2008 Woodie Awards
Former UN ambassador speaks on AIDS, rape crises in Africa
Cindy Dinh
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
The world's problems never sit on the back-burner for too long before they hit home. Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and current UN secretary-general's envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, spoke to a packed audience at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Thursday, Sept. 25, about the world's struggle to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. As part of the 2008 Global Health Technology Speaker Series, Lewis' speech entitled Race Against Time incorporated personal anecdotes, current statistics and raw emotion to capture the current situation in Africa.
"As long as Mr. Lewis continues his work, the world will know what AIDS will look like," Rebecca Richards-Kortum, director of Rice 360? and founder of Beyond Traditional Borders said in her introductory remarks.
Both of thses campus organizations sponsored the event, along with the School of Humanities, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the United Nations Association International Choir, which performed before the lecture.
Lewis navigated through the eight Millennium Development Goals and discussed in great detail topics relating to AIDS patients, specifically malnourishment and gender inequality in Africa.
"We're nearing our halfway mark [for achieving the goals] in 2015, but not a single country in sub-Saharan Africa will achieve any of the Millennium Development Goals," Lewis said.
He referenced how U2 lead singer Bono lamented that in one week alone, the United States invested millions of federal dollars to bail out its financial markets, compared to the world's decades-long struggle to finance enough money for developing nations. Financial disparity and government priorities are key concerns for Lewis. He said the U.S. allocates $3 billion for the war in Iraq each month, despite the fact that the world has yet to gather $10 billion to address HIV/AIDS problems that affect 33 million people.
Spouting facts and figures to support his claim, Lewis said poverty is profoundly entrenched within countries. According to the World Bank, 913 million people are living under $1 a day, and about 1.4 billion people in the world are living on less than $1.25 per day. This represents one quarter of the world's population, he said.
"As long as Mr. Lewis continues his work, the world will know what AIDS will look like," Rebecca Richards-Kortum, director of Rice 360? and founder of Beyond Traditional Borders said in her introductory remarks.
Both of thses campus organizations sponsored the event, along with the School of Humanities, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the United Nations Association International Choir, which performed before the lecture.
Lewis navigated through the eight Millennium Development Goals and discussed in great detail topics relating to AIDS patients, specifically malnourishment and gender inequality in Africa.
"We're nearing our halfway mark [for achieving the goals] in 2015, but not a single country in sub-Saharan Africa will achieve any of the Millennium Development Goals," Lewis said.
He referenced how U2 lead singer Bono lamented that in one week alone, the United States invested millions of federal dollars to bail out its financial markets, compared to the world's decades-long struggle to finance enough money for developing nations. Financial disparity and government priorities are key concerns for Lewis. He said the U.S. allocates $3 billion for the war in Iraq each month, despite the fact that the world has yet to gather $10 billion to address HIV/AIDS problems that affect 33 million people.
Spouting facts and figures to support his claim, Lewis said poverty is profoundly entrenched within countries. According to the World Bank, 913 million people are living under $1 a day, and about 1.4 billion people in the world are living on less than $1.25 per day. This represents one quarter of the world's population, he said.
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