
issues with respect to migration deserve more attention, and little
mention is made of either internal displacement or of trafficking
in human beings. Little or no attention is given to the migration
of health workers that drains already-overextended health systems
in countries heavily affected by AIDS.

Mr. President,

This review and high level meeting of the General Assembly
invites us to assess what needs to be done. Improved data gathering
and knowledge-sharing is essential, along with more systematic
programme evaluation, although these must be conjugated to avoid
further stigmatizing already-stigmatized groups.

In particular, partnerships between governments and
organizations at community, national and regional levels must be
strengthened, to improve access to prevention, treatment and care
for all mobile populations, regardless of immigration or residence
status. Such programmes must be funded, and IOM joins civil society
in stressing the importance of the Global Fund in reaching
universal access by 2010 and in supporting the call for all
technically sound Round 6 proposals to be fully funded in 2006. IOM
also calls for increased attention to population mobility by
Country Coordinating Mechanisms.

As pointed out in the Secretary General’s report,
effective prevention means that the global community must address
the factors that increase vulnerability to HIV, such as poverty,
illiteracy, economic and gender inequality and all forms of
discrimination and social exclusion.
^href="#3">3 In the case of population mobility, this
means better integration of migrants and reinforced linkages
between communities of origin, transit, destination and return.

Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity for IOM to inject
the issue of migration in this follow-up to the 2001 Declaration of
Commitment on HIV/AIDS.

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^"1">1 The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
(United Nations, 2001) paragraph 50.

^"2">2 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: five
years later: Report of the Secretary-General, A/60/736, 24 March
2006, para 37, p. 14.

^"3">3 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: five
years later: Report of the Secretary-General, A/60/736, 24 March
2006, para 59, p. 19.