HIV/AIDS is a global threat.

A threat that calls for global action, national action and individual action.

No one should say "This doesn’t affect me" – and get away with it. We simply cannot close our eyes to one of the main challenges to human security in large parts of the world today. Nor would it be in our own interest to do so.

During the eleven days of Nordic Peace 2001, about one hundred thousand people worldwide will die from AIDS. Many of them are soldiers.

The HIV epidemic is advancing with accelerating speed. It is estimated that there were more than five million new people infected by HIV in the world last year. Three million people died of AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the worst hit – with three-quarters of all deaths caused by AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic.

In Africa, a continent that already suffers from many violent conflicts, the AIDS epidemic is even more devastating than war. In Africa, AIDS kills ten times more people than conflict.

In a growing number of sub-Saharan countries AIDS has truly become a matter of national security. By eroding human capital AIDS has a seriously destabilizing effect. Just imagine the effects on the long-term stability of a society where large proportions of the children have lost both their fathers and their mothers. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 12 million AIDS orphans, out of a world grand total of 13 million plus.

The epidemic is now spreading in many countries outside Africa, including in Central America and Asia. Also in Russia the number of HIV-infected persons has recently risen sharply. And the prognoses clearly point in the wrong direction. - Bad news, indeed.

AIDS destroys the social fabric.

Social turmoil is fertile ground for conflict.

Conflict breeds civil strife and war.

Armed conflict accelerates the spread of AIDS.

War and AIDS – together they threaten to undo years of economic and social progress in many developing countries.

We must break this vicious circle; first of all to help those directly affected, but also because this will be an effective conflict prevention measure.

Military personnel run an especially high risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Soldiers in the developing world are particularly vulnerable - often at extremely high risk. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, ministries of defense are reporting infection rates of 20 to 40 per cent in their armed services - even 50 to 60 per cent in a few countries.

In a gathering of this kind in a country in southern Africa, perhaps more than half of the audience would be HIV-positive.

Even in peacetime, sexually transmitted diseases are generally 2 to 5 times more widespread among the armed forces than in civilian populations. In time of conflict the difference can be 50 times higher, or more.

Besides human suffering, the loss of military personnel as a result of HIV/AIDS affects an army’s state of preparedness, particularly its ability to deploy at short notice. It also upsets the continuity of command. In addition, training new recruits requires extra resources, which many of the affected countries can ill afford.

High infection rates among the military also have an impact on a state’s civilian population. For instance, a 1997 study found a correlation between HIV clusters in northern Namibia and the location of military bases, which was partly due to unprotected sexual relations between soldiers and the local population.

Soldiers are often stationed for extended periods in stressful and foreign environments. They are removed from their families and from the familiar cultural context, both of which normally regulate their behavior. Deployed abroad they do things they normally would not do. Not all of them. Not even by far. But some of them. And too many.

Peacekeepers’ sexual interaction with the host population and sex workers can rapidly transmit HIV. Young girls, with limited means of protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases – and sexual abuse - are particularly vulnerable.

Peacekeepers may spread HIV among the host population or catch it while serving in the field - and pass it on to their families and communities after they return home.

Now, don’t get me wrong!

This is a fact of life.

- Not a moral accusation against military personnel, as such.

I simply ask that all peacekeepers participating in Nordic Peace 2001 keep this in mind:

Peacekeeping operations should help solve problems.

- Not add to them.

HIV infection among soldiers and peacekeeping personnel is a new challenge – a challenge that requires a vigorous response from the international community, host countries and troop-contributing countries.

Peacekeepers and the uniformed services of all nations are good target audiences for education about HIV/AIDS and its prevention. The strong traditions of leadership and discipline in the armed forces give them – give you - a significant advantage if you decide to move vigorously against HIV/AIDS.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, has observed that "a military and police force, well trained in HIV prevention and behavior changes, can be a tremendous force for prevention if it is made one of their priorities." I fully agree.

Uganda is a good example of an effective military response to HIV in a developing country. The country has an aggressive prevention program, including testing. The army’s infection level is now said to be lower than that of the civilian population. - Living proof of the military’s capacity to take the lead and show the way.

We hope to make uniformed services, peacekeeping forces and humanitarian aid workers agents of prevention and models of good behavior. Military commanders have a responsibility to ensure that their officers and troops do not transmit HIV. This is a matter of leadership.

A comprehensive strategy on how to address responsible sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS in peacekeeping operations is essential.

And in my opinion the HIV/AIDS epidemic should be met with the same decisive action – and the same mobilization of human and financial resources – as a military threat to peace and stability.

The international community is now taking steps in that direction.

It’s high time we do so.

One and half years ago, AIDS appeared on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for the first time. A year ago, the Security Council adopted resolution 1308, which tasks UNAIDS to coordinate the efforts to prevent and control the spread of HIV in the context of peacekeeping operations and national uniformed services.

The Council recognized "the need to incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention awareness skills and advice in aspects of the United Nations Department of Peace-keeping Operations’ training for peace-keeping personnel".

- In plain language, to move from words to action.

The Council has since addressed AIDS as a collective security issue on several occasions. This represents a crucial recognition of the importance of combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic for peace and security – particularly in Africa.

A Steering Committee on HIV/AIDS as a security issue was established in March this year. The Committee will guide and assist UNAIDS in implementing resolution 1308. The Committee is responsible for reviewing strategies and initiatives developed by UNAIDS. It will assess progress made and suggest new interventions, if and when necessary.

The Committee has broad competence and expertise, and includes representatives from donor governments, UN agencies, voluntary organizations and regional representatives. Norway and Denmark are members of the Committee, and Norway will host the Committee’s next meeting in September.

The Committee has adopted a workplan consisting of two strategies.

The first concentrates on the major peacekeeping operations. - The UN is now sending assessment missions to all the major peacekeeping operations. The purpose is to make detailed recommendations on how to prevent and control the spread of HIV/AIDS in the context of such operations.

Three measures will have immediate priority.

Firstly, an HIV/AIDS adviser will be attached to all major peacekeeping operations. The adviser will support the HIV/AIDS activities within the operation. He or she will also cooperate with the host country in developing preventive measures to protect the local population.

Secondly, there will be easy access to both female and male condoms on the premises of all UN peacekeeping operations.

Thirdly, an awareness card will be distributed to all peacekeeping personnel. The awareness card contains a brief code of conduct to guide each individual soldier in avoiding HIV. The awareness card will be translated into all the languages used by the troop-contributing countries.

The importance of such information material was brought up in an open meeting on HIV/AIDS in the UN Security Council this January where I participated. In this meeting Norway pledged its financial support for the production of the information material.

I have brought with me a number of awareness cards and will distribute them in the field this afternoon. They have been produced by UNAIDS only this week, so this will be a true premiere.

As you can see, the card deals with four aspects:

• basic facts about HIV/AIDS
• how to protect oneself and others
• what to do in an emergency
• and finally, the important Code of Conduct for Uniformed Services.

The second strategy focuses on the countries that provide peacekeepers. - We need to strengthen local and regional capacity in order to be able to respond to the epidemics in national uniformed services. The focus will be on important troop-contributing countries, notably Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, the Ukraine and Zambia. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will play an important role in this work in its capacity as UN Resident Coordinator.

Many people consider voluntary HIV testing within national services, especially of troops to be deployed in international peacekeeping missions, to be an effective preventive measure. Although testing is not in itself a solution to the problem, I truly believe testing can help reduce the risk of HIV transmission . Bear in mind that this is not just a matter of sexual behavior; it is also relevant for injuries and blood transfusions .

Norway therefore recommends that all UN peacekeeping personnel be given voluntary and confidential counseling and testing, both before and after deployment. The counseling must be detailed, frank and adapted to local circumstances and sensitivities, and pay due regard to human rights aspects.

Such testing of military and police is already established practice in Norway.

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A number of initiatives have been taken to ensure UN system-wide follow-up of resolution 1308. Norway decided to grant 10 million Norwegian kroner – approximately 1.1 million US dollars – in support of UNAIDS’ activities in this field. This contribution, that I was pleased to announce at the UN Security Council meeting in January, will hopefully encourage other countries to increase their contributions accordingly.

The grant is part of an overall doubling of the resources we have earmarked for multilateral HIV/AIDS activities in our budget for 2001 – from approximately 7.5 to 15 million US dollars (65 to 130 million Norwegian kroner). There will be even more money next year.

Still, we fully realize that money is not enough. We need strong leadership and commitment from every sector of society. We must find new and more effective ways to work together. We must empower women and girls to make themselves less vulnerable. We must involve men more actively in turning the tide of the epidemic. We must promote individual responsibility.

And let me make it perfectly clear: Men have a special responsibility.

We must build broad alliances, involving governments, voluntary organizations, local communities, workplaces, schools, individuals – you name it.

And the military must be part of this joint effort.

I am sure you are all familiar with the Brahimi Report on improving the UN’s capacity to plan and carry out international peace operations. As one of the largest and most faithful contributors to these operations ever since the first UN peacekeeping operation in 1947, Norway supports most of the proposals and recommendations made in the report.

The Norwegian Government’s strategy for following up the Brahimi Report includes a set of specific measures that will be submitted to the Security Council - where we are presently a member -, to the UN General Assembly, and to other relevant fora. Preventive measures for fighting HIV/AIDS are part of this strategy.

One week ago, Norway took over as chairman of SHIRBRIG, whose participants include several Nordic countries and some others. This is a multi-national UN Stand-by Forces High Readiness Brigade. During the year we are chairing SHIRBRIG we will ensure that HIV/AIDS figures prominently in the cooperation.

Norway has also initiated a Training for Peace program in southern Africa. The purpose of the project is to help countries in the region to build up peacekeeping expertise through courses, seminars and other means of information distribution. Here too, the fight against HIV/AIDS will be part of the activities.

From now on I believe HIV/AIDS will be an important issue in all new peace operations. The fight against HIV/AIDS is part of peace-building; it is part of our efforts to make a better, more just and safer world for all.

The fight against AIDS is war.

It’s a war we must win. And with adequate resources, the right attitudes, strong leadership and vigorous action – we ultimately will.

All of us must fight as hard as we can.

It’s our common duty.

It’s enlightened self-interest.

And you - men and women in uniform and other peacekeeping personnel - can make a big difference.