Introduction
Marsha Martin, North American Delegate
The UNAIDS 42nd Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) Meeting took place in Geneva, Switzerland on June 26-28, 2018, under the leadership of its new chair, the Honorable Anne Wechsberg, Director, Policy Division, Department for International Development, United Kingdom. This PCB had a very full agenda and provided for updates on governance, administrative matters, and human resources, including the establishment of an Independent Expert Panel to examine past and current practices to address issues of unethical workplace behavior including bullying, abuse of power and sexual harassment. Additionally, this PCB supported a review of the progress to date on UBRAF and implementation of the new financing mechanism in support of continued resourcing of cosponsoring UN agencies, as agreed to in the new operating model; and, a review of the commitments and capacities of Member States to better monitor and report on HIV-related expenditures, policy changes and programmatic progress toward the 90-90-90 global targets. The Thematic segment on addressing TB within the context of the three zeros and achieving the 2030 end of AIDS provided PCB members and observers with first-hand experience of the challenges in addressing HIV and its related stigma. There was a call for renewed engagement on addressing HIV and TB and it was noted that the Dutch government will be convening a special session at The Hague on TB and the Africa Japan Forum will host a side meeting on a Human-Centered Approach to Tuberculosis for Healthier Cities at the HLM on TB July 2018.
The NGO Delegation actively participated during the meeting and encouraged the Joint Programme and Members States, to keep their commitments to better resource communities and civil society and to work toward ‘meaningful involvement of people living with HIV’ in all aspects of their country level programs and policy and planning work. We maintained our position that the UNAIDS we need must do things very differently, at headquarters and in the field, especially when it comes to addressing unethical workplace behaviors, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power in the UNAIDS workplace.
Unique to this PCB was the media and global community attention given to the review of, discussion about, and myriad public and private responses to the allegations of sexual misconduct at UNAIDS. The NGO Delegation followed the issues raised and convened several consultations with civil society to solicit feedback, give voice to concerns and receive recommendations for the way forward, including identification of best practices for addressing sexual harassment and related workplace issues. Much of what the NGO Delegation learned was shared with the Member States in pre-meetings and at the board meeting itself including the need for UNAIDS to create a safe environment for those experiencing harassment to feel free to report. Additionally, two members of the NGO Delegation worked with and through the PCB Bureau to bring the voice and experiences of civil society to the discussions of the Independent Expert Panel, its charge and potential membership.
As in past meetings, the NGO Delegation was very busy with more than 28 side meetings with Member States, cosponsors and civil society observers to gain an understanding of outstanding issues and listen to potential opportunities for strengthening the role of communities and civil society in achieving the 2030 targets. As a follow up to the 42nd PCB meeting, the NGO Delegation is planning a special session at AIDS 2018. Join us.