The NGO Delegation’s Communique for the 45th UNAIDS PCB Meeting is already out. The Communique contains the following sections: Report of the Executive Director; Report by the NGO representative; Annual progress report on HIV prevention 2020; Report on progress on actions to reduce stigma and discrimination in all its forms; Report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the management and administration review of UNAIDS; Lessons learned on the nomination process of UNAIDS Executive Director; Evaluation Plan; Election of officers; Thematic Segment – Reducing the impact of AIDS on children and youth
Introduction
Alexander Pastoors, Europe Delegate
The 45th meeting of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) took place in calmer waters than the previous meetings of the board. The venue was, as usual, the Executive Boardroom of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland and the meeting was held from December 10 -12, 2019. It was the first meeting of the newly appointed third UNAIDS Executive Director in the history of the Joint Programme, and the first woman to hold that position, Ms. Winnie Byanyima from Uganda. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Li Cui from China.
Winnie’s report to the board was generally well-received, including by the NGO Delegation. Yet, as the current UNAIDS Strategy nears its expiration date in 2021, her report initiated a debate among members of the board about a possible next UNAIDS Strategy and the process involved. This discussion was closely linked with the agenda item that reflected on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU).
Just as in previous years, the first two days of the PCB discussed the report by the NGO Delegation and several other more policy and programme-driven items such as prevention, barriers to funding of community-led responses, and the Global Partnership for action to eliminate all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination. The third day of the meeting focused on the Thematic segment to inform the members of the PCB about possible actions to reduce the impact of AIDS on children and youth.