The 48th UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) meeting, held between June 29 and July 2, was the fourth virtual PCB meeting (including the March 2021 2-day Special Session) due to the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. The June PCB meeting focuses traditionally on internal housekeeping, with the bulk of the agenda filled with oversight reports on performance of the Joint Programme and management, as well as financial statements. This time, there were also other important topics, such as the zero draft of the next Unified Budget Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF). This was timed right after the High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS held last June 8-10 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
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48th PCB Meeting | 22 July 2021
NGO Delegation’s Summary Bulletin
The NGO Delegation’s Summary Bulletin for the 48th UNAIDS PCB Meeting is already out. The Communique contains the following sections: Report of the Executive Director; Report by the Chair of the CCO; Organizational Oversight Reports; Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) 2016-2021; Statement by the Representative of the UNAIDS Staff Association; Follow-up to the thematic segment of theContinue reading “UNAIDS PCB Meeting”
Agenda items
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Agenda Item 1.3 | 48th PCB Meeting
Report of the Executive Director
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Intervention delivered by Dr. Karen Badalyan
Dear Chair, colleagues,
I am honoured to speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation to the PCB. At the outset, I wish to thank the Executive Director for her continued vision and commitment in leading UNAIDS, and the staff for their ongoing dedication and contributions towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
And of course, thank you for your synopsis of what the Joint Programme has been able to achieve, highlighting not only the engagements and successes, but also gaps that require urgent investment and action.
As the NGO Delegation, we completely share your vision that the HIV response is not just all about statistics, but actually people and lives. We note the pragmatic changes under your leadership, the narrative for people and communities who are left behind and catch-up strategies to ensure that their emerging needs and priorities are supported through community and key population-led responses. However, we would like to see more people-oriented reporting that talks to quality of life indicators and impact of the interventions, rather than politically motivated reporting, or just statistics and listing of activities.
UNAIDS is currently at an important chapter in its existence, with a new Global AIDS Strategy and Political Declaration asking us to refocus our work on closing gaps and focusing our energy on human-centered AIDS response to facilitate a stronger UNAIDS. We appreciate that the culture transformation initiative is in the due focus of your daily work to ensure that UNAIDS is a safe, equal and empowering workplace for all. This will be a critical time for the Joint Program to model adherence to core values and principles in all its work, both internally and externally.
Winnie, you said that this is your fourth PCB meeting, and the world has changed more than we could ever have imagined. This is my fourth PCB as well and I would say that the UNAIDS too has changed more than we have imagined. About two years ago, I entered into a binary UNAIDS but today we are seeing some openness within UNAIDS to conversations exploring non-binary values. We urge UNAIDS to continuously strive towards becoming a partnership that catalyzes the translation of political commitments into action, prioritising the leadership and meaningful involvement of PLHIV and key populations, and pushing for the removal of punitive and discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that block effective responses to HIV.
Thank you!
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Agenda Item 1.4 | 48th PCB Meeting
Report by the Chair of the CCO
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Intervention delivered by Jonathan Gunthorp
Thank you Chair I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation
In this brief time I will highlight just three issues:
The first is appreciation. UNAIDS is indeed unique in being a joint programme of the United Nations. Without cosponsors, it would not exist, and without the dedication of those in the cosponsors, including individuals in this meeting today, it would be immeasurably weaker. We wish to recognise those individuals and the cosponsoring agencies, and in particular their support at global level for our constituencies. Thank you.
We appreciate too the CCO Report reflecting backwards on 40 years of HIV responses, and on the 25years of the Joint Programme, and on the successes, failures, and unfinished business of this time. It is particularly appropriate to look backwards at this juncture at which the new Global AIDS Strategy, the High Level Meeting Political Declaration, and the new UBRAF all come together to guide the future of the response. As we move forward to new indicators, new funding emphases, and new delivery, we must not let go of work undone, poorly done, or uncompleted.
The second issue, is that with the new focus worldwide, and in the Joint Programme on the needs of people on the move, and the recognition that these people are not homogenous, it is becoming increasingly an anomaly that IOM is not here as a cosponsor. Their status achieved as a UN related organisation since the 2016 HLM makes this more plausible, and their unique mandate compliments those of existing cosponsors, in particular, the mandate elements of protection of migrants and displaced people in migration-affected communities, as well as in areas of refugee resettlement, and supporting incorporation of migration in country development plans.
The process for this to be considered is clear, and we shall follow up.
And finally, we look to cosponsors for changes in their programming following the HLM and new Global AIDS Strategy, and in sync with the newly emerging UBRAF. In particular, we’ll be following whether you are ‘putting your money where your mouths are’ with regard to acting on the inequality framework; scale up of communities in the response; key population support at all levels; and the protection of civil society space in these times of attack – the latter two not just globally as we have come to expect but in every country in which you operate and in every programme.
I thank you Chair.
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Agenda Item 2 | 48th PCB Meeting
Leadership in the AIDS response
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Intervention delivered by Jonathan Gunthorp
Thank you, Chair.
Doctor, I want to thank you for your presentation. We are very grateful for your leadership at this time. And grateful too for the timeous establishment of the Africa CDC, just before this crisis which none of us could have foreseen. We could not have imagined when we created a CDC for the Continent, how essential it would be at this time.
I speak on behalf of the entire NGO Delegation, but I speak as an African, and I speak from South Africa, currently under the onslaught of the third wave, which has broken over us in terrible ways. More sadly, I speak today as a neighbour of Namibia, devastated by the tragedy of this COVID wave.
We knew at the beginning of COVID that vaccine supplies were going to be bad for the developing world and for Africa and that the North would be selfish. We had no idea how just bad, and just how selfish the North would prove to be.
Doctor, we appreciate speaking and talking about the role of communities now in COVID, and your solidarity with them and with us. We agree with the US intervention recognizing the comparison you made with the beginnings of the HIV epidemic, and the current issues in the COVID pandemic – and particularly your recognition of the role and centrality of communities in the respective responses.
We in communities, feel COVID the most closely of anyone in this room. We care for those who are sick and unable to get to hospitals. We bury the dead, and we care for those left behind when they are gone. We do this sometimes alongside our governments, and sometimes despite them. We collect & report data on COVID as we do on HIV, sometimes in agreement with our governments, but often in disagreement of their data and reporting.
We look forward, as communities, to working closely with yourself and the Africa CDC, not just on COVID and on HIV, but on all of the disease and illness burdens you spoke to and that our continent needs to overcome.
Again our appreciation for your work, Doctor. Good Luck for the long-haul ahead, and stay safe.
Thank You Chair.
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Agenda Item 3 | 48th PCB Meeting
Organizational Oversight Reports
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Intervention delivered by Alexander Pastoors
Thank you chair,
I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
The NGO Delegation welcomes the reports from the external and internal auditor and welcomes with appreciation the first report of the ethics office.
Let me start by saying that the NGO Delegation acknowledges the fact that the Secretariat , compared to the state of the organisation three years ago, in the handling of cases of abuse of power, sexual and other forms of harassment, has made significant progress in making sure that UNAIDS is a safe workspace for all of its staff. Concrete steps are being undertaken to change the culture in the organisation and just like in any other organisation, whether that be in the business or not-for-profit sector, cultural change needs time.
Reading through the reports one can not suppress a sensation of deja-vu. The outcome of both the global staff survey and the survey of the USSA painfully lay bare that there are still many areas where extra steps need to be taken by senior management to resolve issues around racism, sexism, harassment, and abuse of authority. It’s disheartening to read that it takes so long to update the service level agreement with IOS. Nevertheless we appreciate that the memorandum of Understanding between WHO and UNAIDS is being finalised. We sincerely hope that the extra capacity will give a boost to the internal justice system and will contribute to the much needed work in rebuilding the trust between staff and senior management.
Chair and colleagues of the PCB, I’m certain that all of us in this meeting are affected in one way or the other by the COVID-pandemic. It’s been a hard year. Some of us have lost family, lovers, friends and colleagues to COVID. Civil Society organisations have struggled with budget cuts and the impact of lockdowns on services for communities. Many key populations have suffered from backlashes from authoritarian regimes in the wake of the pandemic. All of this affects our physical and mental health.
The joint program is of course also affected by COVID. Therefore I think we need to look at these reports in the context of a global pandemic, budget cuts and an alignment process. Any of these issues in itself would lead to stress and anxiety among staff, let alone if they coincide all three in one year. It is therefore difficult to measure the efficacy of the policies put in place over the last two years.
In conclusion, the NGO Delegation urges the Secretariat and especially senior management to continue the course of cultural change of the organisation and to redouble its efforts to make sure that UNAIDS is an exemplary organisation with zero tolerance of any form of harassment and abuse of power.
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Agenda Item 4 | 48th PCB Meeting
Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) 2016-2021
NGO Delegate representing Asia and The Pacific
Intervention delivered by Charanjit Sharma
Thank you Chair.
I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
Last week, the global community observed the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Historically, this date has been used by governments to showcase their so-called “achievements” in drug control efforts, based on coercion. A similar community-led campaign Global Day of Action takes place on, or around, 26th June as ‘Support Don’t Punish’ which aims to show the necessity of law reform and harm reduction to change the narrative on drug use. Networks of people who use drugs, including the International Network of People who Use Drugs strongly affirm the right to self-determination, self-empowerment and peer leadership in all political, social and cultural reform efforts.
Drug use in most countries is vertically managed by three to five government ministries, including HIV departments. This often means three to five policies, funding streams, and sometimes mandates. In Asia, too many countries criminalize people who use drugs at the expense of the right to health. As a Delegation, we urge Member States to put people and the right to health at the centre of all policies, rather than having a myopic and unrealistic focus on drug control. Only then can we stop deaths from HIV, overdose, HCV, and now COVID 19.
When we look at the reporting in the UBRAF reports, we note with concern several issues. With many countries moving towards domestic financing, we note much of this funding comes with restrictions, including social enabling activities, advocacy, human rights, and gender sensitive activities. These circumstances clearly indicate shrinking space of civil society and most importantly, the shrinking of funding for community-led responses. The NGO Delegation urges the Joint Programme and Member States to increase investment in community-led initiatives, in accordance with the recently adopted Political Declaration and Global AIDS Strategy. Key populations, including people who use drugs, must be meaningfully involved in decision-making in the policies and programmes that affect our lives, at all levels.
We are facing complex challenges that we simply cannot solve in isolation. Working in close partnership with UNAIDS, UN cosponsors and donor agencies over the next ten years will benefit us all.
Thank you for your kind attention.
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Agenda Item 5 | 48th PCB Meeting
Zero draft of the 2022-2026 Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF)
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Intervention delivered by Alexander Pastoors
Thank you chair,
I speak in my capacity as NGO Europe Delegate.
We thank the Secretariat for the Zero draft of the new UBRAF. It provides the PCB with a good basis for the discussion on what we need to improve and make better regarding the current UBRAF. It also helps the PCB in its oversight role, making sure that scarce resources are used for those who need them most.
The NGO Delegation would like to highlight some aspects of the Zero Draft that need further refinement. Particularly funding and vulnerabilities of certain strategic goals. Before we go into details I would like to remind my colleagues on the board that we should not forget that although it is good to discuss a framework for monitoring and evaluation, that behind every strategic goal, every result area in the new UBRAF, are people of flesh and blood whose lives depend on our determination as a board to have a workable strategic framework that funds the most effective, evidence based interventions.
A notable risk that is absent in the Zero Draft is the fact that in a rapidly changing political landscape some member states choose to ignore, or worse, actively undermine the latest scientific knowledge in order to attempt suppression and eradication of key populations such as transgender people, people who use drugs, sexworkers, gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Last week in the pre-meetings we heard member states dispute the scientific knowledge of “Undetectable equals Untransmissable”. In such an environment certain goals may be unachievable for some MS but at the same time this shouldn’t deter the Joint Program of what needs to be measured.
The Zero Draft is very ambitious and we urge MS to ensure a fully funded UBRAF. However we can not risk jeopardizing the entire HIV response if financial targets are not met. The NGO Delegation would therefore urge the Secretariat to develop financial scenarios regarding possible sub-optimal funding of UBRAF. What good is it to have a monitoring and evaluation framework if the available funding barely covers the costs of staff? The next UBRAF should therefore prioritise targets in a more detailed manner than the inequalities lens mentioned in the Zero Draft.
NGO Delegate representing Asia and The Pacific
Intervention delivered by Jules Kim
Thank you Chair. I beg the PCB’s indulgence to deliver a brief tribute to Manjulah Ramaiah from Ashodaya Samithi, a fierce sex worker living with HIV activist who passed away last Thursday after battling COVID. Manjula was a shining example of community leadership. She was sex worker from the streets of Mysore who became a peer educator at Ashodaya Samithi. Through that work she became aware of surveillance data that showed that 25% of sex workers in Mysore were HIV positive. This motivated her to get tested and she found out she was HIV positive. She then commenced organising with other men, women and trans sex workers living with HIV and formed the first positive sex worker organisation in the world, Ashraya which still has over 800 members today. Manjula represented sex workers living with HIV regionally and globally on boards such as APN+, NSWP and GNP+ and I had the privilege of being on the board of APNSW, the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers with Manjula. She was a changemaker for treatment adherence among sex workers and a vanguard for PrEP in India. Manjula leaves behind a legacy of hope, strength and inspiration for sex workers globally.
Thank you for presenting the zero draft of the 2022-26 UBRAF. This is a critical time to address the core issues that have delayed progress on HIV, namely the inequalities that are driving the epidemic and continue to hold back the global AIDS response. The new UBRAF must progress work, resourcing, measurement, and accountability of the ambitious goals endorsed in the GAS and PD including the commitment by MS on the 10-10-10 targets of societal enablers and the 30-80-60 targets that commit to scale up support for community leadership and community led programs.
The new UBRAF must align with these goals and targets and to map the work of the Joint Programme to reflect accountability and results from an inequalities lens to reflect allocation of funding that address inequality at country levels and develop measurable progress indicators on structural enabler targets. There is a need to further develop in the zero draft what are these differentiated responses to catalise action on addressing inequalities. What would this look like at regional and country level and how would this impact on country envelopes? How will we measure progress with adequate monitoring and oversight?
We must ensure that we do not duplicate work undertaken by co sponsors and communities on the ground on human rights and advancing structural enablers in the HIV response, however meaningful partnerships and collaborations with cosponsors and CS must be seriously and vigorously progressed. We must work to ensure harmonization across the joint programme on evidence informed, rights based positions on key populations, women and young people and to ensure the work of the joint program on the ground advances, not hampers the rights of all without exclusion.
So many of us who are members of key populations are routinely subject to criminalisation, denial of services, testing treatment, means of prevention and other human rights abuses. It is no wonder why the data shows we are still the populations who are disproportionately impacted by HIV. In Asia Pacific, key populations- sex workers, MSM, transpeople and people who use drugs account for 98% of new infections and this is the case for 62% of new infections globally. The new UBRAF must reflect what we must do and what works and must take bold action to tackle the inequalities that continue to prevent us from ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
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Agenda Item 6 | 48th PCB Meeting
Update on strategic human resources management issues
NGO Delegate representing Latin America and The Caribbean
Intervention delivered by Jumoke Patrick
I am delivering this statement on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
The NGO Delegation welcomes the report of the Update on Strategic Human Resources Management Issues and takes note of the progress being made towards the wellbeing of the UNAIDS staff during the over 18 months of this devastating pandemic that has significantly impacted the lives of many. We also note, with appreciation, that over the years in many areas, significant progress has been made to support the health and wellbeing of staff especially within desired approaches by leadership through improved organizational alignment and culture transformation – all towards a better UNAIDS.
The NGO delegation without a doubt support and see Diversity and gender equality & equity and as well are very much relevant and transformative towards a better and stronger UNAIDS and for a better Global HIV response in addressing those issues and challenges faced by women and girls through leadership and having a place at the table for change and impact.
The NGO Delegation takes note of the plans to continue to implement and streamline the UNAIDS approach to Human Resource structures. This is a notable and commendable direction under the leadership of the Executive Director. However, allow us to raise the need to accelerate the management of prolonged matters that torment the progress and priorities of the UNAIDS. These matters are reflected in the staff association report and the UNAIDS staff survey of 2020. The reports continue to paint a concerning picture of staff morale and the UNAIDS working environment.
The NGO delegation takes this opportunity to reiterate the importance of ongoing processes to remedy conflicts, and the quick execution of interventions that will enhance a more equitable and enabling workplace at the UNAIDS. We register our concern at the worrying funding cuts to the UNAIDS Secretariat that would have affected operations, risk reversing its gains and slowing its intended purpose of bettering the lives of People Living with and affected by HIV and key populations. We commend the UNAIDS leadership for the work it has done under these circumstances and the steps being taken to mobilize resources and address funding gaps.
We recommend that concrete and decisive actions be taken to reinforce confidence and give opportunities for recourse and justice for those who are victims of discrimination and other forms of abusive conducts, thus we are happy for the soon-to-be-signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the WHO Office of Internal Oversight Services (IOS) to govern the provision of investigation services to UNAIDS.
It requires partnership and leadership for a vision to be achieved and the NGO Delegation is optimistic that with this approach a more unified and enabling UNAIDS can be achieved.
Thank you.
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Agenda Item 7 | 48th PCB Meeting
Statement by the Representative of the UNAIDS Secretariat Staff Association (USSA)
NGO Delegate representing North America
Intervention delivered by Andrew Spieldenner
Thank you, Chair, for the floor. I am speaking on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
Thank you, Stuart, for your statement. The NGO Delegation has always enjoyed a strong relationship with the Staff Association and we continue to support your work as the representative leadership of all UNAIDS staff.
This is my third and final year on the NGO Delegation. I am disheartened to hear another Staff Association Statement where there remains a troubling low level of trust between staff and senior leadership. We understand that UNAIDS sits on uneasy ground with a global pandemic, budget cuts and an alignment process occurring at the same time. The NGO Delegation sympathizes with the pressure and uncertainty the USSA Statement reveals amongst UNAIDS staff: indeed, we in Civil Society are in positions where we are uncertain about the future of funding, healthcare and COVID vaccine distribution in these difficult times.
It’s great that some of the problems have been improved at UNAIDS. We are happy to hear about the Staff Counselors for Wellness and Health and the support for working from home during COVID-19, and we congratulate all the staff (and the senior leadership) with the remarkable feats of the year – a Global AIDS Strategy, a UN High Level Meeting and the ongoing work of the Joint Programme. UNAIDS has continued to be an integral voice in advancing the HIV response, for all of us. That you did this during a global pandemic with budget cuts is remarkable.
I speak for all of us when I say we hope that the USSA and the senior leadership take steps to resolve this lack of trust and feelings of uncertainty. We want to encourage senior leadership to recognize the USSA and its vital role in the organization. There are some clear asks in the Statement such as professional development opportunities, a review of the Staff Health Insurance options, and transparency about the use of consultants. Through consistent and clear communication, we see that these could be resolved.
Looking ahead, we hope that the USSA and the management can find common ground and transparent engagement. Both have the good of UNAIDS at heart, and together they can make powerful moves in the HIV response that all Member States can invest in.
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Agenda Item 8 | 48th PCB Meeting
Follow up to the Thematic Segment from the 47th PCB meeting Cervical cancer and HIV – addressing linkages and common inequalities to save women’s lives
NGO Delegate representing Latin America and The Caribbean
Intervention delivered by Violeta Ross
Cervical cancer is an issue of inequality and we WOMEN, LIVING WITH HIV IN ALL OUR DIVERSITY, we know about inequalities. The NGO Delegation welcomes the report of the 47th PCB Thematic Segment which we find comprehensive. As we move on the discussion for the decision points, we want to reflect in four ideas.
- MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE: make the HPV vaccination programs accessible for us. We mean accessible in terms of integrated programs that respond to our sexual and reproductive health and rights in a timely manner. Accessible also means affordable as HPV prices are still prohibitive for many countries including the middle income countries. This is a call for UNITAID, the Medicines Patent Pool and the Global Fund, entities that are doing something but need to do more.
- MAKE IT REAL: the discussion of cervical cancer and HIV in women cannot only be a PCB thematic segment. It has to be translated in political will and budgets from international donors and from member states. Demonstrate that you really care for our lives. This is a call for member states and donor agencies.
- MAKE IT RELEVANT: an overly medicalized response will not solve the intersection of cervical cancer and HIV. We have to work in the reduction of gender, socio-economic and structural inequalities and address health disparities that underlie the vulnerability of girls and women, including from key populations and in high risk settings, to both HIV and cervical cancer. This is a call for the Joint Program and all stakeholders.
- MAKE IT OURS: support us for being part of the response. Put women at the center of programs. Strengthen our capacities and acknowledge our role as partners to address the inter linkages between HIV and cervical cancer and you will see an outcome in demand creation and community mobilization. This will not happen out of goodwill, we need investments for community led and WOMEN LED INITIATIVES to respond to the intersections of cervical cancer and HIV.
Let´s not allow other women or girls to have HIV medications just to die with cervical cancer! This is a call for all of us.
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Agenda Item 9 | 48th PCB Meeting
Update on the implementation of the HIV response for migrant and mobile populations
NGO Delegate representing Latin America and The Caribbean
Intervention delivered by Violeta Ross
The NGO Delegation reaffirms the importance of this topic. As explained in the report, responding to migration and HIV requires coordinated and systematic actions across co-sponsors, borders and countries. That is why our delegation calls for the need to explore the establishment of a new international coalition to elevate the attention to migration and HIV.
We know the issue is politically complex because it brings topics like punitive laws and travel restrictions. In mobility and HIV, we can see a clear example of how laws can go against the human rights of some people and groups, while pretending to protect our national borders. It also implies the topic of national sovereignty and its limits.
Despite those complexities, we need to be practical and acknowledge that in this century, we live in a globalized community. Nowadays, borders are diffused but what does not change across countries and borders is the dignity of human beings.
Therefore, because we are talking about people with human rights, we cannot simply disassociate from these debates or decisions. What we need are decisions that practically, ethically and politically respond to the issue of people on the move and HIV.
Those practical solutions are signaled in the report. As our delegation stated in the pre- meetings, we urge the PCB members to adopt and implement the recommendations of the report.
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Agenda Item 10 | 48th PCB Meeting
Thematic Segment – COVID-19 and HIV: sustaining HIV gains and building back better and fairer HIV responses
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Intervention delivered by Iwatutu Joyce Adewole
Thank you, Chair.
I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
Over the last 40 years, the world has battled the HIV epidemic as a public health threat. We have rocked the ribbon together, contributing necessary aid and funding to help mitigate the effects on our communities.
But what if an emergency pandemic breaks out, killing millions of people and causing more havoc on millions more? We are not going to let it reverse the progress already made.
Two major effects the COVID-19 has had on the HIV response: Funding and Inequalities.
To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of resources were and is still needed. With HIV being deprioritized and donor funding dwindling in the last several years, programs that had previously demonstrated to be necessary and beneficial, such as HIV treatment and prevention, SRHR programmes, human rights advocacy, and providing protection for those at risk among others, have suffered.
Member states can have and take time to debate and agree on language and decision points for days, while 4500 girls and women in Sub Saharan Africa get infected every week. It is safe to say that the pandemic has sent us a step back in the HIV response. As members of the NGO Delegation, we urge the Joint Programme and other donor agencies to adequately support and fund both the COVID-19 and HIV response that emphasise public health, rights-based approaches, and community-led.
I thank you.