Hillary Clinton, US State Secretary, During Her Visit to Ukraine on July 2Nd 2010 Had Very

US State Secretary Meeting with Ukrainian Civil Society Leaders

Hillary Clinton, US State Secretary, during her visit to Ukraine on July 2nd 2010 had very intensive agenda, meeting the highest officials including President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, as well as civil society leaders. Andriy Klepikov, Executive director of International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine, attended the meeting with 15 representatives of civil society organizations, media monitoring, human rights and watch-dog groups.

During the conversation, Mr. Klepikov expressed great appreciation of the US Government for its essential support and said that Ukraine is facing the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemic at the region, with signs of positive impact, particularly reduction of the growth of new HIV casesnumberwith the help of internationallyfinanced programs. In this context USG support for the next 3-5 years will be decisive for successful counteracting the epidemic. Hillary Clinton expressed appreciation to the Alliance Ukraine for its important work.

Talking about the needs, A.Klepikov highlighted importance of elevating AIDS issues to the priority list for the highest Ukrainian officials. U.S. Ms. Clinton agreed that it is very important for a successful response to HIV/AIDS epidemic, and said that the AU may count on the support

of the USAmbassador Tefft, who also participated in the meeting.

The meeting was followed by the Town Hall address inthe National Technical University of Ukraine 'Kyiv PolytechnicInstitute'. At her speech, Hillary Clinton emphasized: “Here in Ukraine, you have a powerful asset: astrong, courageous civil society, women who have banded together to rescue victims of human trafficking, people fighting for the rights of the disabled, students and grandparents, men and women who have devoted so much of their lives to protecting human rights, to fighting diseases like HIV/AIDS, to protecting the environment, to creating a more open and accountable society”.

“This meeting is not just a big honour for me. It is more than that. Ms. Clinton not only recognized our efforts, she also inspired all of us for further achievement and committed hard work to overcome HIV/AIDS in Ukraine”, - said A.Klepikov reflecting on the face-to-face conversation with the US State Secretary.

References:

Information on the visit can be found at the U.S. Embassy web-site, e.g. meeting with representatives of civil society and media monitoring NGOs was reflected at the following link:

Town Hall address can be found at the Sate Department web-site at the following link: