GENEVA, 9 March 2020—UNAIDS and the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) have signed a memorandum of understanding to foster closer collaboration between the two organizations. Under the new memorandum of understanding, UNAIDS and UNV will work together to promote volunteering and engage United Nations Volunteers who are committed to supporting people living with and affected by HIV.
“Volunteers have played a critical role in the response to HIV since the earliest days of the epidemic,” said Tim Martineau, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance, a.i. “UNAIDS recognizes their importance, values their engagement and will continue to support their contribution in joining global efforts to end AIDS.”
Over the past 10 years, 97 United Nations Volunteers have served with UNAIDS across 36 countries, working to stop new HIV infections, ensure that everyone living with HIV has access to treatment, protect and promote human rights and produce data for decision-making.
“HIV is much more than a health issue. It is an issue of development and social justice, which cuts across so many of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Olivier Adam, Executive Coordinator of UNV. “This is where UNV comes in—our volunteers are uniquely placed to engage people and deliver on the 2030 Agenda through global, regional, national and community-level implementation.”
International UN Volunteer Tobias Volz joined the UNAIDS Country Office for Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh in 2018, where he helped to develop and implement Live2Luv, a youth-led social media initiative that gives young people in Nepal a platform to voice their concerns, ask questions and challenge taboos about sexual and reproductive health.
“Live2Luv in Nepal strives to achieve an environment where Nepali youth can openly ask questions about sex, sexuality and contraception and get the right answers,” said Mr Volz. “Because adolescents need access to age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education, in this youth-led movement young teachers will educate and inspire others.”
UN Volunteer Tian Liang recently served as a Communications Officer in UNAIDS’ China office, “UNV gave me an excellent opportunity to use my professional skills to create awareness among the public on the AIDS response and eliminate public bias and misunderstanding of AIDS,” said Mr Liang.
United Nations Volunteers
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme contributes to peace and development through volunteerism worldwide. We work with partners to integrate qualified, highly motivated and well supported UN Volunteers into development programming and promote the value and global recognition of volunteerism. www.unv.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.
