For LGBTI communities, human rights violations are a daily reality, not an abstract risk. Activists face harassment, violence, displacement, arbitrary detention and online attacks, often while trying to keep HIV services running in increasingly restrictive environments. When rights are under attack, access to HIV prevention and treatment suffers for people who are already marginalized. 

UNAIDS is partnering with more than 130 LGBTI-led organizations and groups in over 50 countries to strengthen resilience, amplify community voices and protect hard-won gains for human rights and health. The initiative supports community-led responses in three areas: strengthening the leadership and advocacy of trans and gender-diverse people, providing rapid support to communities facing human rights emergencies, and shaping public narratives through strategic media engagement. 

Supporting trans-led organizations on the frontlines 

Trans and gender-diverse communities are among those most affected by the rise in anti-rights mobilization. UNAIDS and the Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) are working together to strengthen the capacity, sustainability and leadership of trans-led organizations. The initiative provides support to country and local trans-led organizations to organize advocacy and strategic communications campaigns and human rights monitoring, enabling organizations to remain active in increasingly challenging environments. 

In Panama, a small grant helped open the door to the country's first trans-led engagement with the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Trans activists received training on human rights and advocacy and documented the barriers, discrimination and health-care challenges they face. A community delegation then presented the findings to diplomatic missions in Geneva, helping to ensure that the realities faced by trans communities informed recommendations on equality and non-discrimination. 

So far, the partnership has provided 14 grants to strengthen civil society's resilience against anti-rights attacks and seven grants to collect data and submit country reports to UN mechanisms such as the UPR. 

"When UNAIDS invests in civil society leadership, resources reach the communities most affected, lived experiences become evidence, and evidence becomes advocacy, protection and accountability. At a time when anti-gender movements are escalating and civic space is shrinking, this partnership shows that meaningful support to community-led organizations can transform vulnerability into collective power, and collective power into lasting change," said Erika Castellanos, Executive Director, GATE. 

Emergency support funds 

To help communities respond to urgent crises, UNAIDS supports regional emergency support funds that provide rapid, flexible assistance to organizations and individuals facing threats to their safety, rights and wellbeing. The funds are implemented through regional and global community networks including APCOM Foundation, East Africa Trans Health and Advocacy Network (EATHAN), Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM), Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and Youth LEAD which place community leadership at the centre of decision-making so that support reaches people most affected as quickly as possible. 

Demand for assistance continues to grow. In 2026, partners in Eastern and Southern Africa and in West and Central Africa alone received more than 300 emergency requests. This year, the funds have supported more than 60 organizations and groups across four regions, in addition to the 42 that received support in 2025. 

The support has ranged from legal assistance in Kyrgyzstan to a safe community space organized in Fiji by a group working for LGBTI people living with disabilities, demonstrating the critical importance of community-led emergency responses. 

"At a time when LGBTI communities are facing growing hostility, this support is about far more than emergency protection. It helps sustain community leadership, protect access to HIV services, and ensure that those on the frontlines of defending human rights are not left to face these threats alone," said Micheal Ighodaro Executive Director, GBGMC. 

Telling stories that challenge harmful stereotypes 

Protecting rights also means changing the narrative beyond policy spaces. Recognizing the growing influence of social and mass media on public attitudes, UNAIDS is partnering in 2026 with SHUGA Global to support new approaches to narrative change. 

Working with LGBTI organizations in Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya, SHUGA Global will develop two short films that highlight authentic community experiences and challenge harmful stereotypes and misinformation about LGBTI people. Local LGBTI organizations will help shape the storylines, provide technical input, facilitate community consultations and ensure the films reflect the lived realities and priorities of LGBTI people. By putting community voices at the centre of storytelling, the films aim to foster understanding, strengthen empathy and contribute to more inclusive public conversations. 

"Stories can reach people in ways that facts and statistics alone often cannot," said Umunyana Rugege, UNAIDS Team Lead, Communities & Human Rights. "By working directly with communities, we can help ensure that LGBTI people are represented with dignity, authenticity and agency. 

In March 2024, UNAIDS established a Global Task Team of experts from governments, civil society, donors, academic and public health institutions to recommend a new set of global HIV targets for 2030. The targets set out what is required to put the world on the path to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. But defining the ambition raised an equally important question: what would it actually cost, and what impact would achieving the targets have? 

To answer it, the UNAIDS Sustainability Practice produced The impact and cost of reaching the UNAIDS global HIV targets, a comprehensive assessment drawing on resource needs estimation and epidemiological modelling across more than 118 countries.

The study was jointly led by two experts with complementary roles. John Stover led the epidemiological modelling to quantify the health impact of reaching the 2030 targets. Deepak Mattur, of UNAIDS, led the overall resource needs framework: building and validating a global unit cost database, convening technical consultations with UNAIDS, partner agencies and national programmes, and bringing biomedical, health system and societal enabler investments together into a single global estimate.

Mariana Siapka, Triantafyllos Pliakas and Ricardo Valladares-Cardona contributed to estimating the resources needed for societal enablers, the often overlooked investments that shape whether people can access services at all.

“Resource needs provide an important bridge between ambition and accountability," Mr Mattur explains. “They have provided countries and partners a benchmark against which to monitor progress in mobilizing financial resources, assess financing gaps, track domestic and international commitments, and plan for a more sustainable HIV response through 2030 and beyond.”

What the evidence shows

Reaching the UNAIDS 2030 targets could cut annual new HIV infections by 77% and AIDS-related deaths by 50% between 2023 and 2030, effectively meeting the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as 90% reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths compared with 2010. Doing so would require approximately US$21.9 billion annually in low- and middle-income countries by 2030.

Just as important is what the analysis says about how. Ending AIDS cannot be achieved through treatment and prevention alone. It requires sustained investment in health systems, community-led responses, human rights and societal enablers.

 “The modeling confirms that through a combination of responses including biomedical, behavioral and societal interventions we can achieve Ending AIDS targets at a reasonable cost,” says Mr Stover.

From evidence to commitment

The analysis became a key evidence base for the 2030 global HIV targets, particularly the financing targets on total resource mobilization, domestic HIV financing, prevention investments and societal enablers. Its findings have informed discussions ahead of the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, giving political commitments a foundation in evidence and giving the world a way to hold itself accountable.

The publication is written for those who must make the hard decisions: governments, donors, development partners, civil society, community organizations, researchers and policy-makers. It offers a shared benchmark for assessing financing gaps, aligning priorities and tracking progress, and it informs conversations about sustainable financing and domestic resource mobilization.

It also reflects the unique role UNAIDS plays: convening partners, setting evidence-based targets, supporting country validation, coordinating technical expertise across institutions, and translating global ambition into concrete investment needs.

Taking a pill every day may sound simple. But for a young person worried about stigma, privacy or how to explain the medication to their family, it can be anything but. 

For Tuyet, a young advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights from Viet Nam, this was among the pressing issues discussed at the 10th International Workshop on Adolescence, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and HIV, held in Bangkok in September 2026. 

“Even when services are available, young people can still face stigma, discrimination and other barriers that make it hard for them to seek care or continue using it,” she said. 

The new long-acting HIV prevention options could offer alternatives to daily pills, but making these advances available and accessible to young people remains a challenge. 

In 2025, around 80,000 young people acquired HIV in Asia and the Pacific, accounting for 29% of all new HIV infections. Between 2010 and 2025, new infections among young people increased fivefold in the Philippines and more than tenfold in Fiji. 

Too many young people from key populations still struggle to access HIV prevention services. Among countries with available data, prevention programmes reach a median of just 28% of young gay men and other men who have sex with men, and 21% of young people who inject drugs. According to UNAIDS, in 20 of 34 countries assessed, some adolescents still need parental consent to get an HIV test. 

“Young people are not being held back by a lack of prevention tools. They are being held back by cost, consent requirements, misinformation and services that are difficult to reach or not youth-friendly,” said Wipaporn Natalie Songtaweesin, Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician and Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University. 

Held in Asia for the first time, the workshop brought together young leaders, clinicians, researchers and policymakers to discuss advances in HIV prevention and treatment and how to make them work for young people. 

Experiences shared in Bangkok showed what can happen when young people help design services. 

In Thailand, the MPLUS Lampang Foundation established Youth Hubs combining peer outreach, sexual health information and mental health support in safe spaces designed around young people's needs. The initiative engaged nearly 4,900 young people in one year. All those diagnosed with HIV through the initiative were linked to treatment, while others initiated PrEP. 

In Cambodia, Men’s Health Cambodia used social media, dating apps, peer educators and influencers to share information about PrEP, HIV self-testing and other prevention options with young key populations. The campaign reached more than 13,800 people at high risk of HIV, with 369 screened and enrolled in PrEP. 

“Young people should not just be the audience for HIV programmes. We need to be the designers, because we understand how young people are navigating health and information today,” said Jeremy Tan of Youth LEAD, a co-organizer of the workshop. 

Young people are also helping shape policies. In Thailand, a Youth-Led Policy Lab developed recommendations for stigma-free primary health services, easier online access to condoms and HIV self-test kits, better integration of sexual and mental health care, and improved sexuality education. 

Youth LEAD is working with young people in many countries to address digital gender-based violence and improve access to reliable HIV and sexual and reproductive health information online. 

The 2026 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS commits countries to meaningful youth engagement in decision-making and predictable, flexible funding for youth-led initiatives. 

“Young people need prevention they can reach, services they can trust and policies that enable them to seek care,” said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. 

UNAIDS is supporting youth-led approaches across the region. In the Philippines, a Youth Health Learning Package developed with the UN Joint Team on AIDS, government and community partners was co-designed and delivered by young people, including young key populations. So far, 171 young people have been certified as facilitators, and the programme is being integrated into local youth development and health plans. 

“UNAIDS is an immensely important partner in endorsement, technical advice and is a critical convening power for frontline organisations to galvanise efforts in the movement forward for adolescent health,” said Ms Songtaweesin. 

For Riddy Sonsomsuk of Youth LEAD, a young leader from Thailand who co-chaired the workshop and served on its Youth Reference Group, the discussions offered a reminder of what matters most. 

“While data and numbers are crucial for human rights advocacy and funding, we may sometimes become so focused on them that we forget who and what we are ultimately doing this work for,” said Mr Sonsomsuk. 

New HIV prevention technologies are creating more choices. Whether young people benefit from them will depend on removing barriers to services and giving them the resources and influence to shape decisions about their health. 

After years of fear, a young trans woman in Gauteng found HIV protection that works for her: an injection she needs only twice a year.

It was a quiet Wednesday morning when Yoweli walked into the clinic, the first person there. She was nervous, until she saw the LGBTQI+ flag on the wall. “I was like, okay, this is where we belong,” she says. “This is where we are accepted.”

That morning, the 22-year-old got her first injection of lenacapavir (LEN), which protects people from HIV for six months at a time. On the way home, one thought stayed with her: “I’m protected. Finally, there’s something to protect me other than myself.”

Yoweli grew up in East London in the Eastern Cape, the youngest of six children, and knew she was a girl from about the age of nine. Last year she moved to Gauteng, where she lives with her older sister and is in her second year of a degree in psychology and information science.

She was 15 and just starting high school when she was raped. Afterwards, she decided the only way to stay safe from HIV was to stay away from sex completely.

At the age of 18, in 2022, she tried PrEP, the daily HIV prevention pill. She hid the pills in her bag so her family wouldn’t find them. She had also just started hormone therapy, and a second daily pill felt like too much. After two days, her doctor told her to stop because her liver couldn’t cope.

In 2024, a “friend” sexually assaulted her.

After that, whenever a relationship moved towards intimacy, fear took over: what if he has HIV and I don’t know? She made excuses, and relationships ended. “I was in a shell. I was in a cage,” she says.

Her biggest fear wasn’t getting HIV from a partner. It was being raped again, and this time being infected. “How am I gonna live with myself, knowing I got HIV from someone I don’t even know?” she says. “It wouldn’t be my fault. It wasn’t my consent.”

That fear is rooted in reality. In a 2018 community-led survey of 213 transgender women in Johannesburg, Cape Town and East London, 58% of them reported having experienced sexual violence. In a separate study of nearly 900 trans women, 63.3% were living with HIV in Johannesburg and 46.1% in Buffalo City, the metro that includes East London.

Yoweli now gets her hormone therapy at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, where staff in the section serving key populations ask which name and pronouns she wants them to use. Elsewhere in the health system, she says, staff called her by her old name. When she objected, she was told it was a hospital, not a charity.

When a friend who works with an LGBTQI+ organisation told her about LEN, her reaction was instant. “I felt security,” she says.

The injection felt like a small pinch, and the spot was sore for three days. Her one word for life since: freedom. She goes out on weekends now, and she’s open to dating again. “I’m out there, being myself, as young as I am, and enjoying my youth.”

That moment was made possible partly by a fight fought far from Gauteng. When LEN was approved in the US, Gilead set a list price of $28,218 per person per year. UNAIDS pushed back publicly using credible cost estimation by experts which showed that the drug could cost no more than $40 per person a year to ensure equitable access. In September 2025, UNAIDS welcomed new deals with generic producers that would bring the price for HIV prevention down to just US$40 per person per year. While access to lenacapavir remains limited due to limited supply, the need for rollout expansion to turn the tide against new HIV infections in urgent. UNAIDS estimates that 1.3 million people were infected with HIV in 2024.

South Africa began rolling out LEN on 5 June 2026, with the first phase reaching about 360 public clinics and health facilities in high-burden districts across six provinces.

Yoweli wants it in more clinics, schools, churches and clinic queues. She has started counselling in her career journey and hopes to do a master’s in psychology so she can support other LGBTQI+ people, especially trans learners.

“We are also human,” she says. “As a trans woman, I deserve respect. I deserve to be seen.”

Speaking to Yoweli was made possible by the National Department of Health as part of journalist-training workshop on Len led by Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. 

This year’s World Health Summit will be held in Berlin, Germany from 11 to 13 October under the theme: From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health. At the Summit UNAIDS will share its knowledge and expertise in the future of the HIV response, global health financing, pandemic preparedness and inequalities that are preventing progress.  

The World Health Summit 2026 takes place at a critical moment. In June, countries adopted a new Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, reaffirming the goal to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The focus now must shift from political commitment to implementation.  

This year has seen a sequence of major milestones, including the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, AIDS 2026 and UNGA81. Together, these events and commitments have helped draw from the AIDS response to further debates on equitable financing, health sovereignty, pandemic preparedness, resilience and the future of multilateral cooperation. It also coincides with a pivotal moment for the future of the UNAIDS and its transformation.  

UNAIDS objectives at the World Health Summit:

• Stress that AIDS is not over and that a broad, multisectoral coalition is needed to turn commitments into action to save lives and end AIDS by 2030
• Draw on the lessons from the HIV response to address broader global health challenges and future pandemics
• Ensure a considered and safe transition to country ownership of HIV responses that ‘does no harm’ to people living with and affected by HIV
• Emphasise the critical importance of maintain and building community-based and community-led services to respond to HIV and other health emergencies

EVENTS 

Sunday 11 October

9:00-10:30
Global health architecture reform: From recommendations to action at the regional and country levels  

This session focuses on what reform looks like from the regional and country level. The discussion will explore "what's actually changing" and "what's next". The session draws on experiences from countries, regional institutions, funders, and global actors to examine whether a more regionalised approach can make global health cooperation more responsive, coherent, and accountable.

11:00-12.30
Advancing equitable, person-centred HIV prevention and care in Europe

This side event, co-organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS) and AIDS action Europe, will highlight how person-centred, community-led HIV prevention and care informed by lived experience can reshape and redefine service delivery and related policies. It will reinforce why community-led systems must be recognized and resourced as integral to public health delivery.

 At a time of shifting global financing priorities and growing pressure on health systems, the event will provide a platform for exchange on enabling policies and examples of person-centred HIV programming to expand access to HIV testing, prevention, care and related services for people living with HIV and populations vulnerable to HIV acquisition.

 
Monday 12 October

11:00-12:00
Long-acting innovation, lasting impact: Advancing the global HIV response 

The discussion will feature Mark Dybul, former Executive Director of the Global Fund and former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator leading PEPFAR, who will share an exclusive preview of Rockefeller-funded economic modelling from Imperial College London and Georgetown University examining the potential impact of accelerating the rollout of long-acting PrEP for populations at higher risk of acquiring HIV across high-, middle- and low-income settings. The event will also explore barriers to countries and at-risk populations accessing long-acting HIV prevention and treatment options, with a particular focus on regulatory, financing and supply chain challenges, with a deep dive into the unique barriers faced by middle-income countries and regions.
 
14:00-15:30
G7 and G20: Fit for future global health challenges? 

The G7 and G20 have played a pivotal role in shaping global health agendas. Through their convening power, they have translated shared priorities into coordinated responses, have mobilized resources and fostered tangible political action.  

This session will examine where both fora stand today, how they interact with another, and whether the G7 and G20 remain fit-for-purpose to advance global health priorities: Should they be adapted to continue driving effective global health action in an increasingly multipolar world?  
 
14:00-15:30
RoundTable discussion - Resilience in the HIV response: From innovation to impact 

Aligning with this year’s Summit theme of resilience and innovation, this special session will be a roundtable discussion with a facilitated conversation between legislators and experts, focused on policy leadership in the HIV response. Discussions will cover the latest innovations in the HIV response and the role of legislators in driving implementation; how to build resilience into public health systems; sustainable financing; and the necessary political priorities to ensure the HIV response delivers equitable public health outcomes for key populations.
 
18.00-19.30
World Health Summit signature event: “From crisis to resilience: Innovating for health”

How can global health move from a crisis response to lasting resilience and turn shared ambition into concrete action? The World Health Summit 2026 Signature Event will bring together global leaders, multilateral institutions, youth voices and partners in philanthropy and innovation to explore the political choices, institutional changes, and innovations needed to deliver better health for all. 

 

Tuesday 13 October

09:00-10:30 
Safeguarding the global HIV response in a changing multilateral environment 

This workshop brings together donors, policymakers, civil society and UN system representatives. Looking ahead, the session will consider what lessons the UNAIDS experience may offer for wider multilateral reform efforts, such as the UN80 reform process, particularly how institutions can work in a more efficient and coordinated manner, while increasing specialization, legitimacy, accountability and responsiveness including to communities and CSOs.

Not too long ago, across Madagascar, in regions facing severe drought and extreme poverty, some young girls were in dire straits, unable to buy basic necessities, some-times having to exchange unprotected sex for commodities as commonplace as a single tomato. 

For many years, Madagascar's HIV response was focused primarily on key populations including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs and prisoners. But on the ground, warning signs were emerging that the picture was changing. 

"We began seeing clear indications that the epidemic was no longer confined to traditionally defined key populations but was increasingly affecting bridge populations and the wider community," said Jude Padayachy, Secretary of State, Ministry of Health, Seychelles and former UNAIDS Country Director for Madagascar, Seychelles and Comoros. 

By 2024, Madagascar had recorded a 151% increase in new HIV infections since 2010. At the same time, HIV treatment coverage remained at just 24%, among the lowest in the region and far below UNAIDS' target of 95%. Weak surveillance systems, low HIV prevention and limited capacity to test for HIV meant that the country did not have a clear picture about the true scale and changing nature of the epidemic. 

Changing the response required better surveillance and service delivery, but also political leadership and commitment and the willingness to challenge assumptions that had shaped the HIV response for years. "Overcoming the initial resistance to shift our strategic approach required robust evidence and persistent dialogue," said Mr Padayachy. 

Over several years, UNAIDS worked alongside the Government of Madagascar, communities, civil society organizations and development partners to strengthen surveillance systems, improve data collection and build a stronger evidence-base to inform the decision-making. 

"UNAIDS played a vital role in helping Madagascar strengthen the evidence-base for our HIV response and foster dialogue around this evidence," said Norosa Rakotoherimora, Programme Manager, STI and HIV Control, Ministry of Health, Madagascar. 

Then came a critical turning point. 

In 2026, new data revealed that HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal care services had reached 1.1%. This is above the 1% threshold that signals a generalized epidemic. The finding was a powerful signal that HIV transmission was reaching beyond the populations traditionally at the centre of Madagascar's response. The young girls exchanging unprotected sex for a single tomato were outside of the picture the HIV response had been built around. The epidemic could no longer be understood only through the lens of key populations. 

The new evidence transformed the national conversation. It created an opportunity to bring the next National Strategic Plan in line with the reality of the epidemic, including expanding HIV prevention efforts, strengthening community action, increasing access to testing for HIV and engaging sectors far beyond health. 

The new evidence is also influencing conversations with international partners, including The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as Madagascar's HIV response is increasingly considered as a more widespread epidemic. 

While the story is not yet over, the country has a clearer picture of the challenge it faces and a stronger basis for how it responds. 

Madagascar's experience shows how data combined with sustained advocacy, leadership and political commitment, can change how a country understands its epidemic, how it responds and ultimately, how many lives it can save. 

Today, UNAIDS no longer has a country office in Madagascar, however, that did not end its support. The UNAIDS Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa has kept the work going, continuing to provide technical support and helping to ensure the HIV response follows the evidence. 

At a special ceremony during the 63rd Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Directing Council, Brazil, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands were recognized for achieving milestones towards eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, underscoring the Americas' growing leadership in ending new HIV infections among children.  

“Today we celebrate an achievement that reflects the best of our region: the ability to transform political commitment, evidence and cooperation into concrete results for people’s health,” said PAHO Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa. 

The achievements recognized include: 

• Brazil—validated in December 2025 for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, becoming the world’s most populous country to achieve this milestone.
• The Bahamas—certified in April 2026 for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
• Turks and Caicos Islands—certified in June 2026 for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and hepatitis B, becoming the first territory in the Americas to achieve the latter milestone. 

The achievements add to a long history of leadership by the Americas in disease elimination. 

“UNAIDS is proud of the progress across the Americas in eliminating vertical transmission of HIV,” said Dr Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, who attended the ceremony. “PAHO’s recognition of Brazil, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands signals bold progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.” 

During the recent United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, Member States adopted a bold new Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, which commits them to ‘prioritize and urgently accelerate the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV’. 

These milestones are part of the broader Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Plus Initiative, which aims to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and congenital Chagas disease across Latin America and the Caribbean. Implemented in collaboration with UNICEF and UNAIDS, the initiative is embedded within PAHO’s Elimination Initiative, a regional effort to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in the Americas by 2030. 

Governments, communities, civil society and United Nations partners have called for a transformed Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)  that is more integrated, efficient and sustainable, while retaining the leadership, accountability and community partnership needed to end AIDS as a public health threat. 

At a two-day multi-stakeholder consultation, participants considered options being developed by the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) Working Group on the future transition and integration of UNAIDS within the UN system to end AIDS by 2030 and protect the gains beyond.  

“Countries want a Joint Programme led by a strong Secretariat, or Hub, with political weight, visibility and authority. A Hub able to work across sectors and beyond the limitations of any single institutional mandate. And a Hub that protects the space for communities to influence decisions, shape priorities and hold institutions accountable,” said Paul Zubail, Deputy Director General for European and International Politics at the German Federal Ministry of Health. 

“Should that Hub become leaner over time? Yes. But leaner cannot mean weaker. If we expect the Hub to lead, it must have the capacity and standing to lead. Reducing it to a marginal coordinating function would dismantle the central driving force of the UN’s HIV response,” he added. 

Participants were clear that transformation must strengthen, not dilute, the HIV response. They broadly supported a more coordinated ‘One UN’ approach and stronger national ownership. At the same time, they stressed that any transition must be phased, evidence-based and tailored to country realities, particularly where HIV infections are rising, services are under pressure, or human rights and civic space are at risk. 

“The success of this transition will be measured not by the speed of institutional change, but by whether people continue to receive the support, protection and services they need,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Success is about transitioning to national institutions, not simply redistributing functions within the UN system.” 

The Working Group leading the recommended transformation process has already agreed that sunsetting the UN Joint Programme is not a viable option. Its proposals aim to build a leaner, more cohesive Joint Programme in which co-sponsoring organizations take stronger responsibility for technical implementation, while a hub retains the capacity to lead, convene, advocate, gather and analyse data, promote accountability and uphold human rights and gender equality. 

Participants emphasized that country-level arrangements must not follow a single template. In some settings, functions may increasingly be coordinated through Resident Coordinator offices, co-sponsoring organizations or national institutions. 

 “UNAIDS’ institutional knowledge, technical expertise and partnerships built over years, especially at country level and with communities are an important asset for the global HIV response.” said Uday Bhanu Da, Representative of India, Ministry of Health and National HIV/AIDS Control Programme. 

Thembisile Xulu, CEO of the South African National AIDS Council, Chairperson of the HIV Leadership Forum and Chair of the Global NAC Community of Practice, representing the heads of National AIDS Councils from more than 40 countries, highlighted the value of UNAIDS’ systems, structures, experience and political standing in supporting country-level impact. She stressed that the future of UNAIDS country hubs should be shaped by the context and needs of each country.  

But many speakers highlighted the need for continued, identifiable HIV leadership in countries where national systems are not yet ready to assume these functions, where communities face criminalization or discrimination, or where the response requires urgent coordination. 

Community representatives repeatedly underlined that UNAIDS’ contribution is not only technical. Its relationships with communities, governments and partners have helped create space for people living with HIV and key populations to influence policies, challenge stigma and secure access to services. Participants called for those relationships, as well as technical capacity, to be protected through any transition. 

Speaking on behalf of Global Black Gay Men Connect, Michael Ighodaro, Executive Director, and a man living with HIV, stressed the need for clear criteria for country transitions, meaningful community involvement, continued protection for key populations, and resources that reach communities directly. 

“Integration must not mean dilution,” was a recurring message. Participants called for clear safeguards to ensure that HIV expertise, community engagement, human rights, gender equality and multisectoral coordination are not lost as responsibilities shift across the UN system. 

There was strong support for developing transparent readiness criteria to guide any transfer of functions. These should consider epidemiology, national capacity, financing, community participation, human rights, gender equality and civic space. Participants also called for every future country arrangement to have a named, resourced and accountable HIV coordination function, with clear authority to convene partners and engage communities. 

The consultation also highlighted the importance of regional capacity. Participants noted that regional support is essential for addressing cross-border HIV challenges, sharing expertise, supporting community networks and responding to diverse epidemics and political contexts. 

Funding was a central issue throughout the discussions. Participants agreed that the future model must be financially sustainable and viable but stressed that financing should follow the functions that the PCB wishes to retain. The Working Group is examining different budget scenarios and will provide further analysis of the implications of different funding levels, including the costs of a responsible transition. 

The consultation also affirmed the distinctive governance role of the PCB, including its participation by civil society. Participants called for stronger mutual accountability among co-sponsors, communities, the UNAIDS hub and Member States, and for meaningful community involvement in decisions on resources, monitoring and results. 

The Working Group will now incorporate the feedback received into its final plan. The plan is expected to be published on 8 October and will be considered by the PCB at a special session on 26 October. 

The consultations underscored a shared commitment to build a renewed Joint Programme that is fit for the changing world characterized by funding declines for HIV and other public health programmes, rooted in national ownership and community leadership, and able to work with countries and communities to end AIDS. 

When Esther Nyamungu talks about Ebola, she does not begin with the day she became ill. She starts with what came after. 

A community worker at a Bunia community-based point of distribution of antiretrovirals, known in French by its acronym PODI, Esther contracted Ebola during this most recent outbreak that has swept through Ituri province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was taken to a treatment centre in Bunia, where patients arrive carrying both the symptoms of the disease and the fear that surrounds it.  

Today, Esther calls herself a survivor. Living with HIV, she also survived Ebola. "I was taken to the Ebola treatment centre. I recovered, and now I have resumed my activities. I work as usual," she says. Her experience left her with a simple message for others. "I encourage people to go early to an Ebola treatment centre," she says.  

Across Ituri, stories like Esther's have become an important source of information in communities where rumours and fear can discourage people from seeking care, especially among those living with HIV. Survivors are often among the most trusted voices, speaking from experience rather than theory. Yet Ebola is only one part of the challenge facing families in the province.  

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNAIDS is helping ensure the Ebola response does not come at the expense of other essential health services. Working alongside government authorities, community organizations, health partners and United Nations agencies, UNAIDS supports efforts to keep HIV services available, strengthen community engagement and connect emergency response measures with longer-term health system resilience.  

The approach draws on decades of lessons from the HIV response, showing how trusted communities, coordinated partnerships and sustained political commitment can help countries respond to outbreaks while continuing to serve people's everyday health needs.   

As global health challenges become increasingly interconnected, the experience in Ituri highlights the importance of maintaining strong community-led responses, protecting access to services and ensuring that no one is left behind during times of crisis.  

“In affected areas, the Ebola outbreak and response have put pressure on routine health services, with fear, stigma and stretched health facilities contributing to reduced attendance and making it harder for some people living with HIV to collect medicines or remain engaged in care”, says Marie Margarete Molnar, UNAIDS Country Director for the DRC. 

Those concerns were at the centre of discussions in Bunia in July when community representatives, health officials and local organizations met with UNAIDS, during a three-day mission to the province. Bunia is the epicentre of the country's current Ebola outbreak.  

The meeting brought together people working closest to affected communities. Among them was Angèle Machozi, a community representative who described the strain the outbreak has placed on local organizations. She said, “community groups had continued supporting vulnerable people despite limited resources and growing needs.” New funding, she explained, would allow them to expand activities already underway and reach more communities affected by the outbreak. 

Since the outbreak was declared in May 2026, Ebola has spread across multiple provinces. As of mid-September, WHO reported more than 7,200 confirmed cases and more than 3,475 deaths. Public health experts warn that the true scale may be larger because not all infections are detected and many transmission chains remain unknown.  

In response, two community-based projects supported by UNAIDS have been launched in Ituri in partnership with local authorities, a national network of people living with HIV (UCOP+), and a national civil society consortium (ANORS). The project is designed to cover 11 of the health zones most affected by Ebola relying on PODI structures to connect people to 23 health facilities nearby.   

The activities focus on practical challenges communities face every day: distributing antiretroviral medicines, following up with people living with HIV, supporting prevention of mother-to-child transmission, improving infection prevention measures, and sharing information about Ebola through trusted local networks. 

The approach reflects a reality often overlooked during health emergencies. Outbreaks are not fought only in treatment centres. They are also fought in neighborhoods, community halls, places of worship and local markets, where people decide whether to seek care, collect medicines or trust public health advice.  

That is where Esther's voice matters. She is not a doctor or a health official. She is someone who became ill, received treatment and returned to her life. Now, when others ask about Ebola, she offers an answer grounded in her own experience. 

She tells them she survived. And she tells them not to wait. 

At a high-level event at UNGA81 cohosted by the Governments of the Netherlands and Botswana, representatives of member states, communities, United Nations officials and global health partners affirmed the need for a transformed Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) that can sustain political leadership, accountability and community engagement in the global HIV response.

During this event, held during the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, participants reflected on what is needed to ensure that the Joint Programme remains fit for purpose amid changing financing, widening inequalities, threats to human rights and an increasingly complex global health landscape.

Across the discussion, speakers emphasized the importance of protecting the functions that have made UNAIDS distinctive: keeping HIV high on the political agenda; convening governments, communities, the United Nations and partners; strengthening data and accountability; supporting country leadership; and ensuring that communities are able to co-create and co-lead the response.

Opening the event, Stephen Modise, Minister of Health of Botswana and co-host, stressed the value of a Joint Programme that responds to countries’ needs and supports national leadership in the HIV response.

“Our journey has shown what is possible when political leadership, communities, science, and partnership come together with common purpose and coordinated support. We would not have reached this point without the UNAIDS Joint Programme,” said Stephen Modise.

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed highlighted the importance of sustained multilateral action to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

“The global HIV and AIDS response stands among the finest achievements of the UN, and among the clearest proof of what collective action, inclusive collective action, can deliver. For more than three decades, UNAIDS has helped lead the charge. Millions of lives have been saved, not only through prevention and treatment, but by standing with communities, amplifying their voices, defending their rights, keeping that space open for them,” said Amina Mohamed.

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said that the next chapter of the Joint Programme must build on its unique ability to bring together governments, communities, the United Nations and partners behind a shared global HIV response.

“Ultimately, transformation is not only about integrating UNAIDS Joint Programme into the UN system, it’s about integrating the AIDS response into stronger national institutions,” said Winnie Byanyima.

The discussion was moderated by Angeli Achrekar, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, and brought together voices from governments, communities, civil society, global health partners and the United Nations.

Douglas Bosire of Kenya’s Ministry of Health reflected on how countries can translate the commitments in the 2026 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and the Global AIDS Strategy into action, while ensuring that HIV responses are nationally owned and sustainable.

“Let us preserve the core functions of the Joint Programme in the hub and at the country level,” said Douglas Bosire.

Julia Martin, Head of Strategy at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, emphasized the importance of partnership, coordinated investment and shared accountability in supporting countries to sustain progress against HIV.

“The Global Fund depends on UNAIDS. And so I want to put that right up front that looking forward to how the Political Declaration and the objectives that were placed in that document can be achieved, it’s really a partnership,” said Julia Martin.

The meeting also considered how the HIV response can strengthen national ownership while retaining the political leadership, coordination and accountability needed to keep HIV visible and deliver results. Participants noted that a future Joint Programme must support countries according to their specific contexts and needs, while drawing more effectively on the capacities of the wider United Nations system and other partners.

Keren Dunaway, NGO Delegate to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board and representative of the International Community of Women Living with HIV, underscored that communities must remain central to the future of the HIV response.

“We support a responsible transformation that preserves the Joint Programme’s leadership, coordination, and accountability, and keeps communities involved in shaping what comes next,” said Keren Dunaway.

Florence Anam, Co-Executive Director of GNP+, called for communities to be recognized and resourced as genuine co-creators and co-leaders of the HIV response, particularly at a time of shrinking civic space and pushback against human rights.

“I am happy that we are at this point where we understand that we need UNAIDS and we need UNAIDS leadership. It really excites me to sit in this meeting today and see the voice, the tone shift from what it was last year and early this year,” said Florence Anam.

“But I think as UNAIDS transforms and chooses to transform responsibly, that responsibility will require a clear definition of what community role will be, intentionally positioned at country level, where we must all go and sit with our governments and define,” she added.

Participants also reflected on the need for resilient HIV responses in the face of outbreaks, humanitarian emergencies and other crises. Mikheil Sarjveladze, Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia, spoke to the importance of continuity of services and strong, coordinated public-health systems.

“Have we achieved the goals to end AIDS by 2030? The answer is no, we haven't yet achieved all results to end HIV. Is there still necessity of information to be shared? Is there any risk of new outbreaks? Of course, there is such a risk. Thus, I think it will be impossible to find or invent better solution to all above-mentioned challenges than to continue with UNAIDS,” said Mikheil Sarjveladze.

In closing, Pascalle Grotenhuis, Vice Minister for International Cooperation in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed the importance of an effective, accountable and adequately resourced multilateral response to HIV.

“In the 30 plus years that UNAIDS has existed, a lot has been achieved. The numbers of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are at the lowest level ever, and this progress shows that a joint AIDS response works. The Netherlands was there at the start of the joint program, and we are as committed today to end AIDS as we were then,” said Pascalle Grotenhuis.

The event demonstrated a shared commitment to ensuring that the Joint Programme can continue to mobilize political will, protect human rights, elevate community leadership and support countries to deliver on the promise of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.