E/2001/27 E/CN.6/2001/14 41. The observer for Sweden (on behalf of the European Union) also made a statement after the adoption of the draft resolution. Women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) 42. At the 10th meeting, on 12 March, the observ er for Namibia,1 on behalf of Angola,1 Botswana,1 the Democratic Republic of the Congo,1 Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,1 Mozambique,1 Namibia,1 the Seychelles,1 South Africa,1 Swaziland,1 the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia 1 and Zimbabwe,1 introduced a draft resolution entitled “Women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)” (E/CN.6/2001/L.4), which read as follows: “The Commission on the Status of Women, “Recognizing that women play a vital role in the social and economic development of their countries and therefore profoundly concerned by the fact that out of 36.1 million people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) today, women now represent about half of all people over age fifteen living with HIV and AIDS, “Noting with great concern that the proportion of women becoming infected with HIV is growing in every region, that in sub-Saharan Africa the majority of those living with HIV are women and that, in the younger age brackets (fifteen to twenty-four years of age), girls are at higher risk of HIV infection and more girls than boys are now infected, “Mindful that the majority of women and the girl child in most developing countries do not enjoy full social and economic rights, such as education, health care and welfare, that these inequalities begin early in life and render women and the girl child unable to protect their sexual and reproductive health, thus increasing their risk and vulnerability to HIV infection, and that they therefore suffer disproportionately from the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, “Recognizing that poverty, negative cultural practices and the subordinate status of women in the household, community and society render women especially vulnerable to HIV/sexually transmitted infections, “Recognizing also that women, in particular young girls, are physiologically and biologically more vulnerable than men to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and yet lack access to, and/or receive, minimal health care and support when infected, “Noting with concern the link and decreased attention to sexually transmitted infections which increase the risk of transmission of HIV in women and girls, “Noting also with concern that approximately 80 per cent of infected women have been infected through unprotected sex with an infected male partner, and acknowledging, therefore, that men have a shared responsibility towards protecting their own and women’s sexual health, 36