Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-10-05-Speech-2-080"
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".
Let me first of all thank everyone for this debate. I was very happy to note that there is full agreement to what has been said by the different groups in Parliament. I also think that the nature of this problem demands a response which cuts across what otherwise often divides us in politics. I should like to give an assurance that the Commission wishes to increase its efforts in this area, not least in accordance with what has been the unifying theme and approach in the various interventions.
Those are my comments. Thank you again for this debate. Finally, I would point out that, in a week’s time when we have the debate in the ACP-EU Joint Assembly in Nassau, I should very much like – if it is possible against the background of the questions I shall be answering – for us to discuss some of these themes there too and pass on some of the same messages which have characterised the present debate.
I have a number of more specific comments to make. Mrs Maij-Weggen stressed that this is a very serious issue for the younger generation. I, too, was making the same point, and others have also emphasised it. If we are to contribute some hope to Africa, it is here that something is to be done. The figures which a number of people have quoted, tell their own story. I think that the situation is very serious and I agree that this is something other and more than a health problem, as has been pointed out in the course of the debate. Mrs Maij-Weggen said that what we are seeing is a breakdown of the societies concerned and that the progress which has been achieved is being undermined. I think these figures are hugely important. Producing better statistics and providing better information to the rest of the world about just how bad the situation in fact is, could be factors in increasing understanding among our populations of the necessity of increasing our efforts on behalf of Africa, and also generally, because this particular problem is bound up with the general situation in Africa.
Statistics are also crucial for supporting those who wish to counter the taboo surrounding the problem. In Zimbabwe, it is very useful to obtain clear public statistics, not only about how bad things are there and how many people have been affected, but also about the results it has been possible to achieve over a number of years in neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, and in Senegal. The more openly the authorities approach the problem, the more effective the results they can achieve.
I have also noted in the debate about condom use that there is very broad agreement as to the crucial importance of making condoms available at low cost and of providing the population with accurate and straightforward information, as has been the case in Tanzania, Uganda and Senegal.
In this connection, I should like to talk about an experience I had in the Binga district in Zimbabwe. There, 25% of women giving birth for the first time are HIV-positive, and more than 30% of women giving birth in maternity wards at the local hospital are also HIV-positive. This is a dreadful situation. We visited a number of nuns involved in an AIDS project. I asked them if the question of condoms was discussed in their educational work. They answered that they could only accept and recommend the use of condoms where prostitutes or similar groups were concerned. Otherwise, they preferred that people should be protected through the use of moral strength. This was a hard line to take, I think. When we know what is effective, we also have a duty to share this knowledge with people who can use it; in fact, to force it upon them, I would almost say.
I think that the moral aspect of the matter and the question of where our duty lies can also move the discussion on. Also, this discussion may be seen in the light of the concept of conditionality which we do not refrain from utilising in these very poor countries, which need our partnership and our support. It might also be said that when, in relation to formulating conditionalities, we talk about structural adjustments and macro-economic support for these countries, it might be worth discussing certain conditionalities in regard to the countries’ ability to ensure survival of their own population. We ought, of course, to avoid too rigid an approach to this problem, but there is, in any case, a moral aspect to it which means that it would be wrong of us to accept the fact that people close their eyes to what is going on in certain countries. Survival is also a human right. And when we talk about the broad modern concept of human rights, it is, therefore, the new-born child in Zimbabwe, infected with HIV, who is our partner in securing these and not those groups of people who deliberately close their eyes and do not share with the population their knowledge of how HIV can be treated and, especially, prevented.
The budget problem has been referred to by almost everyone in the debate. I should like to say that what we have here is a variant of a very general problem: that of how far it may be deduced from the budget’s various, and more or less specific, headings what the Commission, as a whole, is doing in a given area. In fact, it cannot be deduced. We are in the middle of an operation involving many more budgetary headings than the one discussed. It is an operation aimed at simplifying and clarifying the budget. That is what characterises the discussion. What we are doing about HIV and AIDS cannot be deduced merely by looking at the particular heading in the budget which has been discussed. That having been said, I would be the first to admit that it cannot properly be discovered from our own budget either (or, sadly, from our reporting) what, when it comes down to it, we are actually doing in this area. This is a significant weakness in the organisation of the whole reporting process and of efforts to make information available. It is a reminder to us that there is a lot of work ahead. The aim is that we should be able to report precisely, to our own public also, on what it really is we are getting for our money.
My answer, then, is that it is not very significant if there is this particular heading in the budget. As I said in the introduction, there are now EUR 25 million on the way as an extra input into this area, and this sum has been taken from a variety of resources. This demonstrates that it is not only this one particular budget heading which shows how much we are doing.
Mr Wijkman mentioned relations with other organisations, and the WHO was mentioned by another speaker. We shall be doing more to open up the EU with a view to better cooperation and coordination with other players, including players in addition to our fifteen Member States. This is an important part of improving the quality of what we offer, especially from the recipients’ point of view. I can therefore answer positively that this is something of what we want to aim for."@en1
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