In 2019, the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), an independent review body for UN agencies, conducted an evaluation of UNAIDS governance and management. The JIU report, presented at the 45th PCB meeting in December, came up with a set of recommendations that will require implementation. It was also decided at the meeting to establish a PCB working group to review the relevant JIU recommendations and submit reports for the 46th and 47th PCB Meetings scheduled for 2020.
The PCB working group on the implementation of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) recommendations is composed of 14 members: ten PCB members representing Member states (two from each of the five ECOSOC regional groups: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, Western Europe and other States); two PCB NGOs nominated by the NGO Delegation; and, two representatives nominated by the Cosponsors.
The working group was constituted in April 2020 with the following members:
The Member states: Liberia and Namibia for the African States; Belarus and Russian Federation for the Eastern European States; India and Thailand for the Asian States; Brazil and El Salvador for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Canada and France for the Western European and Other States.
The NGO Delegation: Hiv Vereniging Nederland, Netherlands, represented by Alexander Pastoors; The Jamaican Network of Seropositives, Jamaica, represented by Jumoke Patrick.
Cosponsors: ILO and UNDP.
The three main recommendations which the working group will be looking closely are:
- Recommendation 1: Beginning in 2020, the Programme Coordinating Board should develop a long-term strategy to achieve the targets and goals of the UNAIDS 2030 Agenda.
- Recommendation 3: By the beginning of 2021, the Programme Coordinating Board should revise its Modus Operandi to clarify its roles and responsibilities and embed oversight and accountability mechanisms in the oversight of UNAIDS and its secretariat.
- Recommendation 5: The Programme Coordinating Board should consider creating an independent and external oversight committee to provide independent expert advice to the Programme Coordinating Board and to the Executive Director in fulfilling their governance and oversight responsibilities.
The NGO Delegation sees this working group as a critical platform to address governance issues in UNAIDS, particularly regarding civil society participation in the PCB. It is committed to engaging in discussions and consulting with its constituencies who have a stake in ensuring that community and civil society spaces and voices in multilateral and intergovernmental bodies such as the UNAIDS PCB remain intact and protected.