The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board called for stronger global solidarity and shared responsibility to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 during a thematic segment held on 28 October in Geneva, Switzerland.

The thematic session, part of the Board’s 37th meeting, brought together distinguished speakers representing governments, civil society, the private sector and the international community to inform the discussion around a sustainable AIDS response.

In his keynote address, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency said that the unique governance mechanism that made the AIDS response successful should be replicated in broader health issues.

Participants agreed that achieving AIDS-related targets in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can only be done through a Fast-Track approach which is adequately funded, equitable and addresses the needs of key populations at higher risk of HIV infection.

In recent years, several countries have been increasing domestic AIDS investments through various mechanisms, including levies, and have focused resources on high impact programmes. But significant additional funding will be required to achieve the 90-90-90 treatment target by 2020.

Participants agreed that community responses are central to the governance and implementation of the AIDS response and that ensuring the effective participation of civil society, people living with HIV and other key populations in policy development mechanisms is essential.

“Strategic investments in community responses will not happen without structural changes in the way the governments and donors allocate funds. We need a systematic way to ensure that funding reaches community groups,” said Alessandra Nilo, Co-founder and Executive Director of Gestos, an AIDS organization located in Brazil,. She added, “Indicators of inclusion, empowerment of all people, transparency, promotion and guarantee of rights-based policies will be fundamental.”

In closing the session, Luiz Loures, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director noted that the key to achievement of the SDG targets lies in innovation in the means of implementation. Strengthening the components of shared responsibility that are financing and governance to ensure efficiency will be critical factors to reaching an End of AIDS where no one is left behind.

GENEVA, 30 October 2015—At its 37th meeting, the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board adopted a new strategy to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. The UNAIDS 2016–2021 Strategy is one of the first in the United Nations system to be aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals, which set the framework for global development policy over the next 15 years, including ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. 

With a universal agenda, firmly grounded in evidence and rights-based approaches, the strategy maps out the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach to accelerate the AIDS response over the next five years to reach critical HIV prevention and treatment targets and achieve zero discrimination. Members of the Board from across all regions called the strategy bold, ambitious, yet achievable, and praised the highly inclusive and consultative process to develop it.

In his opening address, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, described the strategy as an urgent call to front-load investment, to close the testing gap, to increase focus and financing for HIV prevention and to protect the health of the 22 million people living with HIV who are not yet accessing treatment. He said that the strategy would be an instrument for social justice and dignity.

“Our transformative strategy pushes us to cover more ground than ever before,” said Mr Sidibé. “It obliges us to address the critical linkages between health, injustice, inequality, poverty and conflict.”   

The Board also approved UNAIDS’ operational framework and the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) for 2016–2021, which will translate the strategy into action at the national, regional and global levels. The strategy and UBRAF are powerful tools to accelerate the global AIDS response and guide the work of the Joint Programme.

The Board underlined the importance of innovation and partnership in tackling complex interconnected development and health challenges and stressed that the space the strategy and UNAIDS provides for discussion is unique.

During the dedicated thematic day, the Board discussed the importance of shared responsibility and global solidarity for an effective, equitable and sustainable HIV response. It was agreed that the most critical next step for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals will be to have clarity on the means of implementation. Participants emphasized that multisectorality and equitable, transparent and inclusive governance are central bases for effective shared responsibility and global solidarity, and that the AIDS response—and in particular UNAIDS—provides an important model to be replicated for other health, development, gender and rights outcomes.

Representatives of Member States, international organizations, civil society and nongovernmental organizations attended the meeting, which was chaired by David Parirenyatwa, Minister of Health and Child Care of Zimbabwe. Switzerland served as Vice-Chair and Ukraine as Rapporteur. At the meeting, Switzerland was elected as the 2016 Chair, Ghana as Vice-Chair and Ecuador as Rapporteur.

The UNAIDS Executive Director’s report to the Board and the Board’s decisions can be found at unaids.org.

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.

The United Nations is commemorating its 70th anniversary in 2015. Celebrations were kicked off in June in San Francisco, where the UN Charter was signed in 1945. A number of major events have been organized since then as part of a global campaign to reflect on the contributions the organization has made to make the world a better place for all.

In his message on the UN at 70, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “The 70th anniversary of the United Nations is a timely opportunity to highlight its many and enduring achievements -- and to strengthen our collective resolve to do more to promote peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.”

UNAIDS has joined the international community and peoples of the world in the celebrations. Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, wished the organization a happy birthday and congratulated the UN on “70 years working for social justice and peace.”

UNAIDS will be represented at events worldwide, including the UN Open House in its host city of Geneva, Switzerland. A special event will take place on 24 October, UN Day, at the Palais des Nations and surrounding Ariana Park. Thousands are expected to visit the UN and learn about its work through stands, lectures, movie screenings, concerts and family activities.

In 2013, UNAIDS launched the Daily Development blog to explore, in the run up to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global development and the people behind it. The blog covered the whole range of development issues to be addressed by the SDGs—health, human rights, innovation, the arts, education, economics, the environment and more.

Both high-level policy-makers and people working on the ground in some of the world’s most difficult conditions were asked to give their stories. Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister of Norway, spoke about her passion for ensuring that girls are educated. Edward Tommy, a journalist from Freetown in Sierra Leone, describes his experience of working at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in mid-2014. And Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International, wrote about why there is still a need for an anti-slavery organization in the modern world. What unites those authors, and the dozens of other people we spoke to, is their commitment towards improving the lives of others—they were working towards achieving the 17 SDGs even before they were formulated.

Daily Development was founded as both a blog and a book project. With the adoption of the SDGs in New York in September the blog published its last post, but as the culmination of the project UNAIDS has published a book, telling the stories of all who we spoke to over the past two years.

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Countries adopt an ambitious new development agenda that will leave no one behind

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 25 September 2015—UNAIDS has welcomed the adoption by world leaders of the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which set the framework for global development policy over the next 15 years. The ambitious agenda outlines 17 goals ranging from ending poverty and hunger, to achieving gender equality and combatting climate change.

“Today marks a historic opportunity for the world to unite for a healthier planet and a healthier future for all,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Commitment, action and implementation will allow for truly sustainable results for people everywhere.”

The agenda builds on the achievements of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which were set in 2000 and included a commitment to halt and reverse the AIDS epidemic. Since then, there has been massive scale up of the response to HIV which enabled the world to not only achieve, but actually exceed the AIDS targets of Millennium Development Goal 6. UNAIDS has now set a firm course to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

To achieve this UNAIDS has developed a Fast-Track approach to reach a set of time-bound targets by 2020. The targets include reducing new HIV infections by 75%, ensuring 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, ensuring 90% of people who know their status have access to treatment and that 90% of people on treatment have supressed viral loads, keeping them healthy and reducing the risk of transmission.

The response to HIV spans many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and is included under Sustainable Goal 3, to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. UNAIDS looks forward to working closely with all partners to ensure a healthier, more equitable future which leaves no one behind.

“The targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals provide us with a road map to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Mr Sidibé. “This international framework has the potential to save millions of lives and to achieve fairer and more just outcomes for people everywhere.”

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.