GENEVA, 25 June 2025— UNAIDS and Flanders have strengthened their joint efforts to combat the AIDS pandemic in Africa by signing a new cooperation agreement covering the period 2025—2026.

“I want to thank Flanders for their reliable and continued support to UNAIDS and for their strong leadership during this critical phase of the AIDS response,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “In these uncertain times, the consistency of Flanders’ engagement is highly appreciated and greatly valued.”

The agreement was signed during the 56th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, with the Flemish delegation headed by Katrien de Pauw, General Representative of Flanders to the United Nations in Geneva.

“To end AIDS by 2030, we must stay the course—we're close, now is not the time to give up. Flanders remains firmly committed to a sustainable finish,” said Ms de Pauw.

The €1.5 million contribution includes an annual €250,000 in core unspecified funds, €250,000 per year in core specified support for Mozambique, and €250,000 per year in core specified support for the seven other most affected countries of Southern Africa.

“This funding from Flanders will make a significant difference to the lives of people living with and affected by HIV in Mozambique, especially for women and girls and other marginalized and vulnerable groups of people. Hartelijk Bedankt Vlaanderen (Thank you Flanders)!” said Phillipe-Serge Degernier, a Belgian national and UNAIDS country director for Mozambique.

With 2.4 million people living with HIV in 2023, Mozambique has the second largest HIV epidemic after South Africa. A total of 2.1 million people in the country are on treatment to keep them well. However, the pause in US funding and the reduction to other international funding streams have complicated efforts to maintain HIV treatment, care and prevention efforts in the country and across the region.

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.