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UNAIDS Board reiterates its strong commitmentto the mandate of UNAIDS towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 Board members back measures for UNAIDS toinspire United Nations reform in ensuring the highest standards of integrityand dignity at work and encourage all countries to close the funding gap in theglobal HIV response, including fully funding UNAIDS. GENEVA, 29 June 2018—At UNAIDS’ 42nd ProgrammeCoordinating Board meeting, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 26–28June, Board members expressed their support for UNAIDS and underscored thecritical role that the organization has to play in ending the AIDS epidemic.
In his opening address, the Executive Directorof UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, welcomed the Board’s support and reiterated the importanceof focusing on the challenges and opportunities ahead in reaching the 2020Fast-Track commitments agreed by the United Nations General Assembly. “The37 million
people who are living with HIV today, alongwith the 1.8 million who will acquire HIV over the course of this year, arecounting on us. AIDS is not over—but it can be—and at UNAIDS we are fullycommitted to ending the AIDS epidemic.” The Board requested UNAIDS to continue tostrengthen joint and collaborative action at the country level as part ofUnited Nations reform efforts. Members also requested UNAIDS to continue tostrengthen performance reporting aligned to national targets, with a focus onimpact, results and the identification of areas which are off-track andbottlenecks, with actions to address those issues.
The Board encouraged donor governments to makemultiyear contributions and release their contributions towards the 2016–2021Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework as soon as possible tofully fund the 2018–2019 UNAIDS budget of US$ 484 million. During the meeting,an important funding announcement to UNAIDS was made by Australia, whichconfirmed it was pledging nearly US$ 1 million in additional funds for HIVprevention in the Asia–Pacific region. Board members expressed their support for themeasures that UNAIDS is putting in place to address harassment in theworkplace. The Board heard Mr
Sidibé’s commitment to lead change as heoutlined the proactive actions under way at UNAIDS to prevent sexual harassment,unethical workplace behaviour and all forms of abuse.
“UNAIDS is taking concrete actions to ensurezero tolerance and zero impunity for harassment and abuse of authority,” saidMr Sidibé. “I am committed to ensuring a workplace where everyone can work withrespect and dignity.” Measures include a five-point plan toensure that all forms of harassment and abuse of authority are identifiedearly, dealt with swiftly and effectively with due process and toensure that survivors and whistle-blowers are protected. UNAIDS hasalso set up an anonymous and confidential Integrity Hotline, released itsnew Gender Action Plan 2018–2023 and called for the establishment ofan Independent Expert Panel on harassment to provide policy recommendationson how UNAIDS can improve its response and identify areas where reform isneeded. The Board welcomed this request and has moved quickly to establishterms of reference for the independent expert panel. The panel will report tothe Board to ensure that the oversight of the
panel remains entirely independent.
The UNAIDS Staff Association made a statementto the Board to emphasise the genuine will and commitment of the staff to bringabout positive change. The Staff Association also presented data from a recentstaff survey in which 89% of staff responding said that their commitmentto the goals of the organization is what motivates them to come to work eachday. During the meeting, the Board heard fromseveral representatives of key populations on a variety of issues, includingensuring respect and dignity in the use of terminology, funding and support andmeaningful consultation with civil society, respect for human rights and genderequality. In addition, concerns were raised about the specific and increasedneeds of displaced people in humanitarian settings and of people in prisonsettings.Mr Sidibé invited the First Lady of Panama andUNAIDS Special Ambassador
for AIDS in Latin America, Lorena Castillo deVarela, to present her groundbreaking work on zero discrimination to the Board.
On the final day of the meeting, the Boardparticipated in a thematic session on ending tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS. Around10 million new cases of TB occur every year and TB remains the leadingcause of death among people living with HIV, accounting for one in every threeAIDS-related deaths. The participants discussed the urgent need to scale upjoint efforts to address the dual, intertwined epidemics of TB and HIV.
Representatives of United Nations MemberStates, international organizations, civil society and nongovernmentalorganizations attended the three-day meeting, which was chaired by AnnaWechsberg, Policy Director for the Department for International Development ofthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with Cui Li,Vice-Minister of National Health and Family, China, serving as Vice-Chair andAlgeria as Rapporteur. The UNAIDS ExecutiveDirector’s report to the Board and the Board’s decisions can be found at http://www.unaids.org/en/whoweare/pcb/42.
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