humanitarian response

Across the world, spikes in instability, displacement, and conflict are exacerbating people’s vulnerability to gender-based violence and to HIV.

“Gender-based violence is an egregious human rights violation. It is also a driver of the AIDS pandemic, especially in fragile states. Tackling gender-based violence is essential to uphold the right to health and life for everyone,” says UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.

Efforts to prevent and to respond to HIV and gender-based violence in fragile settings remain partial, isolated, and unstable despite normative commitments made at the global level.

Fragility is described by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as “…the combination of exposure to risk and insufficient coping capacities of the state, system, and/or communities to manage, absorb or mitigate those risks.”  

The new report, The Missing Link: Rethinking and reprioritizing HIV and gender-based violence in fragile settings,  reveals the results of a study on the linkages between HIV and gender-based violence in fragile settings. This issue is explored through the lens of peace support operations. Work was partially funded through the generous contribution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to UNAIDS.

The study examines the mandates and objectives of peace support operations, revealing that HIV and gender-based violence remain deprioritized, with responses of peace support operations often disconnected. Several challenges in translating agreed-upon principles into actionable results are identified and recommendations are offered to address these barriers.

“This report provides a crucial guide to support strategic decision-making in HIV and GBV advocacy in peace support operations and will be a vital tool for addressing these urgent challenges effectively,” says Sihaka Tsemo, Director, UNAIDS Liaison Office to the African Union & UNECA.   

The report provides guidance to duty bearers across the development, peace and security and humanitarian arenas.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for instance, the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, is in an active process of withdrawal and transition. UNAIDS Country Director, Susan Kasedde, reflects on the vital role of the UN’s Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS in addressing the multifaceted interlinkages between HIV and gender-based violence in fragile settings:

“The Joint Programme brings together invaluable expertise for a holistic response and  plays a crucial role in strengthening state capacity to lead and deliver, through supporting strengthened  systems for accountability and governance, and through facilitating broad partnerships, including with communities, to enable transformative and sustainable changes and take to scale effective models for integrated delivery of HIV interventions on the ground.”  

In Mali, the decade-old Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission has recently completed its withdrawal. UNAIDS Country Director, Marc Saba, explains the role of the United Nations Gender Thematic Group in supporting internally displaced persons in localities affected by insecurity and the humanitarian crisis.

“In the past 8 months the UN Country Team in Mali, under the leadership of UN Women, has provided capacity building, food support and funds to carry out income-generating activities to over 1000 women, young girls and men in vulnerable situations. In addition, the UN Joint Team on AIDS plans to launch a study on HIV and gender in humanitarian contexts, with the goal of collecting and analysing data to better understand these issues within the humanitarian response.”     

The Missing Link report underscores the critical need for well-coordinated, multisectoral approaches to address HIV and gender-based violence effectively in fragile settings. It contributes to a wider conversation which requires further research, collaboration and multisectoral engagement. It provides recommendations for building a more holistic, human-rights based and gender transformative approach to addressing and eliminating gender-based violence in all its forms in fragile settings.

“To end gender-based violence and to end AIDS, depends on uniting efforts across multiple sectors, on survivor and community-centred approaches, and on sustained investment.” says Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director.  

The issues raised in the report will be discussed in a stakeholder roundtable scheduled for 10 September 2024.

The webinar will be via Zoom on 10 September 2024  at 13:30-15:00, Geneva, Switzerland time. It will be 11:30 in Dakar, Senegal, and 14:30 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Simultaneous interpretation into English and French will be provided.

Kindly click on the link below to register and participate, and do not hesitate to share information about the webinar with your networks.

→ Meeting Registration - Zoom

Two years of war in Ukraine have resulted in significant humanitarian consequences. Forty percent of the current population of Ukraine,14.6 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance, 6.4 million refugees have fled the country, and more than 3 million people are internally displaced. People living with and affected by HIV continue to be vulnerable to the effects of the war, even as HIV services have been restored and are functional in most parts of the country.

Russian strikes have continued to wreak havoc on Ukrainian cities, causing death and destruction, impacting access to water, electricity, heating, and health services for millions of civilians.

In addition, there have been 1,570 attacks on health facilities and 630 health facilities damaged.

According to the latest data from The Ukrainian Public Health Center, prior to the war, Ukraine had made significant progress in reducing HIV incidence (-47%) and AIDS-related mortality (-81%) since 2010. Despite the initial disruption to the national AIDS response at the onset of the war, the national AIDS program has gradually resumed routine operations.

As of the end of 2023, the number of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) was only slightly below the pre-war figure, standing at 118,348 (130,724 as of February 2022). Additionally, approximately seven thousand patients are known to receive ART abroad. In the last two years, the number of patients on opioid agonist therapy (OAT) increased by 38%, reaching 27,511 people. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) more than doubled, reaching 12,354 people.

However, in eastern and southern occupied territories data is incomplete or not available. This is true of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions, AR Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol. The same occurred in 2023.  Despite these challenges, the surveillance system in the government-controlled areas remains operational, ensuring the completeness and quality of data on HIV prevention, testing and treatment services.

In addition, 9.6 million people in Ukraine are estimated to be at risk of or living with a mental health condition, and 3.9 million people are estimated to suffer from moderate to severe symptoms. And there has been an increase in gender-based violence.

Ukraine remains committed to the HIV response through a strong coalition of government, civil society, international organizations, and donors, first and foremost The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. This collaboration has secured vital supplies of antiretroviral therapy (ARV), tuberculosis medicines, and opioid agonist therapy (OAT), ensuring uninterrupted HIV treatment and services.

UNAIDS Secretariat, Co-sponsors and UN agencies have joined forces to provide a unified response, ensuring that vulnerable populations, including those on the frontline and in the most severely affected areas, receive comprehensive support. This collaborative effort aims to bridge gaps and address the unique challenges faced by women, people living with HIV and key populations, including the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid and HIV services.

The past two years have been very challenging. Even though the country has managed to maintain HIV services, the unpredictability of what lies ahead has many fearing the worst. Support is needed to ensure sustainability of the AIDS response and to protect key populations affected by the enduring hardships of war.

For more information and more in-depth analysis, read the Situation Report (February 2024)

On 10 April, Tetyana Pryadko (not her real name) was phoned by her doctor, who told her that her antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV had arrived. For Tetyana, who has been on treatment for 10 years, it was an important call. Her treatment hadn’t been interrupted once in 10 years, but now she had only a five-day supply left. She lives in Chernihiv, which was on the war’s front line, cut off from the old supply chains that kept her supply of HIV treatment uninterrupted.

Before the outbreak of the war, antiretroviral therapy was widely available in Ukraine. Larisa Getman, the Head of the HIV Management and Response Department of the Public Health Centre, Ministry of Health of Ukraine, explained that, “The majority of antiretroviral therapy was procured by the state through the National Procurement Agency.” 100% LIFE is the largest organization of people living with HIV in Ukraine, that implements the procurement of medical goods under the Global Fund projects and operates humanitarian aid under PEPFAR programs, including emergency supplies of antiretroviral drugs.

Valeria Rachinskaya, the Director of Human Rights, Gender and Community Development at 100% LIFE, who herself has been on antiretroviral therapy for many years, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic had actually improved treatment adherence, since it has become the norm to have a multiple-month supply of medicine at home, which was mailed to those who couldn’t access a clinic. Remote counselling and the widespread use of mobile applications have also become routine.

“People weren’t without medicines at the start of the war. The worst was for people in the cities that were the most heavily bombed, where not only medical facilities were destroyed but also logistic chains were interrupted,” she said.

“Before the war, the whole procurement and delivery process in Ukraine was quite easy,” said Evgenia Rudenka, Head of 100% Life’s Procurement Department. “Cargo was delivered to the airport, we cleared it at our warehouse and transported it. But the war happened, and it was urgently needed to figure out how to deliver those medicines to the country, and, most importantly, how to deliver them to patients. And we worked out these mechanisms from the very first days of the war with our partners.”

At the request of the Ukrainian Public Health Centre, under support of USAID and CDC, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) agreed to help with the urgent supply of antiretroviral therapy. Chemonics, a purchasing agency of PEPFAR, searched around the world for spare stock and secured vital supplies.

Through the support of the European Union who immediately developed the special humanitarian aid transit procedures for Ukraine, deliveries have begun to take place through neighbouring countries, primarily Poland and Romania. “Through the support of the Railway Service, we have organized the pickup of the cargo at a separate station away from the main delivery point of most Humanitarian Aid that comes to Ukraine. It was done with the purpose to manage the immediate distribution to regions. (As a huge number of humanitarian supplies from different countries goes through the State Agency for Strategic Reserves of Poland, it is quite hard to take the goods immediately from there.) So we have brought in a logistics company that can deliver goods to Ukraine under the humanitarian transit procedure, to a warehouse in Lviv, from where we are able to make the immediate distribution” said Ms Rudenka.

The most difficult and the most important part of the process is delivery throughout Ukraine, including the front-line zones.

According to Evgenia, many logistics companies have stopped operations during the war, and those that remain have increased the cost of their services by two- or threefold.

Commercial organizations are not willing to go to cities such as to Kharkiv, Kherson or Mykolaiv, but volunteer drivers, working in coordination with local authorities, drive there, evacuating people and delivering medicines and other goods.

“Where there is fighting, the volunteer drivers will unload at, for example, the regional administration headquarters, and then we communicate with the medical institutions that are the final recipients, we tell them where to pick up the goods,” she said.

Even so, several volunteers have come under attack, and four have been killed.

“The situation for people living with HIV in Ukraine is desperate. We are trying to deliver medicines, food, and other emergency assistance to people in need, but the work is dangerous and volunteer drivers are putting their lives at risk. If we don’t get more help, I am not sure how much longer we can continue, especially reaching people in the front-line zones,” said Dmytro Sherembey, the Head of the 100% LIFE Coordination Council.

Urgent call issued for a dramatic upscaling of international support for the heroic efforts of civil society-led networks to reach people with life-saving HIV treatment 

GENEVA, 13 April 2022—The war in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction and disruption of health services and logistical supply chains that hundreds of thousands of people living with and affected by HIV depend on for survival. More than a quarter of a million Ukrainians are living with HIV, and lack of access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention services would mean a wave of deaths and risks a resurgence of Ukraine’s AIDS pandemic. The community-led networks which are vital to maintaining life-saving services need an urgent upscaling of international support.  

More than 40 health facilities that offered HIV treatment, prevention and care services before the war are now closed and there are various levels of service disruption at other sites. By 11 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) had verified more than 100 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine, while supply routes within the country have been thrown into disarray. The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that attacks on water system infrastructure and power outages have left an estimated 1.4 million people without access to water, while another 4.6 million have only limited access. Meanwhile, the World Bank has said it expects Ukraine’s economy to shrink by 45% this year, posing a dire threat to the maintenance of vital health and social programmes. 

An initial delivery of more than 18 million doses of life-saving antiretroviral medicine procured by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that arrived in Lviv last week is now being distributed in partnership with the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and 100% Life, the largest organization of people living with HIV in Ukraine. If they can be delivered to those in need, the medicines are sufficient to cover a six-month supply for all people living with HIV on first-line treatment. This first tranche is part of PEPFAR’s commitment to fund 12-month HIV treatment needs in Ukraine. UNAIDS estimates that 260 000 people were living with HIV in Ukraine before the war broke out, 152 000 of whom were taking daily medication for HIV.  

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) is also providing emergency funding to ensure the continuity of life-saving HIV and tuberculosis services. 

Attention is now on ensuring that the life-saving HIV medicines reach all people in need in time. Civil society organizations are mounting a heroic effort to deliver vital medical supplies and HIV services to people living with and affected by HIV, including to vulnerable populations. They are reaching people in extraordinary challenging locations, despite the huge obstacles. But the civil society organizations on which this delivery and care system depends need further international support to be able to continue their work.  

“The situation for people living with HIV in Ukraine is desperate. We are trying to deliver medicines, food and other emergency assistance to people in need, but the work is dangerous and volunteers are putting their lives at risk,” said Dmytro Sherembey, Head of the 100% Life Coordination Council. “If we don’t get more help, I am not sure how much longer we can continue, especially reaching people in the front-line zones.” 

UNAIDS, which has released an initial US$ 200 000 in emergency funds to address urgent humanitarian and programme demands in seven cities that have large HIV epidemics (Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kryvy Rih, Kyiv, Odesa and Poltava), has issued an urgent call to the international community for an additional US$ 2.42 million for civil society organizations providing HIV services in Ukraine and for those receiving refugees affected by HIV in other countries, as part of the wider upscaling needed.  

“Civil society organizations and communities of people living with and affected by HIV are the bedrock of the HIV response in Ukraine,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “They urgently require additional financial and logistical support to ensure the continuity of HIV treatment, care and prevention programmes. We urge all donors to be part of enabling this vital service to save lives and prevent a resurgence of the AIDS pandemic in Ukraine.”  

It is only because Ukraine’s pioneering response to HIV has been a partnership between public and community-led provision that it has been able to continue to provide for people even through the horrors of war. But the civil society networks, on whose creativity and courage the HIV services depend, require a boost in international support to ensure continued operations at the level required.  

Getting medical supplies and services to vulnerable groups of people remains extremely challenging and UNAIDS is working with humanitarian partners in Ukraine and internationally to advance urgent solutions to provide medical and humanitarian support to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.  

The Alliance for Public Health is working to provide the emergency support needed during the conflict, using minibuses to meet pressing humanitarian needs, including the evacuation of vulnerable populations and the delivery of food and medicines. Communities on the front line of the response are making exceptional efforts to reach people. For example, mobile clinics have been deployed by the Alliance for Public Health to take opioid substitution therapy to people who use drugs in areas where facilities have been forced to close. UNAIDS is also working with the Global Fund and with a UNAIDS Cosponsor, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, to obtain additional supplies of opioid substitution therapy. 

The conflict has forced millions of Ukrainians to leave the country and thousands of Ukrainian women and children living with HIV are in need of support in host countries. Civil society networks supported by UNAIDS Cosponsors and partners are helping refugees access antiretroviral therapy in the Republic of Moldova and across the European Union.  

WHO has helped to broker a deal with the pharmaceutical company ViiV Healthcare to provide donations of HIV medicines to Czechia, Poland and other European Union countries receiving large numbers of Ukrainian refugees.  

UNAIDS is also urging the international community to help refugee accommodation centres strengthen their support for people facing the highest risks, by expanding psychosocial services, HIV treatment and prevention services, and services related to gender-based violence. A UNAIDS Cosponsor, UN Women, has said that reports of sexual abuse and human trafficking in Ukraine indicate a protection crisis. UNAIDS has warned of increased risks for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. 

Ms Byanyima reaffirmed the United Nation’s call for an end to the war. “The biggest need is for peace”, said Ms Byanyima. “The war in Ukraine must stop—now. Recovery requires an end to this war. And even when it ends there will be so much help needed. Ukrainians living with HIV have been put in grave danger by this war. The civil society-led responder networks for HIV services who risk their lives to save lives need every possible support.” 

HIV hotline number in Ukraine: 0800 500 451. 

More support for Ukrainian refugees living with HIV can be found on the ART Initiative for Ukrainians Abroad website, which was established in coordination with Ukraine’s Public Health Center. More precise data on the whereabouts and needs of people living with HIV in Ukraine and those forced to flee the country are being collected. 

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.

GENEVA, 17 March 2021—As the situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate and fatalities rise, UNAIDS is warning that the violence also threatens access to life-saving essential services, including services for people living with and affected by HIV.

Ensuring the safety and protection of health-care workers and outreach and community volunteers across the country is critical, as is ensuring continuity in the procurement and delivery of essential life-saving services. Of priority concern across the country is maintaining access to HIV services, including the supply and delivery of antiretroviral medicines and harm reduction services for people who inject drugs.

“I express solidarity with the people of Myanmar and recognize the exceptional leadership of young people, women and social activists in trying to uphold human rights,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “I also salute community networks of people living with and affected by HIV, civil society and activists who have mobilized to support and protect the most vulnerable people.”

UNAIDS further adds its voice to the urgent calls made by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, for all violence against civilians in Myanmar to cease.

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.

GENEVA, 19 August 2020—Today, on World Humanitarian Day, UNAIDS acknowledges and celebrates the power of communities – the individuals and groups who work together to make a difference to themselves and to each other—the #RealLifeHeroes.  

UNAIDS knows that people are stronger together and that communities have always been a cornerstone of the response to HIV. Heroes stand up to ensure they and their families, partners and friends can access HIV testing, treatment, and care services. They stand up to counter stigma and discrimination. They demand respect and engagement in decisions that affect their lives.

Humanitarian and fragile settings are unstable, unpredictable and volatile places. Conflict, disaster, and displacement deplete health services, isolate communities and increase vulnerabilities –increasing the numbers at risk of being left behind. Moreover, as we have seen with COVID-19, every setting can be fragile in the face of new or sudden challenges. As COVID-19 has spread across the globe, humanitarians are being joined by health workers, key workers and others who risk themselves and their families to help others.

Community-led organizations are providing a lifeline to underserved, marginalized and hard-to-reach populations around the world. They have a depth of experience in creating and delivering responses to health and human rights crises within their communities. The many community-led networks and groups that emerged to respond to HIV possess immense practical experience, organizational strength and capacities to facilitate the delivery of life-saving support, and for influencing people’s real-life practices to better protect their health.

And new heroes are emerging too. Some are helping to maintain access to lifesaving HIV treatment. Others are supporting the most vulnerable members of society to survive lockdown and other impacts of the pandemic, and to protect those at risk of violence.

UNAIDS salutes all of these #RealLifeHeroes and the communities who stand beside and around them on the front line, building grassroots resilience so that no one is left behind in the aim for universal health coverage, including free and fair access to HIV-related services.

UNAIDS commits to building a culture of solidarity, trust, kindness and an ethic of care – not only in our response to COVID-19, but across all humanitarian settings. We have seen how many individuals have put their hands in their own pockets to help their families, neighbours and peers, and we call on continued funding for community organizations.

UNAIDS pledges to continue to support and advocate for those working to end suffering and injustice, to promote peace and sustain human rights.

Not just today, but every day.

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.

In Africa alone, there are currently seven peacekeeping operations and a large number of other humanitarian operations. Across the continent, 600 million people live in countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence and seven out of 10 women in conflict settings and in refugee populations are exposed to sexual and gender-based violence. In certain contexts, women who have experienced violence are 50% more likely to be living with HIV.

Uniformed personnel working in peacekeeping operations are routinely exposed to a range of health risks during their work, owing to the type of work they do, the locations they are sent to and the conditions in which they often have to serve. The health and welfare of uniformed personnel is therefore a matter of concern. Of equal importance, however, is the well-being of the people among whom the uniformed personnel work.

In order to protect both deployed personnel and civilians, a new code of conduct on preventing and reporting sexual and gender-based violence, including among peacekeeping operations, was drawn up by the African Union in November 2018.

“We urgently need a more overarching, concerted and harmonized strategy to tackle the issues of sexual and gender-based violence and HIV during conflicts and in humanitarian settings,” said Bineta Diop, the African Union Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security.

The new code of conduct, outlined in the African Union policy on the prevention of and response to sexual exploitation and abuse during peacekeeping operations, prioritizes the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence and puts peacekeeping operations at the forefront of ensuring justice and the protection of vulnerable populations. The challenge now is to implement the code of conduct.

“The African Union has zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based violence and calls for the immediate implementation of policies by member states that use a survivor-centred approach and offer the full range of support services,” said Admore Kambudzi, Director of the Peace and Security Department of the African Union Commission.

In June, the African Union Commission and the UNAIDS Liaison Office to the African Union, in collaboration with the United Nations Office to the African Union, convened the first of a series of meetings to formulate practical recommendations for a collective way forward in addressing sexual and gender-based violence and HIV in fragile settings.

The participants agreed that it is essential to develop a survivor-centred approach to conflict-related sexual violence based on developing the resilience of survivors and to provide mental health and psychosocial support. Including men and boys in ending sexual and gender-based violence will be key to success.

The participants also called for the health and well-being of the uniformed personnel of peacekeeping operations to be ensured, both before and during active service. A protocol on integrating HIV programmes in African Union peacekeeping operations will be finalized and a team of experts to map the current situation in crisis-affected countries, to identify gaps and areas of strength and to suggest a way forward to end sexual and gender-based violence and exposure to HIV will be assembled.

“I urge partners to take action to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence and HIV in fragile settings within the context of the African Union theme for 2019, the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons,” said Clémence A. Habi Bare, the Director of the UNAIDS Liaison Office to the African Union.

The PK5 neighbourhood of Bangui, Central African Republic, is home to much of the city’s Muslim community. Once a bustling commercial area and the centre of Bangui’s nightlife, PK5 has become a no-go zone for many.

Like much of the country, the PK5 area and its population were greatly affected by the violence that engulfed the country in 2012 and 2013. The non-Muslim inhabitants of PK5 left; rival armed groups continue to exert control. Across the country, the consequences of the violence have led to a huge displacement of people and a humanitarian crisis. At the end of 2018, it was estimated that 2.9 million people—more than half of the country’s population—were in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.

However, the people of PK5 remain resilient. Recognizing the need for a greater awareness of HIV in the community, Muslim youth leaders and the Catholic University Center, with the support of UNAIDS, organized an HIV testing and awareness-raising campaign from 23 January to 13 February at the Henri Dunant Health Centre in PK5.

The campaign was the first of its kind to take place in PK5 since the 2012–2013 violence. In the two weeks of the campaign, 1500 people accessed voluntary HIV testing and counselling services. People who tested positive for HIV were referred for treatment.

The campaign was opened by Pierre Somse, the Minister of Health, during an event attended by religious leaders, women and young people. Mr Somse took an HIV test and stressed the importance of all people knowing their HIV status. Knowledge of HIV status in the country remains low, with only 53% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status.

“The government is committed to intensifying its efforts to deliver health and social services to all Central Africans. PK5 is not forgotten and its population will not be left behind in our efforts to increase access to HIV testing, treatment, care and support,” said Mr Somse.

Pamela Ganabrodji, Head of Information and Counselling at the Henri Dunant Health Centre, added, “We are very proud of what we have achieved through this HIV campaign, but challenges remain. We call on the government and international partners to continue supporting the HIV and sexual and reproductive health activities of the Henri Dunant Health Centre, which are critical in a community where cultural and social taboos represent a key barrier.”

On the last day of the campaign, a community dialogue was held to discuss the HIV and sexual and reproductive health challenges faced by the people of PK5. The needs are urgent and range from basic health and social services to a lack of economic opportunities. Low access to modern contraceptives, incomplete knowledge about HIV and poverty contribute to making young people and women vulnerable to HIV.

“With this campaign, we, the young people of PK5, are showing that we are not helpless and that we are part of the solution for HIV and other social issues,” said Aroufay Abdel Aziz, President of the Muslim Youth of the Central African Republic.

A second phase of the HIV testing and sensitization campaign will continue until the end of March and will include focused HIV prevention messages with sensitization by peer educators and focus group discussions on HIV and sexual and reproductive health issues.

“UNAIDS will continue to engage the government and other United Nations agencies and partners to reinforce the involvement of young people in the HIV response,” said Patrick Eba, UNAIDS Country Director for the Central African Republic.