Report of the first meeting of the PCB, July 1995

The PCB approves the report of its first meeting contained in document UNAIDS/PCB(1)/95.6.

Method of work of the PCB

The PCB decides to appoint a Rapporteur from among its members to provide an action-oriented summary at the end of each agenda item’s discussion. The Rapporteur will be selected for each meeting in consultation with the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and the Secretariat.

Method of work of the PCB

The PCB requests all its members to make proposals to UNAIDS on how future meetings can be made more efficient and effective and ways to promote greater and frequent interaction among themselves in the governance process, for example through electronic means. The Secretariat will consolidate the proposals and present them to the next meeting of the PCB.

Establishment of PCB working groups

The PCB decides to establish a working group on indicators and evaluation with the following membership: Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America. It also decides that (1) any other PCB member is welcome to participate; (2) consultation with NGOs will be assured through electronic means; (3) members may be represented by a participant with technical skills and not necessarily the PCB representative; (4) the working group will develop its own terms of reference and report to the PCB at its next meeting.

NGOs participation in PCB meetings

The PCB authorizes UNAIDS to finance the participation of the five NGO members of the PCB, rather than limiting it to the three NGOs from developing countries as proposed in the ECOSOC resolution 1995/2 regarding governance of the PCB. The NGO members shall in future be referred to by their regional affiliation.

The PCB decides to hold its next meeting in Geneva on 10-12 June 1996, on the understanding that efforts will be made to reduce the meeting to two days, 10-11 June.

Administrative arrangements with WHO

The PCB notes the draft letter of agreement between UNAIDS and WHO on administrative arrangements. In view of the high costs of locating UNAIDS in WHO/Geneva, the PCB requests the Executive Director to examine the advantages and disadvantages, both short and long term, of possible measures to minimize the administrative and accommodation costs and report back to the next meeting of the PCB. However, the administrative costs should not exceed 13% of the total budget.

Memorandum of Understanding

The PCB notes with satisfaction that the Memorandum of Understanding – the final text of which was agreed at the sixth CCO meeting on 11 October – has been signed by the Executive Heads of five of the six cosponsors, namely UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO, and WHO, and that it will shortly be signed by the President of the World Bank after formal approval by its Board of Governors.

The PCB urges all of its members who also serve on the governing bodies of the cosponsors to pay special and urgent attention to financing the HIV/AIDS-related activities of the cosponsors from their own core/regular budgets.

The PCB notes that the “Global Appeal” will raise funds for the UNAIDS activities as set out in its biennial programme budget ($120 million for 1996-1997) and the plan of cosponsors’ activities to be jointly agreed upon with UNAIDS (up to $20 million for 1996-1997).

The PCB welcomes the proposed strategy for resource mobilization as outlined in document UNAIDS/PCB(2)/95.6. It also welcomes the offer by Sweden to initiate an informal working group to discuss innovative methods of resource mobilization, including inter alia,

- clarification of financing mechanisms, particularly the proposed replenishment mechanism, taking into account that some donors may not be in a position to use such replenishment due to the constraints of their national budgetary processes;
- the role of the “Global Appeal” and how it relates to the fund raising activities of cosponsors, NGOs and national governments;

The PCB urges the cosponsors to provide without delay details of their cash and in kind contributions to UNAIDS for the biennium 1996-1997.

The PCB welcomes the description of the cosponsors’ activities related to HIV/AIDS as contained in document UNAIDS/PCB(2)/95.5, even though the descriptions can be improved as to their specificity and accuracy. It notes with satisfaction the progress achieved by the cosponsors in preparing a jointly agreed plan of activities for 1996-1997.

Recognizing that HIV/AIDS is not exclusively a health issue, the PCB requests UNAIDS to pay maximum attention to the socioeconomic and developmental aspects of HIV/AIDS in its programme.