PCB Programme Coordinating Board

The Viet Nam Network of People Living with HIV (VNP+) was legally registered early November and officially launched on 24 November 2009, with the support of the Joint UN Team on HIV in Viet Nam.

VNP+ represents the combined strength of 150 self-help groups and alliances of People Living with HIV from various parts of Viet Nam, and ensures their meaningful involvement in the national response to AIDS.

“Networks of people living with HIV are highly effective mechanisms for building partnerships and advocating for Universal Access to Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support,” said Ms Jan Beagle, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Management and External Relations who attended the network launching ceremony in Hanoi.

“I would therefore like to congratulate the government of Viet Nam for ensuring that people living with HIV are fully involved at every stage of the national response to HIV,” she added.

Registered as a local NGO under the name of Action Center for People Living with HIV, VNP+ is also mandated to provide training and create job opportunities for People Living with HIV and those affected by HIV; conduct information and communication activities on HIV/AIDS and promote research and prevention, care and treatment programs.

“The network will act to empower those living with and affected by HIV to overcome stigma and discrimination and contribute to the national response,” stated VNP+ representative Do Dang Dong, asserting “we look forward to a close partnership with the government, other civil society and with international organizations to best perform our role.”

The Joint UN Team on HIV and other partners particularly PEPFAR, have provided technical and financial support to VNP+ since its establishment in 2008. Earlier this year, the Joint UN Team supported the network with training on results based project management, policy advocacy skills and organization of regular information sharing meetings and its annual review meeting.

The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board delegation attended the launch of VNP+ during their field visit to Viet Nam in 23-24 November.

Besides visiting UN supported projects and programmes on the ground, the delegation also met with government leaders, including the Chair of the National Committee on AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong.

UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, Geneva 22 June 2009
Credit: UNAIDS/P.Virot

UNAIDS Governing body, the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), is holding its 24th meeting in Geneva from 22-24 June 2009 where Mr Michel Sidibé, addressing the board for the first time as UNAIDS Executive Director, will present progress made and his vision for future action.

The focus of thematic session of this PCB meeting is addressing the HIV-related needs of “people on the move”, as decided by the Board in its 22nd meeting in April 2008. The Board noted that improving HIV information and services for these people will enhance the development, promotion and implementation of national, regional and international strategies and will have a significant impact on human rights, including gender.

Meeting the needs of people on the move for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is essential for achieving universal access. Global movement patterns are particularly complex, involving forced displacement as well as migration. UNHCR figures indicate that there were 16 million refugees, 26 million internally displaced persons due to conflict and an additional 25 million displaced due to natural disasters in 2007, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates there were over 200 million international migrants in 2008. Most countries are simultaneously, to varying extents, countries of origin, transit and destination. Some countries also have large numbers of mobile people within their borders. It is estimated that there are at least 100-150 million internal migrants in China alone.

UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, Geneva 22 June 2009
Credit: UNAIDS/P.Virot

Mobile populations are sometimes blamed for the spread of HIV, or for increasing the burden on limited services for people living with HIV. In reality, many of the underlying factors driving mobility also increase the vulnerability of mobile populations to HIV infection. Furthermore, migrants, displaced people and other mobile populations living with HIV and those taking antiretroviral medication face additional challenges in obtaining needed care and treatment, which must be addressed. The theme provides wide scope for selecting and discussing issues that often fall between the cracks in national AIDS strategies and in international discussion of forced displacement, internal and international migration and travel.

These include:

1. Humanitarian questions of providing displaced and mobile populations security from conflict and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence;
2. Employment and other economic issues that motivate mobility and link with connections between HIV, economic survival strategies and the vulnerability of children and young people; potential increases in unsafe, concurrent and commercial sexual contacts;
3. Human rights issues in connection with social integration and access to services, and especially in connection with stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV;
4. Immigration and government legislation which dictates the legal status of people on the move, and thus their access to health services; and
5. Language barriers to use of health and social services, and health care system concerns, notably with regard to access and continuity of HIV treatment, including for opportunistic infections.

Reducing the vulnerability of migrants and mobile populations to HIV, and reducing the impact of HIV on mobile populations, their families and their homes, transit and host communities, requires intergovernmental cooperation (whether between countries or between ministries within a country). It requires the collaboration of the business sector, labour, health and social services, and vulnerable communities and people living with HIV themselves. Thus the importance of discussing the topic in a Programme Coordinating Board thematic segment that brings member states, civil society and international organizations together.

In order to support a productive discussion in the thematic session of the 24th PCB meeting, UNAIDS developed a background paper on the issue of people on the move —forced displacement and migrant populations. The paper provides basic information on movement of people and discusses the links between mobility and HIV vulnerability, as well as the challenges of ensuring that mobile populations have universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

Established in 1994 by a resolution of the UN Economic and Social Council and launched in January 1996, UNAIDS is guided by a Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) with representatives of 22 governments from all geographic regions, the UNAIDS Cosponsors, and five representatives of nongovernmental organizations, including associations of people living with HIV.

Credit: UNAIDS

Ahead of the 24th meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) which opens on 22 June 2009, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has published the UNAIDS Governance Handbook.

The Handbook is collection of key documents pertaining to the governance of UNAIDS including the founding ECOSOC resolutions, Memoranda of Understanding between the Secretariat and Cosponsoring organizations, and key Political Declarations related to HIV.

It is intended as a portable reference tool for a wide audience including member states, Cosponsors, PCB non-governmental organizations as well as UNAIDS staff members.

The Handbook includes descriptions of bodies such as the Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations with guiding principles for UNAIDS Cosponsors. It also details non-governmental civil society participation in Programme Coordinating Board. Under Frequently Asked Questions, it explains the membership and composition of the PCB and its decision making process among other things.

“The Handbook will prove to be an invaluable reference tool for a wide audience in and around our Board meeting as it gathers together key documents on the governance of UNAIDS in one portable booklet,” said Helen Frary, UNAIDS Chief Board and UN Relations.

UNAIDS was established through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 1994/24 of 26 July 1994 to “undertake a joint and co-sponsored United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, on the basis of co-ownership, collaborative planning and execution, and an equitable sharing of responsibility” with six UN-system cosponsoring organizations: UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNESCO and the World Bank. This group was joined by UNODC in 1999, ILO in 2001, WFP in 2003 and UNHCR in 2003.

The 24th meeting of the PCB will run in Geneva until 24 June.

At the 23rd meeting of UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) Dr Peter Piot delivered his final report as Executive Director.
Credit: UNAIDS/D. Bregnard

In what he called his “swan song” Dr Piot gave a concise yet comprehensive review of his tenure at UNAIDS, as well as the AIDS response through his eyes as the first executive director of UNAIDS.

Dr Piot touched on how different it is today in the world to when UNAIDS began in 1996, a time when the world was contributing only US$250 million to AIDS in developing countries and no one was on antiretroviral treatment. He went on to describe achievements in the AIDS response and ended with focus on future issues including leadership and funding, ensuring policies are informed by science, no compromises on human rights, engagement of civil society and the making the money work for people in the most need.

Dr Piot closed by calling on the UNAIDS governing board to give the new Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé the same support he has received.

Delegations shared their appreciation. Countries and delegations made interventions praising the work of Dr Piot while commenting on the challenges ahead for the AIDS response and assuring Mr Sidibé of their support in the work ahead.

Mr Sidibé thanked the work of the board and thanking the current executive director for his contributions and promised his relentless pursuit of an AIDS reversal.

Dr Piot closed the session by noting that the often in the media you see the conflict of AIDS but what isn’t seen enough is amazing coalition of very different interests. “Where else would you see all these different groups?” he said. He then thanked the PCB Chair, Ambassador Mark Dybul for his leadership and concluded with words from Arundhati Roy:

“To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget.”

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot (L)
and Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director
of The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria (R) after signing the Memorandum
of Understanding. Kampala, Uganda on
June 3 2008.
Photo credit: UNAIDS/M.Mugisha

UNAIDS* and The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed in Uganda a revised Memorandum of Understanding which renews a commitment for a coordinated response to AIDS and it serves as an umbrella framework to strategically guide their partnership to strengthen support to national AIDS responses.

The development of the present agreement, which has been revised and approved by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board and the Board of The Global Fund, is based on an analysis of the current situation and a clear definition of the complementary roles of UNAIDS and The Global Fund.

Through this Memorandum of Understanding, The Global Fund and UNAIDS will collaborate to strengthen the global response to the AIDS epidemic and to accelerate progress towards universal access and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The current agreement focuses on three core activity areas:

1.- Strategic analysis and policy advice
2.- Provision of technical support
3.- Monitoring and evaluation.

Therefore, by signing this agreement, they intend to improve national AIDS responses by financing evidence-based country proposals, providing technical support to countries, support development of National Strategic Plans, improve M&E systems or build capacity of national stakeholders.

The overarching objectives upon which this agreement was developed are:

1. To move towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010
2. Empowering inclusive national leadership and ownership
3. Improving aid effectiveness through financing national plans, consolidating grants, and defining shared monitoring indicators with major partners
4. Increase advocacy and partnerships to ensure high level political support and a multi-sectoral approach for a comprehensive response to AIDS.

 *The term UNAIDS refers to the Secretariat and its ten Cosponsors. The engagement of UNAIDS cosponsoring agencies with The Global Fund Secretariat, however, is not limited to the provisions of the present Memorandum of Understanding and not all Cosponsors are necessarily involved in every and all UNAIDS activities covered by this MoU. UNAIDS Secretariat and relevant Cosponsors will develop in partnership with The Global Fund follow-up operational arrangements under the framework of this Memorandum of Understanding.

L to R: Violeta Ross Quiroga, the PCB
NGO alternate delegate from Latin
America and the Caribbean with Marcel
Van Soest, Executive Director of the World
AIDS Campaign (WAC). 02 April 2008,
Geneva. Photo credit: UNAIDS

Civil society plays a key role in the response to the AIDS epidemic in countries around the world. Therefore it is imperative for UNAIDS to secure input from the full spectrum of civil society, including people living with HIV, at its Programme Coordinating Board meetings.

UNAIDS is guided by a Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) which is composed of representatives of 22 governments from all geographic regions, the ten UNAIDS Cosponsoring organizations, and five representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who are elected on a regional basis. The UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation is the first civil society delegation formally represented on a UN governing board.

In an effort to further enhance participation of civil society in policy decision-making at the global level, the PCB NGO Delegation has created a Communications Facility (CF), an independent mechanism that will strengthen the capacity of the delegation to bring forward a unified and consolidated message from their constituencies to the Board meetings of UNAIDS. Therefore, The CF will compile regional and country level civil society priorities on AIDS for the NGO Delegation to advocate for them at the global level.

This CF was established on 2 April 2008 with the recruitment of a consortium comprising the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and Health & Development Networks (HDN) which will be its host for the next two years with funding provided by UNAIDS. This follows a competitive bidding process that was launched by the UNAIDS Secretariat after the 20th meeting of the PCB agreed on the establishment of a Communication Facility. The PCB will evaluate the progress made by the CF at the end of the two year period.

Under the leadership of the PCB NGO Delegation, the CF plans to work in two ways. On the one hand, it will ensure that the broad and diverse community voices are heard and influence the development of international policies that meet their needs. To that end, it will host conference calls for the Delegation; draft of the Delegation stakeholders map and related information needs; capacity-building for Delegation members on presentation and negotiation skills or drafting the Delegation’s annual report.

On the other, it will better inform civil society about the decisions and recommendations adopted at global level by the PCB by developing and distributing PCB related fact sheets or post-PCB meeting summaries; and develop an interactive web site among other activities.

The CF will support the non-governmental delegation by also linking them to other civil society delegations focusing on HIV such as those to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and UNITAID, and actively develop and nurture a ‘pool’ of civil society representatives who will provide technical support and advice to the NGO Delegation on issues relevant to the global HIV issues and the UNAIDS PCB agenda.

‘’For NGOs sitting on the UNAIDS board, it is important to have a strong independent and coordinated communication and outreach tool to ensure that the community voices are faithfully represented in the board”, said Violeta Ross Quiroga, the PCB NGO alternate delegate from Latin-America and the Caribbean.

“The voices of communities must be heard and they must include all segments of the wider civil society working towards Universal Access targets. This stands as one of the core goals of the Communication Facility, which is also another step towards the achievement of the GIPA principle.’’ She added.

The 22nd Meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board will take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 23 - 25 April 2008.

Some 260 participants gathered in Lusaka for the 19th Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS governing board meeting. The meeting brought together representatives from government, civil society, donors and the United Nations to push for greater UN action to strengthen country efforts against AIDS.

General view of the participants attending the 19th PCB meeting hold in Lusaka, Zambia, 6-8 December 2006

Mr. Ruphia Banda, Vice-President of Zambia, Mrs. Gunilla Carlsson, Minister of International and Cooperative Development of Sweden, Mrs. Silvia T. Masebo, Acting Minister of Health, Zambia and Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, during a meeting prior to the PCB session.

One of the 19th PCB sessions was chaired by: (from left to right) Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, Mrs. Gunilla Carlsson, Minister of International and Cooperative Development of Sweden, Mr. Ruphia Banda, Vice-President of Zambia, Mrs. Silvia T. Masebo, Acting Minister of Health, Zambia.

Namwene Phiri addressing the participants to the "Keep the Promise" session after receiving a prize for her contribution to the New York and Toronto banners.

Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS addressing the participants to the reception hosted by the Minister of Health of Zambia and the Swedish Minister of the International and Cooperative Development at the 19th PCB meeting hold in Lusaka, Zambia, 6-8 December 2006

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot met with the Delegation from the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the PCB. The DRC has just completed its first democratic elections with the election of President Joseph Kabila. The DRC has been wracked by civil war for a number of years and the elections herald the start of a new era for the DRC. Dr Piot said in the opening plenary that the new era provides an opportunity to step up the pace of the AIDS response in the DRC.

From left to right: Dr Engwanda, Head of NGO’s Forum for HIV/AIDS, DRC, Mr Eusebe Honsounko, UNHCR Representative, DRC, Prof Mashako Mamba, Academic Member of Delegation, DRC, Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, Mme Jaynet Kabila, Head of Kabila Foundation, Dr Pierre Somse, UNAIDS Country Coordinator: DRC, Mr Jean-Pierre Bongo, Head of DRC Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, Mme Annie Faray, Head of NGO Fighting against Sexual Violence, Mr Dede Watchiba, Head of M&E Unit, National Multisectoral Programme.

GENEVA, 15 December 2011—The Programme Coordinating Board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) convened from 13-15 December to review and follow up on recommendations of the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. The Board took note of the progress made by countries and civil society organizations in implementing the 2011 Political Declaration on AIDS as well as the support provided by UNAIDS.

In his report to the 29th Board meeting, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé noted that leaders around the world are joining the call for an AIDS free generation and endorsing the UNAIDS vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

“A year ago, skeptics said that getting to zero was just a slogan. But countries, partners and people around the world have embraced the vision and are now working to translate it into reality,” said Mr Sidibé. “Failure to scale up to the targets of the Political Declaration would not only be ethically wrong, but shortsighted and unacceptable. Now is not the time to halt our investments. If we do not seize the opportunity now, costs will simply escalate and the zero will cease to be viable as a vision.”

A report from civil society delegates, the UNAIDS results, accountability and budget matrix, progress made on implementation of the Second Independent Evaluation and the technical support provided by UNAIDS was welcomed by the delegates. The Board requested the establishment of a time-limited, consultative process to better define UNAIDS’ technical support, as well as areas of core competency and strengths.

UNAIDS also presented a progress report on the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mother alive. Eleven countries have launched national plans towards the global targets of a 90% reduction in new HIV infections among children and a 50% reduction in AIDS-related maternal deaths by 2015.

During the three-day meeting, Professor Salim Abdool Karim presented the results of a study that has offered new hope for a female-controlled HIV prevention tool. Conducted by researchers at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), the study found the antiretroviral medicine tenofovir, when applied consistently, is effective in reducing HIV infections in women by up to 54%. Prof. Karim stressed the need for a female-controlled HIV prevention option to address the vulnerabilities and inequities facing women and girls in protecting themselves against HIV.

A thematic segment on HIV and enabling legal environments provided an opportunity for delegates to exchange developments and perspectives on the role of law in the AIDS response. Moderated by journalist Riz Khan, interventions from countries and civil society organizations focused on national situations in the application of law, law enforcement and access to justice for people living with or vulnerable to HIV. In the closing session, Justice Michael Kirby urged the audience to turn ‘words into actions’.

Several hundred participants and observers from UN Member States, international organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations attended the meeting, which was chaired by El Salvador with Poland acting as Vice-Chair and Egypt as Rapporteur. In 2012, Poland will assume the role of Chair, and the Board elected India as Vice-Chair and the United States of America as Rapporteur. The UNAIDS Executive Director’s report to the Board, decisions, recommendations and conclusions from the meeting can be found at: unaids.org.