So after months of preparation and work, we’re finally at the close of the UN High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. Was it worth it? What did we get? What did we learn? And where do we go from here?

Let’s start with the process. “Dazed and confused” best captures our attempts to fathom the torturous negotiations around the political declaration. The lack of transparency resulted from the fact that the UN instituted a completely new process for this meeting jettisoning the standard procedures that we all understood and that provided a pretty clear read on individual nation’s positions on various issues. The new approach featured a convoluted co-chair process that cloaked individual nation’s intentions and created new drafts without governments really negotiating the tough issues together.

NGOs were extremely frustrated with the co-chairs and did not feel they were receptive to civil society views. The whole affair felt like a rush to consensus by avoiding the real issues- a perception that only fueled further discontent. Governments friendly to our issues such as EU and Canada felt the co-chairs were openly hostile to them for continuing to request changes in the document. The President of the General Assembly intervened and became intricately involved in the document drafting after pressure from civil society.

Last night, negotiations on the document continued until 3:30 am and several NGOs sat in the drafting room and observed the meeting. While the US has been claiming they were not aligning with Syria and Iraq, they did on language on women’s ability to control their own sexuality and sexual and reproductive health. Syria put forward an amendment that weakened the text and was supported by Iraq, Pakistan, and the US. On a positive note, the language on youth is extremely strong and moves us forward from the 2001 Declaration.

The US did not object to evidence-informed and did not force the abstinence-only agenda into the document.Overall, civil society is extremely disappointed with the document and the process that created it. "Once more we are disappointed at the failure to demonstrate real political leadership in the fight against the pandemic" said The Most Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican Archbishop of Capetown. "Even at this late stage, we call on the world's political leaders to rise up and meet the challenges that the pandemic presents and to set ambitious targets at a national level to guarantee universal access to treatment, care, support and prevention."

Governments refused to include hard targets on funding, prevention, treatment, and a listing of vulnerable populations. Most notable though is the frustration from African civil society on African governments. African government delegations reneged on their promises in the 2006 Abuja Common Position agreed to by African Heads of State. South Africa and Egypt, in particular, took a deliberate decision to oppose the setting of targets on prevention and treatment, despite the fact that both participated in the Abuja Summit that endorsed ambitious targets to be reached by 2010.

"The continent that is most ravaged by AIDS has demonstrated a complete lack of leadership. It is a sad, sad day as an African to be represented by such poor leadership" said Omololu Faloubi of the African Civil Society Coalition. It is important to note that Nigeria attempted to leave the Africa block and form a coalition to stick to the Abuja position but was ultimately unsuccessful.

While the mood is low with respect to the declaration, the energy of civil society is still high for a number of reasons. We acted strategically and collaboratively throughout the session. Treatment and prevention were treated like equal partners, not competing interests. The cross-regional NGO alliances were extraordinarily strong and laid the groundwork for effectively pressuring member states.

From my own personal point of view, I was thrilled to see the significant role played by young people at this conference. As advocates and messengers they did an amazing job getting delegates to understand that the world’s 3 billion young people hold the key to a future without AIDS and have a right to be part of the process that will get us there. Governments may have lacked the political will to advance the 20001 document in some critical areas, but young people held them accountable and will continue to do so across the globe until we have banished the scourge of HIV from the planet!