As the heads of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we are firmly committed to advancing gender equality and responding to the unique health needs of women and girls.

In Lusaka, Zambia, people gather at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus on World AIDS Day for a candlelight service to remember loved ones killed by AIDS. I go to light candles and pray for my three children who died in the nineties, when a diagnosis of HIV here was a death sentence.

History shows when we take action before the peak of disaster, enormous gains can be realized. If more world leaders support a bold plan like the "Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation," we could find ourselves on the flip side of the global disaster of AIDS that much faster.

This World AIDS Day, lets all move together and generate more momentum. We already know that every generation is known for something; lets make this generation the one known for beginning the end of AIDS.

Is there truly the political will, the communal will, and the global funding to really change the course of this epidemic to get to where we need to be? While HIV is still not curable, it is treatable and certainly preventable.

Five years ago, women overtook men as the majority of people in the world living with HIV. They've held on to that majority and started to take over other areas as well.

All women, including those living with HIV, have a right to decide whether and when to have children, and how many to have. Right now, there are 215 million women who want access to modern contraception but do not have it.

The letter, written by a young woman named Limakatso Mokobocko, filled me with hope. It was a testament to why we can create an AIDS-free generation: the power and commitment of youth.

The news that a 13-year-old-boy has been banned from attending a school in Pennsylvania because he is HIV-positive brought back a flood of memories from an earlier and darker time in the history of the AIDS pandemic.

Some may argue that enacting the Global Health Service Corps, especially in the era of U.S. government austerity measures, is not prudent.

You don't have to make a documentary or be a world famous monument to GO (RED). You also don't have to make art or paint your face (unless you want to...

For the first time since this disease began to take hold in our society three decades ago, we have the potential to witness the birth of a generation of HIV-free babies. It is an inspiring time. We cannot lose focus now.