In accordance with the regional targets, national catch-up plans have been put in place in 18 countries in western and central Africa.

This reference document provides a detailed analysis of transactional sex and discusses
policy options and principles of engagement around transactional sex in the context of
HIV prevention. Although transactional sex is practiced by men and women in all regions
of the world, this document focuses specifically on the determinants and consequences
of adolescent girls’ and young women’s engagement in transactional sex in sub-Saharan
Africa. We focus on this population because of the potential importance of transactional
sex for young women’s HIV risk in this region. The document will not address men who
have sex with men or gay men and transgender people and the engagement around
transactional sex.

In many sub-Saharan African countries, declines in child mortality combined with a slow decline in fertility have resulted in children and young adults comprising a large part of the overall population. This is known as the youth bulge. The youth bulge is not new. Younger generations have almost always been larger than the previous generation. However, before the twentieth century, high child mortality meant that a large proportion of children did not survive to adulthood.

This document provides an overview of the latest available UNAIDS data on youth and HIV, including new indicators reported for the first time on consent requirements to access services, access to CSE, and youth participation in the HIV response. It also provides an explanation of youth participation through the three-lens approach, engaging youth as beneficiaries, partners and leaders, adapted to the HIV response, as a recommendation for policy-makers, programmers, implementers and other stakeholders to strive for better and greater youth participation, fulfil the commitments in the 2016 Political Declaration, and end AIDS by 2030.

This edition of UNAIDS data highlights these challenges and successes. It contains the very latest data on the world’s response to HIV, consolidating a small part of the huge volume of data collected, analysed and refined by UNAIDS over the years. The full data set of information for 1990 to 2017 is available on aidsinfo.unaids.org.

This brochure highlights some of the key remarks made by Member States at this year’s gathering on the state of the worldwide response to HIV. While much progress has been made, there is a clear agreement that we still have a long way to go. The disproportionate effect of the HIV epidemic on young women and adolescent girls, and the slow uptake of HIV services by men and boys, are but a few of the challenges that need to be addressed.

The seventy-second session of the General Assembly coincides with the halfway point of the fast-track phase of the global HIV response. Epidemiological and programme data reported by countries show that the world is making strong progress.