The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) strives to deliver a world in which every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

Working on the ground in some 150 countries, UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy and productive lives.

Guided by the Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development and the Millennium Development Goals, the Fund works with governments, other United Nations agencies, civil society and the private sector to make a real difference to millions of people, especially the most vulnerable.

UNFPA helps countries use population data to assess and anticipate needs. It provides technical guidance, training and support to empower its partners in the field, and helps to ensure that the reproductive health and rights of women and young people remain at the very centre of development.

Addressing HIV is integral to UNFPA’s goals of achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health, and realizing human rights and gender equality. It promotes integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for young people, key populations, and women and girls, including people living with HIV. UNFPA also supports the empowerment of people to claim their human rights and access the services they need.

All of UNFPA’s work on HIV is done by engaging and empowering the communities it is mandated to serve.

WHAT UNFPA DOES FOR THE AIDS RESPONSE

As a UNAIDS Cosponsor and co-convener under the UNAIDS Division of Labour, UNFPA focuses on four major areas.

It is committed to reducing the sexual transmission of HIV and to ensuring that sexual and reproductive health is central to the HIV response. Working with partners, UNFPA is:

  • Scaling up comprehensive sexuality education that is age and culturally appropriate.
  • Increasing access to, and the use of, male and female condoms and lubricants to protect against HIV, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.

Advocating for social and behaviour change that fosters health, human rights and gender equality.

  • Linking HIV with sexual and reproductive health at the legal, policy, health systems and service delivery levels.
  • Empowering key populations to protect themselves against HIV and to fully access antiretroviral therapy is also vital to UNFPA’s programme. To respond to these challenges, UNFPA is:
  • Increasing access to an integrated package of services for key populations, based on state-of-the-art evidence and guidance.
  • Investing in strengthening the capacity of community-led organizations and networks of key populations and people living with HIV, allowing them to meaningfully participate in all aspects of HIV and sexual and reproductive health policy, programme development and implementation.
  • Partnering with the United Nations Development Programme on the Urban Health and Justice Initiative, which focuses on a microepidemic approach at the municipal level to address the specific needs of key populations.

UNFPA recognizes that meeting the HIV needs of women and girls and working to end sexual and gender-based violence and gender inequality is critical. UNFPA supports the following:

  • Preventing HIV infections among women of reproductive age and unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV.
  • Ensuring that women living with HIV have access to rights-based sexual and reproductive health services.
  • Eliminating gender-based violence, child marriage, stigma and discrimination.
  • Ensuring that the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls are factored into the provision of humanitarian assistance.

In addition, UNFPA seeks to empower young people to protect themselves from HIV, access comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and services and become active in decision-making processes. UNFPA responds through:

  • Supporting the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people, including young people living with HIV and who are members of key populations.
  • Promoting targeted programmes to reach the most marginalized adolescent girls and young key populations by addressing adolescent sexual and reproductive health and HIV.
  • Strengthening the availability and use of strategic data on young people and HIV.
  • Empowering young people by strengthening youth organizations and networks.

Additional information is available at unfpa.org/hiv-aids

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