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 "I believe that this could very well be looked back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million children became orphans in Africa?" – Rich Stearns, President of World Vision, US "In the battle against Apartheid we scored a tremendous victory in the face of considerable evil. The solidarity of people from around the world, including the UK strengthened us at some of our darkest moments. Now as we enter another battle - the battle against HIV/AIDS we need the same solidarity, the same passion, the same commitment and energy." – South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu "The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. In particular it requires solidarity -- between the healthy and the sick, between rich and poor, and above all, between richer and poorer nations. We have 30 million orphans already. How many more do we have to get, to wake up?" – Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General "The vision which fueled our struggle for freedom; the development of energies and resources; the unity and commitment of common goals - all these will be needed if we are to bring AIDS under control. This is a war. We must not continue to be debating, to be arguing, when people are dying." – Former South African President Nelson Mandela, February 17, 2002 "Part of winning the war on terrorism is winning the war on poverty. We've had the wake-up call. If we stand by and watch [Africa] go up in flames, the price won't be paid solely in African lives." – Bono, February 1 2002 "No war on the face of the Earth is more destructive than the AIDS pandemic. I was a soldier. But I know of no enemy in war more insidious or vicious than AIDS. Will history record a fateful moment in our time, on our watch, when action came too late?" – US Secretary of State Colin Powell, June 25, 2001 Address to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS "I think [AIDS] is one of the biggest problems on the planet, absolutely. It's something that's going to affect everybody in one way or another. I think that one of our biggest issues as humans is that we don't look at each other as part of the same life." – Alicia Keys, US recording artist "It's time to make the connection between debt relief and epidemic relief. If the international community relieves some of their external debt, these countries can reinvest the savings in poverty alleviation and AIDS prevention and care. If not, poverty will just continue to fan the flames of the epidemic." – Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS "The circumstance and the situation of HIV/AIDS underscore our call for total cancellation of Africa's debts in favour of investment in the social sector...[I]f we are to be true partners in development, the debt issue must be addressed in a comprehensive manner that frees our resources to enable us fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS, as well as meet our other social obligations to our people." – President Olusegun Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 25 June, 2001 "...There has been a world-wide revolt of public opinion. People no longer accept that the sick and dying, simply because they are poor, should be denied drugs which have transformed the lives of others who are better off." – Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General, speech announcing the creation of the Global AIDS Fund, 26 April 2001. "The fact is, churches, NGOs, and African governments can't do the job alone. The crisis of HIV/AIDS is so huge in scale that massive new resources are needed from the US government and the rest of the international community. Africa needs a massive increase in resources to fight this pandemic, now." – Bishop John Ricard, President And Chairman Of The Board, Catholic Relief Services, November 30, 2001 "[I] beseech the rich countries to respond to the needs of AIDS patients in the poor countries with all means at their disposal, so that these men and women tested in body and soul may have access to the medicines which they need." – Pope John Paul II, June 26, 2001 "AIDS destroys families, decimates communities and, particularly in the poorest areas of the world, threatens to destabilize the social, cultural, and economic fabric of entire nations...Where pain and suffering exist, we must provide comfort and solace. Where neglect and inequity prevail, we must bring compassion and justice." – Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism "It takes a variety of strategies and initiatives to address this pandemic. It's about life and death and the survival of humanity. This has been a coalition effort. It is bi-partisan, it is non-partisan, it cuts across caucuses in this Congress because everyone understands what this is about." – US Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) "The oft-repeated excuse that "aid does not work" is a cruel abnegation of U.S. responsibility... History demonstrates that such targeted [health care] interventions have a high success rate." – Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Harvard Institute for International Development "Can we watch one-quarter of some countries' people die? Can 27 million orphans be left to fend for themselves? We may not be able to solve the entire problem today, but let us not be discouraged from taking the steps necessary to begin the journey." – 118 bishops of the Episcopal Church, USA, Letter on global AIDS funding to US President Bush and the US Congress, June, 2001 "Aside from our moral obligation to battle this disease, it is simply common sense to recognize that it is in the world's economic self-interest. But fighting HIV/AIDS should not only be motivated by economic self-interest. Fighting the disease should be about human beings who have the ability to engage by willingly pulling up their sleeves to help fellow human beings..." – AFL-CIO, Executive Council, August 1, 2001, Chicago, Illinois, USA "Up to 20% of South Africa's registered nurses are HIV positive thus decimating the nursing workforce...[We] urge Congress and the administration to allocate new global HIV/AIDS funding for treatment, prevention, education and care, targeting sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries, at a level commensurate with U.S. economic and political leadership worldwide." – American Nurses Association, July 1, 2001 "The business community must make AIDS a core business issue. We must tackle AIDS in the workplace -- arming our staff with information to protect them, providing access to confidential voluntary counseling and testing and caring and supporting for infected employees, including treatment." – Richard Holbrooke, Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS "The HIV/AIDS pandemic is one of the most intractable problems facing mankind today. It has certainly set the clock back by decades in some of the poorest regions in the world, nullifying painstakingly made progress in the economic and social well-being of millions of people." – John Monks, General Secretary Trade Union Congress, United Kingdom Statements "Interfaith Letter on Global AIDS," sent to US Congress, March 5, 2002 243 Organizations Call for Urgent Action by President Bush and US Congress, February 15, 2002 US Human Rights Groups Appeal for Action on AIDS, Human Rights, and Debt, June 26, 2001 Stop AIDS Campaign UK launch statement "The Ouagadougou Appeal -- Access to antiretroviral drugs should be a priority," Burkina Faso, December 14, 2001 Declarations from debt campaigns |