Date: 28 November 2008. Occasion: World AIDS Day, 1 December 2008. ' This year marks the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day. Looking back over the last 20 years, we see there has been progress — there is not only greater awareness of the gender dimensions of HIV and AIDS but also greater commitment to addressing these. But today, let us instead look forward, to what the world could look like 20 years from now, if we are able to deliver on these commitments. We would then have cause not just for commemoration but also for celebration.

Imagine a world where every woman who needs treatment, whether young or old, gets it; where women in all countries are allowed to inherit equally with men — in practice as well as in law; where women in all countries are aware about their rights to prevention, treatment and care, and are empowered to claim these rights; where HIV-positive women are shaping the policies that affect their lives and making decisions on policy priorities and budgets.

Imagine a world where every woman, young and old, lives without fear of violence, stigma or dispossession if she decides to seek an HIV test, or treatment, or support or information; where public health systems are fully funded and staffed and household care givers — mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, daughters — can keep their jobs or continue in school, rather than having to take on the never-ending care-giving tasks for families and communities. What does it mean to deliver on our commitments so we can realize such a world? It means ensuring women's equal access to prevention, treatment and care, utilizing a range of different outreach strategies, including mobile health centers and waiver of user fees...'