Update

Global Review Panel encourages UNAIDS to build on its strengths

01 May 2017

The Global Review Panel on the Future of the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model has issued its final reportRefining and reinforcing the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model, which offers guidance on ways the Joint Programme can step up efforts to deliver more results for people living with and affected by HIV.

Around 100 participants, representing a wide range of stakeholders, including United Nations Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society, gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 April to discuss the findings and recommendations of the panel at a global multistakeholder consultation.

The panel validated the vision and model of UNAIDS, recognizing its irreplaceable value in the AIDS ecosystem and underscored its strong foundation of assets—among them, country presence, political legitimacy and UNAIDS’ role as an international standard-bearer for producing data and evidence that is used to drive decision-making.

In its report, the panel recommends that UNAIDS should continue to transfer human and financial resources to the countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic. Other recommendations include reconfiguring United Nations country AIDS teams to be more responsive to the specific nature of the HIV epidemic and to improve accountability, including by engaging a range of stakeholders at all levels in monitoring progress on the AIDS response.

By refining its ways of working, UNAIDS will be better positioned to fulfil its unique mandate of exercising political leadership, providing strategic information and supporting the engagement of countries with other partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The report details how UNAIDS could further enhance its support to countries in reaching the ambitious Fast-Track Targets by 2020—reducing new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000, reducing AIDS-related deaths to fewer than 500 000 and eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination—which were adopted by United Nations Member States at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June 2016. The report also recognizes UNAIDS as a model and pathfinder for progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as an innovative joined-up approach at the cutting-edge of United Nations reform.

The Global Review Panel, requested by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, was set up to make recommendations for a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS. It focused on three fundamental pillars of the Joint Programme: financing and accountability, joint working and governance. It was co-convened by Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group, and Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. The Panel Co-Chairs were Awa Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal, and Lennarth Hjelmåker, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health. It undertook an extensive process of consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including at the global and country levels. A revised operating model of UNAIDS will be presented at the Programme Coordinating Board meeting in June for consideration and approval, which will take into account the recommendations of the Global Review Panel.

Quotes

“LET US BUILD ON THE JOINT PROGRAMME MODEL AS WE MOVE AHEAD TOWARDS OUR MILESTONE OF 2030. THIS MEANS WORKING ACROSS SECTORS WITH A BROAD RANGE OF STAKEHOLDERS, SUCH AS THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND CIVIL SOCIETY, FORGING ISSUE-BASED ALLIANCES AND APPLYING RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES.”

AWA COLL-SECK CO-CHAIR, GLOBAL REVIEW PANEL, AND MINISTER OF HEALTH OF SENEGAL

“THE JOINT PROGRAMME PROVIDES AN INSPIRATIONAL MODEL OF HOW TO TACKLE COMPLEX CHALLENGES FACING THE WORLD TODAY, WHICH REQUIRE A MULTISTAKEHOLDER AND MULTISECTORAL RESPONSE. LET US SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN AND REINVIGORATE UNAIDS AS A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNITED NATIONS REFORM AGENDA.”

HELEN CLARK CO-CONVENER OF THE GLOBAL REVIEW PANEL, CHAIR OF THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT GROUP

“THE JOINT PROGRAMME, ESTABLISHED 20 YEARS AGO, WAS AHEAD OF ITS TIME IN PIONEERING HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS TO MAXIMIZE JOINT RESULTS. THE PANEL FOUND THAT UNAIDS FORMS AN INDISPENSABLE PART OF THE AIDS ECOSYSTEM, AND THAT THE JOINT PROGRAMME MUST REMAIN AT THE FOREFRONT OF UNITED NATIONS REFORM.”

LENNARTH HJELMÅKER CO-CONVENER OF THE GLOBAL REVIEW PANEL AND SPECIAL AMBASSADOR FOR GLOBAL HEALTH, SWEDEN

“THE UNITED NATIONS WAS ESTABLISHED BY, AND FOR, THE PEOPLES AND MUST REMAIN ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLES. THIS IS WHY UNAIDS CONTINUES TO SEEK WAYS TO ENHANCE ITS PERFORMANCE IN DELIVERING RESULTS TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH AND AFFECTED BY HIV AND TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND IN OUR JOURNEY TO END THE AIDS EPIDEMIC BY 2030.”

MICHEL SIDIBÉ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNAIDS