GENEVA, 1 April 2019—UNAIDS presented a new Action Plan to its Board members during a special session of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), held on 28 March 2019. The Action Plan sets out a series of priority areas that UNAIDS will be working on to create a positive organizational culture and increase the awareness of managers and staff of their accountability, rights and duties.
“We are transforming a difficult moment into a moment of opportunity,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Our Action Plan is transformative and will help us to create the model inclusive work environment that all of us at UNAIDS are committed to. This in turn will help us to be more effective as we work towards ending the AIDS epidemic.”
He reiterated that staff were UNAIDS’ greatest asset and stressed that the Senior Management Team was committed to change, accountability and transparency. He also said that the plan was designed with staff at the centre and that staff had played an instrumental role in contributing to and shaping the Action Plan.
During the meeting, the Board heard from Laurie Newell, Chair of the working group to strengthen the PCB’s monitoring and evaluation role on zero tolerance against harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power, at UNAIDS. Ms Newell explained that the working group will support UNAIDS in being a model organization in the United Nations system for zero tolerance for harassment and commitment to dignity and respect at work. The working group particularly appreciated the engagement of staff in the development of the Action Plan as a model for the United Nations system.
The Board members expressed their support for the Action Plan and urged UNAIDS to continue its implementation and its improvement. They expressed their wish to see the Action Plan become a pathfinder in the United Nations system to address harassment in the workplace. They also reiterated their support to the PCB working group and said that they looked forward to its recommendations at the PCB meeting in June.
The Board also heard from Yuri Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva and Chair of the search committee for the selection of the next Executive Director of UNAIDS. He requested the support of the PCB in helping the search committee to ensure that the process remains fair and confidential for all candidates and solicited the Board’s support in bringing forward the broadest possible pool of highly qualified candidates. The Board confirmed its trust in the search committee and looked forward to the discussion of the proposed shortlist of candidates at the 44th meeting of the PCB, in June 2019.
UNAIDS Board members and representatives of United Nations Member States, international organizations, civil society and nongovernmental organizations attended the special session of the PCB, which was chaired by Li Mingzhu, Commissioner of the National Health Commission, China, with the United States of America serving as Vice-Chair and Belarus as Rapporteur.
The UNAIDS Executive Director’s report to the Board and the Board’s decisions can be found here.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
