In March 2007, WHO and UNAIDS convened an international consultation to review the results of the three randomized controlled trials and other evidence on male circumcision and HIV prevention, to discuss the policy and programme implications, and to make recommendations regarding public health issues. This document summarizes the principal conclusions and recommendations of the meeting.

These proposed working mechanisms for the Joint UN Teams on AIDS have been developed to guide UN Country Teams in their establishment, per the instructions of the UN Secretary-General. It includes information relating to the background, strategies and tools that can be used to harness the potential of the UN Country Team to support the national AIDS response. It provides options for establishing an institutional framework for Joint UN Teams on AIDS and for putting in place a joint UN AIDS Programme of Support. While the focus of this paper is on strengthening UN processes, it is understood that the ultimate goal and purpose of Joint UN Teams on AIDS is to improve support to the national response, and contribute to expanding HIV prevention, care and treatment leading to reduced HIV vulnerability and infections.

This policy stresses that no single agency or organization can provide for the full spectrum of needs of people living with HIV: partnerships between actors are therefore needed. To enable the active engagement of people living with HIV, UNAIDS urges all actors to ensure that people living with HIV have the space and the practical support for their greater and more meaningful involvement. The GIPA Principle aims to realize the rights and responsibilities of people living with HIV, including their right to self-determination and participation in decision-making processes that affect their lives. This principle was formalized at the 1994 Paris AIDS Summit when 42 countries agreed to “support a greater involvement of people living with HIV at all levels and to stimulate the creation of supportive political, legal and social environments”.

This brochure gives an overview of the work carried out by UNAIDS and its ten Cosponsors to ‘Unite the world against AIDS’ and help build a sustainable AIDS response for the future. The brochure highlights how UNAIDS and its Cosponsors are working together, and with all other partners involved in the AIDS response, to build a broad, global united coalition for action with genuinely shared goals.

UNAIDS convened an expert consultation on Behaviour Change in the Prevention of Sexual Transmission of HIV in collaboration with the US Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator on 25-26 September 2006. 26 experts from 17 countries joined UNAIDS for the consultation to reconsider the state of knowledge about behaviour change measures for the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV. The objective of the meeting was to create a forum for dialogue about the evidence and the priorities to prevent sexual transmission, to pinpoint a few concrete barriers to behaviour change that can be overcome, and to seek a practical way forward to innovate and test or expand some promising new approaches to behavioural change.

Tanzania has made substantial progress in strengthening the national response to HIV in recent years. This case study describes different aspects of the response made in the Mbeya region over the last 20 years. More than 2 million people live in the region and it was, and continues to be one of the worst-affected parts of the country. However, HIV prevalence which reached an estimated high of 20% in the mid-1990s has been in decline since then. It is very likely that the work of the Mbeya Regional AIDS Control Programme which began in 1988 has made an important contribution to reversing the trend of the epidemic.

Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment

These position papers—developed by the the UN-wide HIV Positive Staff Group (UN Plus)—discuss the c

The UNAIDS Annual Report looks at the work carried out by the UNAIDS Secretariat and its ten Cosponsor organizations in 2006. A truly global problem, AIDS affects every region and every country of the world, challenging health systems and undermining our capacity to reduce poverty, promote development and maintain national security. At the same time, as this annual report reveals, new opportunities are greatly enhancing our potential to respond to AIDS in the immediate and the longer term.

This report provides a broad overview of the major activities of the Global Coalition Secretariat and convening agencies over 2006. Its achievements, however, resonate beyond its own specific activities. The Global Coalition has helped shape the global advocacy agenda around women and AIDS and embed these messages and strategies in major global and regional policies. National coalitions on women and AIDS formed in countries ranging from Haiti to Nigeria and regional coalitions have also been formed in the Caribbean.