UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund

From 14 to 21 October, almost 25 000 young people from 188 countries gathered in Sochi, Russian Federation, for the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students. The festival provided a space for young people to unite in addressing global challenges, with a special focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Through the leadership of the PACT youth coalition against HIV and with support from UNAIDS and participation of UNFPA and UNESCO, the issues of ending AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights were high on the agenda.

Three sessions focused on comprehensive sexuality education, modern epidemics and the role of young people in ending AIDS by 2030. The overarching theme of the discussions was that although much progress has been achieved in the response to HIV, there are still persistent challenges that put young people at risk, including discrimination, exclusion, violence and lack of access to services such as comprehensive sexuality education.

Speakers at the comprehensive sexuality education session highlighted that the absence of quality comprehensive sexuality education remains one of the largest gaps in ensuring that young people know how to protect themselves from HIV. Speakers also presented key new products and platforms, including a comprehensive sexuality education hub, teensLIVE.info, a video lesson developed for schoolchildren in eastern Europe and central Asia featuring UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Vera Brezhneva and a series of videos by the NauchPok channel.

The PACT youth coalition met with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, who said, “I am looking forward to working with all of you through UNAIDS and other partners. My goal is to ensure that young people have a voice in all United Nations processes and to help them address issues that are relevant to them and their communities, including those issues that may be perceived as sensitive or challenging.”

Lack of access to information on HIV leads to new HIV infections and sustains the root causes that put young people at risk, including inequality, discrimination, violence and exclusion. Dilyara Vagapova, from the Russian rock group Murakami, said, “Without open conversations with young people about HIV, sex and the harm done by drugs, we will not succeed in ending the HIV epidemic in eastern Europe and central Asia.”

To ensure that the targets in the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS are met, accountability is key. Young leaders from Bulgaria, India, South Africa, Tajikistan, Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shared best practices in peer education and youth-led accountability for the SDGs and the HIV response. Yana Mladenova from Bulgaria, said, “A policy on paper is not the same as a policy in practice. Successful advocacy results in action in practice.” Yana Valchuk, from the Teenergizer adolescent network, said, “To end the epidemic, we need to end discrimination, so adolescents stop living in fear.”

Vinay P. Saldanha, the UNAIDS Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, spoke at several sessions. “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending AIDS by 2030, does not depend on those that negotiated them. It depends on the personal commitment of each young person at this festival. This is your world—these are your goals!,” he said.

Global HIV Prevention Coalition holds first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to find ways to strengthen and sustain political commitment for HIV prevention  

GENEVA, 10 October 2017—As part of global efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat, UNAIDS, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners have launched a new road map to reduce new HIV infections. The HIV prevention 2020 road map was launched at the first meeting of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition. The coalition is chaired by the Executive Directors of UNAIDS and UNFPA and brings together United Nations Member States, civil society, international organizations and other partners as part of efforts to reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2020.  

Despite progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths, which have fallen by nearly 50% since the peak of the epidemic, declines in new HIV infections among adults are lagging. While new HIV infections among children have fallen by 47% since 2010, new HIV infections among adults have declined by only 11%.

“Scaling up treatment alone will not end AIDS,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We need more energy and action put into HIV prevention—stronger leadership, increased investment and community engagement to ensure that everyone, particularly people at higher risk of HIV, can protect themselves against the virus.”

“In many places, lack of access to education, lack of agency and lack of autonomy over their own bodies keep adolescent girls from claiming their human rights. And the poorest girls have the least power to decide whether, when or whom to marry and whether, when or how often to become pregnant,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “This lack of power makes each one of these girls extremely vulnerable to HIV infection, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.”

In 2016, in the United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, countries committed to reduce new HIV infections by 75%—from 2.2 million in 2010 to 500 000 in 2020. The new road map developed by UNAIDS, UNFPA and partners will put countries on the Fast-Track to achieve this important target.

“The Coalition is here to recognize that we all matter,” said Laurel Sprague, Executive Director, The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+). “That means doing the hard work to ensure that people living with HIV are able to stay healthy, alive, and free from soul-crushing prejudice and discrimination—and the hard work to make sure that everyone who is not HIV-positive has the support and resources they need to remain HIV negative.”

The HIV prevention 2020 road map contains a 10-point action plan that lays out immediate, concrete steps countries need to take to accelerate progress. Steps include conducting up-to-date analysis to assess where the opportunities are for maximum impact, developing guidance to identify gaps and actions for rapid scale-up, training to develop expertise in HIV prevention and on developing networks and addressing legal and policy barriers to reach the people most affected by HIV, including young people and key populations.

The road map identifies factors that have hindered progress, such as gaps in political leadership, punitive laws, a lack of services accessible to young people and a lack of HIV prevention services in humanitarian settings. It also highlights the importance of community engagement as advocates, to ensure service delivery and for accountability.

The road map also identifies serious gaps in funding and budget allocation—UNAIDS estimates that around one quarter of HIV budgets should be allocated to HIV prevention programmes; however, in 2016, many countries were spending less than 10% of their HIV budgets on prevention, and many international donors were spending less than a quarter.

“UNAIDS is urging commitment and leadership for measurable results,” said Mr Sidibé. “Leadership to address sensitive political issues and leadership in mobilizing adequate funding of HIV prevention programmes.”

To reduce new HIV infections by 75% will require an intensive focus on HIV prevention, combined with the scale-up of HIV testing and treatment. Taking a location–population-based approach to ensure effective and efficient planning and programming, and a people-centred approach that responds to the needs of people at higher risk of HIV, will be critical.

Concerted efforts will be needed to reach adolescent girls and young women and their male partners, to scale up combination HIV prevention programmes for key populations, to increase the availability and uptake of condoms, to expand voluntary medical male circumcision programmes for HIV prevention and to ensure that people at higher risk of HIV have access to preventative medicines.

The road map encourages countries to develop a 100-day plan for immediate actions, including setting national targets, reviewing the progress made against the plan after 100 days, reassessing their national prevention programmes and taking immediate remedial action. It outlines how different partners can contribute and includes actions for civil society, development partners, philanthropic institutions and the business community. By reaching these targets, progress in reducing new HIV infections should accelerate significantly, setting countries firmly on the path towards ending their AIDS epidemics. 

HIV prevention 2020 road map http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2017/hiv-prevention-2020-road-map

GENEVA, 5 October 2017—UNAIDS welcomes the appointment by the United Nations Secretary-General of Natalia Kanem as the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“As part of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Population Fund’s work is critical in meeting the reproductive health needs of women and adolescents,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “I look forward to working closely with Ms Kanem. Her experience in public health, her strong leadership and her commitment to social justice will be invaluable in our efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat.” 

UNFPA is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s response to HIV is integral to its goals of achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health and ending gender-based violence. UNFPA promotes integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services for young people, key populations, and women and girls, including people living with HIV.

As part of UNFPA’s work on HIV prevention, Ms Kanem is co-convening a meeting of the Global Prevention Coalition with Mr Sidibé to finalize work on the HIV Prevention 2020 Road Map, a road map to accelerate HIV prevention efforts and reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2020.

UNFPA is one of UNAIDS’ 11 Cosponsors working to end the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. UNFPA is also part of the H6 partnership, which pulls together the collective strengths and distinct capacities of six United Nations agencies, related organizations and programmes to improve the health and save the lives of women and children around the world.

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, 5 June 2017—UNAIDS mourns the sudden passing away of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Babatunde Osotimehin. A renowned global public health leader, Dr Osotimehin was widely regarded for his work on sexual and reproductive health, as well as his work on HIV.

“Babatunde Osotimehin will be remembered for improving the lives of women and young people and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “Young people have lost a champion today.”

As Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr Osotimehin led the organization’s efforts on HIV prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults, promoting condoms and ensuring that women and adolescent girls receive HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health services. He also led Nigeria’s AIDS response as Minister of Health and as the Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS.

“I have lost a brother, a valued long-time family friend,” said Mr Sidibé. “The UNAIDS family commits to carry forward the legacy of Babatunde.”

UNFPA is one of UNAIDS’ 11 Cosponsors advancing the response to HIV. 

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.