Thus, while the PCB will continue to support selected international meetings and initiatives, it recommended that the report of this meeting reflect its collective concern that the initiatives for which UNAIDS is expected to be the driving force are: limited in number; strategic in focus; and designed to support broader, more effective country level action.

As the governing board of UNAIDS, it is the responsibility of the PCB to help the Secretariat and Cosponsors focus their energies in the areas and at the levels where they will make the most difference. In the view of the PCB, this is clearly at country level.

Two possible dates for the eleventh meeting of the PCB were proposed: 29-31 May 2001 and 4-6 July 2001. The PCB expressed a preference for the dates in May 2001. However, recognizing the pressure this places on the Secretariat, the PCB requested the Executive Director of UNAIDS to identify dates in June 2001, acknowledging that the next meeting of the PCB must be held before the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS. The Chairperson, in consultation with the Vice-Chairperson, will take a decision on the final dates of the PCB and inform all PCB members in writing before 31 January 2001.

The PCB recommended that the UN System Strategic Plan include a monitoring and evaluation component to track progress and ensure accountability.

The PCB encouraged the Secretariat, the Cosponsors and other UN organizations to continue to work together to identify gaps and priority areas in the UN system support to country responses and to jointly define roles and responsibilities to address those gaps as part of the finalization of the Strategic Plan.

The PCB stressed that the Strategic Plan should be more than the sum of the contributions of the Secretariat, Cosponsors and other UN organizations, demonstrating a clear overall strategic vision and the respective roles, responsibilities and comparative advantages of different organizations. The PCB also noted that additional resources and capacities would need to be built within the Cosponsors and the Secretariat to enable the implementation of the Strategic Plan.

It recommended that the Secretariat, Cosponsors and other organizations of the United Nations system finalize their contributions to the United Nations System Strategic Plan for review at the next regular meeting of the PCB in 2001.

The PCB expressed its strong appreciation of the progress report on the development of the UN System Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS for 2001-2005 (UNAIDS/PCB/(10)/00.5) and of the transparency and unprecedented involvement in the process of developing the Strategic Plan, including through access to the web for PCB members.

The PCB noted the importance of providing adequate funding for the evaluation and encouraged interested parties to make additional financial and/or in-kind resources available for this purpose. It also requested interested delegations to be in direct contact with the ESP Chair to discuss their in-kind support of the evaluation process.

The PCB further urged the ESP to solicit the inputs of stakeholders at key stages during the evaluation, as described in the Mandate, including governments, people living with HIV/AIDS and Theme Group Members.

The PCB expressed appreciation to the Chair for its efforts in appointing the Evaluation Supervisory Panel (ESP) and took note of the membership of the ESP.

The PCB requested the Secretariat to refine the text of the Framework, incorporating the comments of PCB members and observers, and emphasizing urgency and clarity in language so that it is accessible to the widest possible audience.