The Prime Minister is the delegation leader for the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the three-day high level meeting in New York at UN Headquarters that is currently taking place from June 8-10.
The Prime Minister in her address to delegates stated: "The report, aptly titled "in Women's Words" bears witness to the realities being faced by women and girls around the world, many of whom work on the frontlines of this epidemic, and gives us a clear picture of the disparities that still exist in our collective progress, nationally, regionally and internationally, against the political commitments made since 2001.
"Additionally, the report serves as a best practice model for national programmes as it clearly demonstrates the necessity for our responses to HIV to include platforms that foster and encourage the meaningful participation of not only women and girls, but also all vulnerable and at-risk groups.
"As I read through the key messages for positive change, it quickly became evident that while some progress has been made we still have a long way to go to address issues which perpetuate the imbalance of the social, economic and power relations between women and men. These relationships compounded with physiological differences determine to a great extent women's and men's vulnerability, their ability to effectively protect themselves and access care and treatment to deal effectively with this infection," Hon. Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams stated on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister informed delegates that the Kingdom of the Netherlands policy response to the HIV AIDS epidemic places strong emphasis on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
With respect to Sint Maarten, the Prime Minister says: "...as with so many other countries, we continue to face a number of challenges in the development and implementation of solid gender-based programmes, however we have made some significant strides in our programme for commercial sex workers.
"While prostitution still remains illegal, regularization of the adult entertainment industry through the implementation of a policy, which seeks to protect their rights, has resulted not only in a safer working environment but also in HIV prevalence rates of almost zero among the women working in the industry.
"The programme has increased access to both male and female condoms, ensures regular health check-ups and provides monthly education and information sessions which include condom demonstrations for the women as well as their clients."
The Prime Minister in her concluding remarks said: "As we commence with the official proceedings and participate in discussions relating to the strategies, responses, and approaches to HIV/AIDS, it is important that we recognise our responsibility to bring forward the key messages detailed in this report and incorporate them in own national policies.
"Let us not let their words have been spoken in vain, let us commit to turning their strong and powerful words, their fears, hopes and dreams into action, so that ten years from now when we look back at this launch we will be able to say "In Women's Words" was not simply "another" report but the beginning of a movement of social transformation which changed the status of women and girls round the world, brought an end to gender-based violence and human rights abuses and reduced their vulnerability to HIV infection."
The Prime Minister is accompanied by Emilia Thomas, Policy Advisor Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Drs. Khalilah Peters, Senior Policy Officer at the Directorate Foreign Relations of the Government of Sint Maarten, and Suzette Moses-Burton, HIV/AIDS Programme Management Team Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour.
