Through the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Millennium Development Goals, the world has a set of commitments, actions and goals to stop and reverse the spread of HIV.

In 2001 Heads of State and Government Representatives of 189 nations gathered at the first-ever Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. They unanimously adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, acknowledging that the AIDS epidemic constitutes a “global emergency and one of the most formidable challenges to human life and dignity.” The Declaration of Commitment covers ten priorities, from prevention to treatment to funding. It was designed as a blueprint to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions