Secretary-General Kofi Annan is set to
address ministers from the Group of 8 most industrialized countries on
the link between food security, HIV/AIDS and governance during a meeting
Wednesday at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Mr. Annan's presentation at the meeting
on food security of the G-8 Contact Group is part of his efforts to gather
support for the newly created Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in
Africa, which he announced last month. The panel will look at the challenges
to governance of the epidemic and design effective responses to the threats.
The G-8 meeting provides a timely opportunity for Mr. Annan to highlight the Commission, whose members will be selected from a number of eminent Africans and non-Africans, including political, academic and religious leaders, who have offered their leadership and weight to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Commission will meet four or five times in its 18-month life and operate through a secretariat and task teams -dealing with specific topics such as public services, food security and the family - based at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa.