I'm going to share with you the story
as to how I have become
an HIV/AIDS campaigner.
And this is the name of my campaign: SING Campaign.
In November of 2003,
I was invited to take part
in the launch of Nelson Mandela's
46664 Foundation --
that is his HIV/AIDS foundation.
And 46664 is the number
that Mandela had when he was imprisoned in Robben Island.
And that's me with Youssou N'Dour,
onstage, having the time of my life.
The next day, all the artists were invited
to join Mandela in Robben Island,
where he was going to give a conference
to the world's press,
standing in front of his former prison cell.
You can see the bars of the window there.
It was quite a momentous occasion for all of us.
In that moment in time,
Mandela told the world's press
that there was a virtual genocide
taking place in his country;
that post-apartheid
Rainbow Nation,
a thousand people were dying on a daily basis
and that the front line victims,
the most vulnerable of all,
were women and children.
This was a huge impact on my mind,
because I am a woman and I am a mother,
and I hadn't realized
that the HIV/AIDS pandemic
was directly affecting women in such a way.
And so I committed -- when I left South Africa,
when I left Capetown,
I told myself, "This is going to be something
that I have to talk about.
I have to serve."
And so, subsequently
I participated in every single
46664 event
that I could take part in
and gave news conferences,
interviews,
talking and using my platform as a musician,
with my commitment to Mandela --
out of respect for the tremendous,
unbelievable work that he had done.
Everyone in the world respects Nelson Mandela,
everyone reveres Nelson Mandela.
But do they all know
about what has been taking place in South Africa,
his country,
the country that had one of the highest incidents
of transmission of the virus?
I think that if I went out into the street now
and I told people what was happening there,
they would be shocked.
I was very, very fortunate a couple of years later
to have met Zackie Achmat,
the founder of Treatment Action Campaign,
an incredible campaigner and activist.
I met him at a 46664 event.
He was wearing a t-shirt like the one I wear now.
This is a tool --
this tells you I am in solidarity
with people who have HIV,
people who are living with HIV.
And in a way because of the stigma, by wearing this t-shirt
I say, "Yes, we can talk about this issue.
It doesn't have to be in the closet."
I became a member of Treatment Action Campaign
and I'm very proud to be a member
of that incredible organization.
It's a grassroots campaign
with 80 percent membership being women,
most of whom are HIV-positive.
They work in the field.
They have tremendous outreach
to the people who are living directly
with the effects of the virus.
They have education programs.
They bring out the issues of stigma.
It's quite extraordinary what they do.
And yes, my SING Campaign
has supported Treatment Action Campaign
in the way that I have tried to raise awareness
and to try to also raise funds.
A lot of the funding that I have managed to raise
has gone directly to Treatment Action Campaign
and the incredible work that they do,
and are still continuing to do in South Africa.
So this is my SING Campaign.
SING Campaign is basically just me
and about three or four wonderful people
who help to support me.
I've traveled all over the world
in the last two and a half years --
I went to about 12 different countries.
Here I am in Oslo in Norway,
getting a nice, fat check;
singing in Hong Kong, trying to get people to raise money.
In Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to play
to a mainly white, middle-class South African audience
who ended up in tears
because I use film clips
that really touch the heart, the whole nature,
of this terrible tragedy that is taking place,
that people are tending to avoid,
because they are fatigued,
and they really don't quite know what the solutions are.
Aaron Motsoaledi, the current health minister,
attended that concert
and I had an opportunity to meet with him,
and he gave his absolute commitment
to try to making a change,
which is absolutely necessary.
This is in the Scottish Parliament.
I've subsequently become an envoy
for Scotland and HIV.
And I was showing them my experiences
and trying to, again, raise awareness.
And once again, in Edinburgh
with the wonderful African Children's Choir who I simply adore.
And it's children like this, many of whom have been orphaned
because of their family being affected
by the AIDS virus.
I'm sitting here in New York with Michel Sidibe --
he's the director of UNAIDS.
And I'm very honored
by the fact that Michel invited me,
only a few months ago,
to become a UNAIDS ambassador.
And in this way, I've been strengthening my platform
and broadening my outreach.
The message that UNAIDS
are currently sending out to the world
is that we would like to see the virtual elimination
of the transmission of the virus
from mother to child by 2015.
It's a very ambitious goal
but we believe it can be achieved with political will.
This can happen.
And here I am with a pregnant woman,
who is HIV positive
and we're smiling, both of us are smiling, because we're very confident,
because we know that that young woman
is receiving treatment
so her life can be extended
to take care of the baby she's about to give birth to.
And her baby will receive PMTCT,
which will mean that that baby
can be born free of the virus.
Now that is prevention
at the very beginning of life.
It's one way to start looking at intervention
with the AIDS pandemic.
Now, I just would like to finish off
to tell you the little story
about Avelile.
This is Avelile --
she goes with me wherever I go.
I tell her story to everyone
because she represents
one of millions
of HIV/AIDS orphans.
Avelile's mother
had HIV virus --
she died
from AIDS-related illness.
Avelile had the virus,
she was born with the virus.
And here she is at seven years old,
weighing no more than a one year-old baby.
At this point in her life,
she's suffering with full-blown AIDS
and had pneumonia.
We met her in a hospital in the Eastern Cape
and spent a whole afternoon with her -- an adorable child.
The doctors and nurses were phenomenal.
They put her on very special nutritious diet
and took great care of her.
And we didn't know when we left the hospital --
because we filmed her story -- we didn't know if she was going to survive.
So, it was obviously -- it was a very emotional encounter
and left us feeling very resonant
with this direct experience, this one child,
you know, that story.
Five months later,
we went back to South Africa
to meet Avelile again.
And I'm getting --
the hairs on my -- I don't know if you can see the hairs on my arms.
They're standing up because I know what I'm going to show you.
This is the transformation that took place.
Isn't it extraordinary?
(Applause)
That round of applause is actually
for the doctors and nurses of the hospital who took care of Avelile.
And I take it that you appreciate that kind of transformation.
So, I would like to say to you,
each one in the audience,
if you feel that every mother
and every child in the world
has the right to have access
to good nutrition and good medical care,
and you believe that the Millennium Development Goals,
specifically five and six,
should be absolutely committed to
by all governments around the world --
especially in sub-Saharan Africa --
could you please stand up.
I think that's fair to say,
it's almost everyone in the hall.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)