The 55th PCB will take place in Kenya from 10 to 12 December. The thematic segment will focus on addressing inequalities in children and adolescents to End AIDS by 2030.
The virtual pre-meetings on the agenda items will be on 28 and 29 November. The consultation on decision points will be on 2 December. This consultation is only accessible to PCB members.
NGO Report of the 55th PCB Meeting | 22 November 2024
The NGO Delegation’s Report to the PCB will focus on the importance of involving communities – key and marginalized populations, people living with HIV, and other communities hard hit by the AIDS pandemic – in the HIV response. A topic that has long been discussed by multilateral organizations, donors, national governments, and of course, communities themselves.
Agenda Item 1.3 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Asia and The Pacific
Thank you Chair and Thank you Kenya for hosting us.
Thank you Winnie for your report.
I deliver this statement on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
Happy International Human Rights Day.
I am honoured to take part on the High Level Panel, as the only representative from Asia and the Pacific in reviewing the operating model of the Joint Programme to make us fit for the challenges of the future.
The members of the PCB have always agreed time and again that the community is central and an integral part of the HIV response.
We the community call to account, to make noise by going to the streets, to bring the evidence of the real and lived experiences of people living with HIV and key populations – and to remind us all here that our work is far from over.
The added value of UNAIDS has been creating the space and dialogue for marginalized groups to dialogue with government agencies, and other development partners which we may not get access to, let alone to tell what are the real issues on the ground – for us to be heard and seen is our most powerful advocacy.
In Asia and the Pacific, we have seen decreasing resources and the presence of UNAIDS. With diminishing UNAIDS presence, sadly it also means HIV and AIDS as a health and rights issue is also diminishing as an issue. For example, in our region there is a rise in HIV infections in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and Timor-Leste, and pre-exposure prophylaxis scale up is woefully too slow to affect the course of the HIV epidemic: We’re only reaching an abysmal 3% PrEP users in 2022.
For our region, 99% of new HIV infections are among young key populations and their partners – with the support of UNAIDS, voices and data of key populations; gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs, sex workers, and of people living with HIV are elevated to policy makers.
The PCB is a prime example of how UNAIDS is engaged with civil society – and ensures key populations are not just forgotten but are meaningfully engaged for solutions.
As we look forward to the future, I make a plea that the Joint Programme stay united with strengthening community leadership and community-led HIV responses.
Thank you very much.
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Thank you chair,
I want to add my voice to yours to warmly welcome fellow delegates to Kenya, KARIBUNI N’ Sana.
The NGO Delegation appreciates the Executive Director’s report and the leadership shown by the UNAIDS Secretariat, Co-sponsors, Member States, and development actors. While progress has been made, HIV remains a complex development concern, demanding sustainable financing, collective action and accelerated momentum. Achieving the 95–95–95 targets by 2025 requires doubling our efforts and race against time. Complacency is not an option!
From the community field visits, we learnt that HIV reflects broader social, economic, and deep-rooted gender inequalities. Ending HIV requires more than medicines—it calls for breaking cycles of poverty, dismantling harmful cultural norms, and ensuring that all—young people, AGYW, key populations, and people at risk of HIV —ably access integrated HIV/SRHR/GBV, services, Social protection and live free from fear and Rights violations.
Member states & Donors, we need your investments more than before, UNAIDS’ 160 million dollar target core Operating budget contribution is non-negotiable—it’s an investment in life, Equity, and global stability. New Medicines Must prioritize people NOT profits – We must fund the dipivefrine Ring, Cabotegravir and Lenacapavir for Africa & LMIC. Failure to act decisively risks catastrophic consequences; ……. by 2030, HIV/AIDS could claim 7.7 million more lives, with new infections rising among children, adolescents, and young key populations.
Fighting HIV is a fight for Equality and Human Dignity; The GenZs desire a world where no one is left behind because of who they are, whom they love, or where they live. We need to address HIV as a social justice issue if we are to unlock the potential for a brighter and more compassionate future where Humanity Comes First. We must challenge systemic inequalities, reaffirm commitments to our 30–80–60 targets, and amplify the voices of communities silenced by criminalization, stigma, and discrimination.
Board members, To move forward with our fight, We need a Collective Voice and Harmonized Actions, we must unite to break silos and dismantle barriers of service accessibility, protection of the right to health and drivers of stigma and discrimination.
We Must remember that Communities are the face of HIV. We must invest in HIV grassroot movements, HIV-Led Organizations and Human Rights Protection programs – Community-led organizations know the people and have practical local ownership and sustainable plans that leave no one behind.
Today is International Human Rights Day, I want to invite you to embrace the approach of HUMANITY FIRST throughout our HIV response.
Thank you.
Agenda Item 1.4 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing North America
Breaking the chains: Supporting Community Leadership and Human Rights for a Sustainable HIV Response
Part 1
Slide 3
The topic of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB 55th meeting is ‘Breaking the chains: Supporting Community Leadership and human rights for a Sustainable HIV response. Here we present a summary of key points from the NGO Delegation report, and we invite delegates to read the full report, which goes into much greater depth.
Slide 4
We can not overcome or end the AIDS epidemic without strong and systematic community leadership in HIV responses. But its full potential is being held back.
This report of the NGO Delegation presents evidence of how the leadership of communities most affected by HIV is being impacted by shrinking civic space, attacks by the anti-gender and anti-rights movements, and inadequate funding. Based on our analysis, we offer recommendations for addressing these threats.
Slide 5
The report was developed using a qualitative, mixed methods approach, which centred the voices of HIV-affected communities and builds on a number of previous NGO Delegation reports and PCB decision points. Some of the most relevant are highlighted in the full report.
The lack of funding, which delayed the start of the research, could be a standing challenge unless funding for the NGO Delegation to produce a report is protected going forward.
Slide 6
The communities referred to in the report are people living with HIV, key populations, women and girls and other affected groups, depending on context.
With this in mind,
There is no agreed definition for community leadership per se. Responses from the regional dialogues included
Based on these responses, we can say that community leadership goes beyond representing community members on decision-making bodies; it assumes that communities most affected by HIV have access to both the resources they need and the necessary independence to use them that will enable them to organize and to carry out work, and the accountability for this work at different levels.
Slide 7
Current global Frameworks are reflective principles enshrined early on in the global AIDS response, such as the Denver principles of 1983 and the GIPA principle of 1994
The centrality of community leadership is embedded in the results and objectives of the current global AIDS strategy, the Global Fund strategy and the PEPFAR strategy presented on the slive,
Other global health frameworks, such as the WHO Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, 2020–2030, also highlight that “[c]ommunities must be empowered and resourced to enhance their indispensable role in delivering people-centred services with strong linkages to health services, and in promoting accountability”.
Slide 8 –
Advances in HIV prevention and treatment have transformed the response and made ‘the end of AIDS as a public health threat’ an achievable goal. However, community leadership remains a vital ingredient for the ‘last mile,’ where we see that most affected communities are still being left behind. Communities have a role to play in HIV prevention education, linkage to testing and care, access to treatment and retention in care, psycho-social support, health service and human rights monitoring and advocacy, preventing and responding to gender-based violence, addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and driving a decriminalization agenda, among many other things.
The 30-80-60 targets on community leadership recognise this vital role.
Linked to these are the 10-10-10 targets on societal enablers that are critical for an effective HIV response. These targets are also a proxy measure of communities’ abilities to fully participate in the decision-making that affects their lives.
However, none of these targets is on track to be achieved by 2025 (according to the latest UNAIDS update). That is all the more reason not to abandon them. Having ambitious targets like these is important for determining what gets done and by whom. In addition, we need stronger accountability systems, including prioritised, costed work plans, M&E frameworks and systems for data collection, and financial commitments.
Part 2 / Slide 9
In this section, we look at three obstacles standing in the way of community leadership.
Slide 10 – restricted civic space
According to CIVICUS, in 2023, 60% of countries have obstructed, repressed or closed civic space – the highest number since monitoring began.
The report includes examples from around the world of laws being introduced to control and limit civil society activities, such as those that curtail the activities of LGBTQI+ organisations in Malawi, Ghana and Zimbabwe, among others.
Foreign agent laws in some countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are impacting negatively on harm reduction programmes and the ability of people who use drug networks – among others – to organise.
There are also examples of countries in Latin America (such as Nicaragua) and Asia (e.g. Bangladesh) where there is shrinking civic space, including in the context of political turmoil.
Slide 11 – anti-gender / anti-rights movements
Global Civil Society has noted that the rise of a well-coordinated, well-funded movement of state and non-state actors opposed to ‘gender ideology’ is driving a backlash on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the rights and safety of LGBTQI+ people, and pushing regressive and harmful policies on drugs and sex work.
Some of the Delegation’s observations on how anti-gender / anti-rights mobilisation undermines community leadership include
Slide 12 – Who is afraid of gender?
This study by ISDAO and Queer African Youth Network is one of several attempts by community-led organizations to monitor the rise of the anti-gender / anti-rights movements; it is described in more detail in the report
Slide 13 – Lack of sustainable funding for CLOs (1)
Funding going to community-led organisations is currently inadequate to support their work, especially in the current climate of hostility towards the communities they represent. This situation is likely only to get worse as the 2030 target of ending AIDS as a public health threat approaches and then passes, particularly if HIV is not seen as a priority in the global health and/or development architecture that follows.
Most funding for community-led organisations is project-based and tied to specific deliverables, leaving no money for strategy development, communications, partnership building, administrative staff, fundraising, and human resource management, among others.
This ‘projectisation’ exacerbates the voluntarism that has characterized the AIDS response since the beginning. Smaller organisations often experience indefinite periods of unpaid work to mobilise resources between projects. This can create mental and physical stress and burnout.
Furthermore, criteria for receiving funding (such as minimum annual budget thresholds, audited accounts, financial management systems, etc.) tend to favour larger international or national NGOs. Paradoxically, the administrative burdens associated with project-based funding (such as due diligence, compliance and reporting) can also hinder smaller organizations from delivering on their core mandate.
Slide 14 – Lack of sustainable funding for CLOs (1)
The negative impact of the barriers to accessing funding on women-, youth- and key population-led organisations is likely to continue as funding for the HIV response shifts to domestic financing, especially in a context of increasingly restricted civic space and hostility towards key population communities.
There are already huge shortfalls in funding aspects of the HIV response, such as harm reduction programmes for people who use drugs.
Slide 15 – Section divider
In this section, we look at ways to address these barriers and make recommendations for how we move forward.
Slide 16
Funding for communities needs to be more flexible, responsive, context-specific and accessible. It should go directly to community-led organizations and include core funding.
The consultation also highlighted the need for communities to start seeking support from non-traditional sources of funding, some examples of which are included in the report.
While domestic financing is essential to sustain gains made in the HIV response, some ring-fenced external funding for communities should also be maintained. CLM must continue to be supported to ensure that government-provided HIV services are accessible, affordable and acceptable to all who need them.
Slide 17
The Robert Carr Fund for civil society networks was highlighted by a number of community members during the consultation as ‘a lifeline’ for regional and global networks and consortia.
Slide 18
As we have seen, there are strong commitments to community leadership in the global AIDS policy framework; but stronger accountability is needed to make sure these commitments are met.
Communities’ knowledge and expertise need to be valued, not sidelined as “grey literature” or “anecdotal”, and community leaders must be meaningfully involved in strategy development at global and national levels. This means starting the process early, co-creating the roadmap and listening to communities most affected by HIV.
An example described in the report is the Office of National AIDS Policy in the US, which has an open door policy for community representatives and holds regular ‘listening sessions’ to make sure the next strategy reflects the lived reality and diversity of people most affected by HIV.
Slide 19
The Rise Study supported by L’initiative and AmfAR highlighted ways in which community engagement and participation in CCMs could be strengthened and made safer for community representatives.
Slide 20
In addition to financial resilience, the delegation found that to counter the anti-gender and anti-rights movement, solidarity and alliances between actors in the HIV ecosystem need to coalesce around a counter-narrative that is grounded in science and evidence. Support for mental health and mentorship of a new generation of leaders will also help avoid burnout and ensure the continuity of the work.
UNAIDS Cosponsors and the Global Fund can play a more intentional, informed, courageous and coordinated role in facilitating the building of alliances between communities and national governments and normalizing the meaningful engagement of community-led organizations in decision-making spaces, while also challenging policies and practices that threaten to undermine an effective HIV response.
Slide 21
Rise and Decriminalize is an example of communities coming together to coalesce around a common advocacy agenda.
Slide 22
The report offers a set of concrete and practicable recommendations in the areas of sustainable and equitable financing, centring community leadership in the HIV response, and building resilience to counter the shrinking of civic space and the backlash on gender equality and human rights. We believe these constitute the minimum investment in community leadership that is required to meet targets in the global AIDS strategy and – more importantly – to safeguard the needs, rights and priorities of people living with HIV, key populations and women and girls.
These recommendations are distilled in the decision points that the PCB will be invited to consider.
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Thank you, Chair. I speak on behalf of NGO Europe.
During last June’s Thematic Segment, the Programme Coordinating Board heard powerful testimonies from Edwin Bernard of the HIV Justice Network and Ganna Dovbakh of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. Theirs and other compelling voices made it clear: we are falling short of the 10–10–10 targets due to structural barriers like criminalization, discrimination against key populations, and shrinking civic space.
The criminalization of drug use exemplifies this systemic failure. Evidence shows punitive measures not only fail to reduce drug use but also amplify harm. I myself am fortunate to be in Nairobi at all, as my 20-year-old drug-related criminal record didn’t disqualify me under the current Kenyan visa rules. Thank you for this! However, many countries impose stricter criteria—for example, I’ve been waiting for a US visa decision since August and had to go through a rigorous criminal rehabilitation process in Canada that took me over a year. I’m privileged in this sense, but Therefore, decriminalization is not just a moral imperative; it’s a pragmatic solution to curb HIV, save lives, and redirect resources to community-driven human rights initiatives.
Equally concerning is the 94% funding gap for harm reduction in low- and middle-income countries. Governments must address this crisis by reducing communities’ reliance on a few remaining donors, like the Global Fund, and ensuring sustainable funding for vital initiatives. Mechanisms like the Robert Carr Fund for Civil Society Networks are pivotal in supporting organizations such as the International Drug Policy Consortium, Harm Reduction International, Youth Rise, International and European Networks of People who Use Drugs and 65 other regional and global networks in 130 countries. Their community-led and community-based solutions are transformative and indispensable.
Today, on Human Rights Day, we urge PCB member states to become champions of decriminalization. For us, silence does not mean compliance and concurrence. Ending punitive laws and policing practices is essential for a sustainable, effective HIV response. Let us follow science, invest in equity, and empower communities to lead. Together, we can dismantle the injustices fueling this epidemic.
Thank you.
NGO Delegate representing Asia and The Pacific
I speak on behalf of the entire NGO delegation.
As communities, we are the frontline defenders of the HIV response. When the Anti-Gender and Anti-Rights Movement began its well-coordinated, well-funded, and systematic attack, we were the first to feel the blow. But let me be clear: this movement will not stop at us. It has already taken root in Member States, infiltrating governance systems and undermining the HIV response in your own countries. If left unchecked, it will dismantle the very foundations upon which our HIV programs rely. Your health systems are next.
We are your smoke signal—don’t wait until the flames engulf everything.
We, the communities, are doing everything in our power to hold the line, even in hostile and dangerous environments. The space in which we operate is rapidly shrinking. We are being suffocated—cut off from funding, denied civic space, and stripped of protections. Let me be unequivocal: it is not possible for us to sustain this response under these constant, coordinated attacks.
The Anti-Rights movement is dismantling the progress the HIV response has fought for – pushing regressive laws – criminalizing LGBTQI+ individuals, restricting access to SRHR , trampling women’s rights and undercutting harm reduction programs. They are dismantling the very protections that have made progress against HIV possible.
The first step to addressing a problem is to name it. Unfortunately, we have observed a troubling hesitation to explicitly name the Anti-Gender and Anti-Rights Movement in our decision points. Refusing to call out this Movement only gives it more ground to grow – it emboldens those who seek to undermine human rights and weakens the global HIV response we are all here to defend.
Let me leave no room for doubt: the Anti Gender and Anti Right movements are not theoretical threats. They are active, growing forces already operating within your countries – shaping policies, and curtailing human rights.
This will mean higher HIV infection rates, skyrocketing treatment costs, and deepening inequalities. These are not distant warnings—they are realities unfolding right now.
These movements are not content with national boundaries; they have infiltrated global governance spaces, including the UN itself. If we cannot name this threat in UNAIDS, a space designed to lead the global HIV response, then where will we?
Your leadership is critical. Protect civic spaces. Fix the inadequate funding towards the protection of the community. Resist the anti-rights agenda with the urgency it demands.
Agenda Item 2 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Latin America and The Caribbean
Thank you, Chair.
Today, I want to share how the HIV response saved my life.
I acquired HIV twice in my life; let me start with the second time. Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed during what was supposed to be a routine gym-checkup. But the truth is, that the virus found me much much earlier. It was at age 17, when I told my mother I was gay and her immediate response was that I was going to “catch” AIDS and die, before kicking me out of our house. That day, I not only lost my family but also got HIV stigma. Later on, when her premonition began to come true, it shattered me.
Luckily, since then treatment, psychological support, capacity building and peer empowerment—have all allowed me to rebuild my life and stand before you today. I have managed to remain undetectable, but that might be about to change. In Argentina, where over 75% of our national HIV budget funds medicines, a 76% projected spending cut threatens access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy and PrEP.
Millions of lives like mine depend on an effective HIV response. Yesterday, during our field visit to Ruiru Prisons Medically Assisted Therapy Clinic showed us how retiring funding exposed a program servicing 511 PWID in a closed setting to non-continuity.
Global health faces growing threats: fiscal constraints, a lack of political will, and growing inequalities that are rolling back gains. Integrating HIV programs into broader systems without proper preparation risks undoing decades of progress, especially when stigma, discrimination, criminalization and societal barriers continue to affect key and priority populations.
That’s why relying on political leaders whose agendas may harm these populations further jeopardizes progress. Decision-making is shifting from evidence-based to narrative-driven approaches, fueled by the anti-rights/anti-gender movement, weakening the integrity of our responses. This is the other face of sustainability.
Research and innovation are critical but meaningless if access is not guaranteed. The Purpose studies on LEN efficacy exemplified the contributions of cisgender women, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who use drugs to global science in the pursue of prevention options for those who don’t find a choice on what currently exists and works. Yet, countries like mine, Brazil and Peru, who have been essential to making this a reality, remain excluded from licensing agreements. Extractive practices like these erode trust and jeopardize future collaborations. We must ensure that medicines and innovations reach everyone and that community continues leading service provision in a time where injectables call us to go back into the healthcare facilities.
Now is the time for rights-based, people-centered approaches to bridge inequalities and sustain progress. Let’s commit to universal treatment and ensure scientific advancements reach everyone, not just a selected few.
Without the HIV response and the decisions made by the PCB, I would not have learned that a life with HIV is worth living. But the progress we have already achieved isn’t permanent—it requires our maintenance, vigilance, commitment. Our shared responsibility.
I may have got HIV, but I shall not die of AIDS. Help a son prove his mother wrong.
Agenda Item 3 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Thank you, Chair.
I am intervening on behalf of the NGO Delegation, and I thank the speaker for this summary of a complex discussion.
Yesterday I visited the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme, a community-led initiative run by and for female sex workers. We heard from peer educators who are reaching other women and girls with HIV, SRH and gender-based violence services and paralegal support. They described harassment by law enforcement officials as a daily threat, and a culture of impunity when it comes to violence affecting their community. Two women broke down when they talked about a young sex worker who was brutally murdered in November. Here in the UN I want to say her name. It was Lucy. She was 21. She was a mother to two babies.
BHESP try to equip sex workers with risk reduction strategies, and the peer educators blamed themselves for being unable to protect Lucy. One has not been able to sleep since her murder.
Each peer educator is responsible for an incredible 60 to 80 female sex workers and together they have reached more than 26,000 women and girls. Their work is life and death, the heart and soul of the HIV response. Yet they are paid just 5500 Kenyan shillings a month. That’s less than a bottle of wine in this hotel – and it has to change.
The NGO delegation came to the thematic in June with three messages, the first being that community-led responses are crucial for sustainability. As a delegation, we ask that financing for community-led responses features strongly in the decisions from this meeting. The sustainability planning process must also place investing in community leadership front and centre.
Our Second message: if we integrate the HIV response into already ailing health systems, and with rising stigma and discrimination, we run the risk of eroding our gains. We heard these very same concerns at the Bar and Hostess Programme yesterday. We ask that steps be taken to safeguard high-quality services for people living with HIV and key populations, and call for decisions that address these concerns explicitly.
Our final point is that tackling punitive laws, stigma and discrimination, and gender inequality and violence is essential for sustainability and cost-effectiveness. Decriminalization, human rights, and gender equality must remain central in the decision points for this thematic.
As I finish, I want to bring us back to the June PCB when my fellow delegate Alexei Lakhov spoke about having to share syringes because he did not have access to injecting equipment. He recalled “the paralyzing fear” of meeting police officers and getting sent to prison again. And he remembered the funeral of a friend, who could have been saved if he’d had access to harm reduction.
Alexei is a man whose worth and human dignity are apparent to everyone who meets him. Lucy had worth and human dignity too. So as we go into the drafting room let’s remember that decriminalisation isn’t just a word in the text. It is life and death.
Thank you.
Agenda Item 4 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing North America
Thank you, Chair,
On behalf of the NGO Delegation, I would like to thank the Joint Programme for preparing and presenting a clear and straightforward mid-term review of the current Global AIDS Strategy.
The report highlights that the Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026 has driven meaningful, yet uneven progress in the global HIV response. New HIV acquisitions are declining in previously rising areas, but growing in others, and AIDS-related deaths are consistently decreasing. Inequalities and insufficient prevention programmes continue to challenge our goals. The reality is – we’re not on track to meet the 2025 targets.
To guide future efforts, it would be helpful if the Mid-term Report highlighted the most impactful strategies that contributed to reducing new HIV acquisitions in 2023, helping us understand what should be prioritized to stay on track and allow for course correction, as needed.
Let’s remember: progress is not the same as success.
Should we celebrate the full success of the current Global AIDS Strategy? Not yet. Without strong commitments from Member States and Co-Sponsors to ensure adequate funding, we risk losing our gains. Now is not the moment to back down your support to communities. Additionally, the Private Sector must play a key role by providing further support to the global HIV response, making PrEP, PEP, and ART more affordable, and ensure broader coverage and distribution to all who need them, regardless of birthplace or identity.
We know what works: scale up HIV testing, expand equitable treatment, invest in new technologies, foster adherence strategies, and combat HIV stigma and discrimination. We must also offer Comprehensive Sexuality Education, SRHR services, protect the human rights of key and priority populations, and fully support community-based and community-led organizations.
Let’s reflect on the Field Visits we experienced here in Kenya. We learned, for example, that without Hoymas, reaching men who have sex with men and establishing trust with them would be nearly impossible. There is no doubt of how essential community-based and community-led organizations are. Let’s remember to humanize our decision-making at this meeting. Communities are The Present and End of this epidemic. Without them, our global progress will be even more limited. Let’s work together to better inform the monitoring process and show the powerful contributions of communities to the HIV response.
Communities reach hard-to-access populations critical to the HIV response. We need support. We need recognition. We need to be prioritized as an investment. We need to be integrated into country-level strategies. But, most impressive is our eagerness and readiness to help.
Community-led organizations are essential, especially in addressing country-specific issues. In my home country of Canada, we see these communities vocalizing and providing services to Indigenous populations, who have been disproportionately affected by HIV and require curated and culturally adequate strategies to address their unique challenges.
As representatives of civil society, it is the NGO delegation’s responsibility to stand with communities because their success is this Joint Programme’s success.
Representatives of Member-States and Co-Sponsors: Imagine being really sick and starting a treatment that finally works. After a while, you feel better and think, ‘Maybe I don’t need this anymore.’ But stopping too soon could cause the symptoms to come back even worse. The same goes for fighting HIV.
We’ve made real progress, but progress means nothing if we stop halfway.
Millions of people are counting on us to finish what we started. The choice is yours: are you committed to ending AIDS as a public health threat? If the answer is Yes, cutting funding is definitely not the solution.
Thank you
Agenda Item 5 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Europe
Thank you, Chair. I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation.
I would like to begin by quoting from the book The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by the renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami: “Remember, in every moment of darkness, there is always a flicker of light. You just have to find it.”
I remember these words today because 21 years ago I was imprisoned for a drug-related offence. In that dark period, this book (it was in English) offered me not just hope but a way to survive — by literally teaching English to a fellow inmate. This simple act helped me to avoid some rather unpleasant consequences of being a naive, fresh-faced university student in a hostile environment.
Two decades later, millions of people who use drugs remain trapped in the vicious cycles of punishment and stigma. Let me remind you of the staggering figures from the UNODC report: in 2023, 11.5 million people were imprisoned globally—a 24% rise since 2000. One in five is jailed for drug offenses, with nearly half a million imprisoned solely for possession. These convictions and subsequent criminal records destroy futures, cutting off access to jobs, housing, and parental rights, while stigma pushes many deeper into marginalization and reoffending. Families, especially mothers and children, bear the heaviest burden.
The solutions are clear: harm reduction, including such proven measures as Opioid Agonist Therapy, needle and syringe programs, naloxone distribution, and overdose prevention; decriminalizing drug use; expunging past convictions, and empowering affected communities to lead policy reform, to name just a few, are essential to ending this cycle of injustice.
As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently said: “The so-called War on Drugs has failed, completely and utterly. Prioritizing people over punishment means more lives are saved.”
In closing, I return to Murakami: “There are times in a person’s life when they must decide whether to turn the page or close the book.” Today, in the Drafting group sessions, let us turn the page—for the millions of lives impacted by outdated drug policies, inadequate fundI still believe in humanity, in every single person in this room. I believe that the stories our communities have been sharing with you over the past two decades on the PCB floor mean something. I believe that we can change the world – one word at a time.
Thank you.
Agenda Item 6 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Asia and The Pacific
Dear Chair,
I speak on behalf of the NGO delegation.
The NGO Delegation appreciates the comprehensive evaluation presented in the annual report and management response. As communities on the frontline of the HIV response, we welcome the acknowledgment of the vital contributions made by community-led programs and monitoring efforts. However, we must emphasize that the findings also highlight critical challenges that demand urgent action.
The evaluations clearly underscore the importance of community-led monitoring as a cornerstone of the HIV response. The Cooperative Agreement evaluation, for instance, identifies community-led monitoring as essential for addressing stigma, discrimination, and gaps in service delivery. Yet, it also reveals persistent barriers, such as limited resources and inadequate governmental ownership, which hinder its full implementation. It is imperative that these gaps be addressed through sustained investment and capacity building, ensuring that community voices are heard and integrated into national HIV responses.
There is a difference between community-led and community-based monitoring and evaluations systems. Usually, it’s established NGOs who can afford them. This is why sometimes donors are reluctant to provide funds for the community-led networks. However, communities are ready to be held accountable because they have nothing to hide and a lot to show in terms of their efficacy and effectiveness.
The shrinking civic space remains another significant threat. As noted, over 60% of countries impose restrictions on civil society, jeopardizing the ability of community-led organizations to operate effectively. These restrictions not only weaken the HIV response, but also erode trust and collaboration between communities and governments. Without a vibrant civic space, the ambitious goals of the UNAIDS Strategy will remain out of reach.
We urge the Board to recognize that community-led programs are not optional additions, but essential components of a resilient and sustainable HIV response. Strengthening the role of communities requires ensuring secure civic space, long-term funding commitments, and deliberate measures to protect and amplify the role of community-led organizations.
Finally, we call on Member States to prioritize the recommendations in the evaluation report that support community-led responses and to actively address the systemic barriers highlighted. Let us not miss this opportunity to reinforce the backbone of the global HIV response.
Thank you.
Agenda Item 9 | 55th PCB Meeting
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Thank you Chair,
I speak on behalf of the NGO Delegation
I take this opportunity to thank you for prioritizing the theme of addressing inequalities in children and adolescents, an issue that remains at the heart of the HIV response.
Despite progress made in tackling HIV, children and adolescents continue to face unique challenges due to HIV-related stigma, which negatively impacts their mental health, treatment adherence, and social integration. They are often left behind in prevention, care, and treatment services due to systemic inequalities that intersect with poverty, gender, geographical disparities, and stigma. Sometimes in the UN space we can use those words “left behind” almost casually but from my own experience, I can tell you that there is nothing bland about them. As a boy, I was once bedridden for eight months – my parents gave up, and my relatives prepared for my funeral as they waited hopelessly for my death. One fateful day, a friend of my mum came to visit us; she urged my mum to take me for an HIV test. That test saved my life!!
I share this story because I believe we can all change the status quo – if we take a bold step and do the right things, starting with holding ourselves accountable for our commitments to children and adolescents living with HIV.
In 2021, the world promised to make HIV prevention a top priority, aiming to reduce new infections to less than 370,000 per year by 2025. But as we stand in 2024, it’s alarming to realize that we haven’t even come close to reaching this goal.
A staggering 14% of the 39 million people living with HIV remain unaware of their status and 1.3 million new infections occurred in 2023. Among these were 120,000 children, or 685 each and every day. As we spend this thematic day together let’s reflect on how unacceptable this is – or should be. It’s an affront to our collective efforts to end AIDS, including for children and adolescents.
The time to act is now, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that every child – and indeed every individual – who is at risk of HIV infections has access to prevention services, and that every pregnant woman can access HIV prevention, testing, treatment and PPTCT. We must also work tirelessly to ensure that all of those living with HIV are diagnosed promptly and linked to life-saving treatment and care. This is critically important for children living with HIV, who are dying of AIDS related illness in disproportionately high numbers. As Anjali said, these deaths are a collective failure, for all of us.
The path ahead may be challenging but the alternative – a world where HIV continues to devastate the lives of children and their families – is unacceptable. Together, let’s rise to the occasion and make 2025 the year we finally turn the tide and stop failing children and adolescents living with HIV.
I call upon UNAIDS, Member States, and all other stakeholders to uphold the principle of “leaving no one behind” by intensifying collaboration and implementing policies that address the systemic inequalities behind the shameful statistics we have heard today. I myself could have been one of those statistics. The children who we are talking about today, they are no different from me. Or from you. From any of us.
Let us ensure that every child and adolescent has access to the care and support they need to thrive regardless of who they are or where they live.
Thank you
NGO Delegate representing Africa
Thank you Chair,
I speak on behalf of NGO Africa.
I want to start by appreciating the speakers and re-echoing the words of my Sista, Sitsope. – “Children and adolescents are the heartbeat of our future – they are the light to an end to HIV/AIDS”. And yet, we’ve all HEARD – children lag far behind adults in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The statistics we’ve seen are an expression of the inequalities & inequities experienced by children and adolescents. “It doesn’t need to be this way!
I became a mother last year – This topic is very personal for me, and so it is for all kinds of women. We bear the burden of giving and nurturing lives; The increasing HIV infections among children symbolize a war on our bodies, lives and a dismissal of our realities.
Godwin mentioned reaching the right people to close the tap of new HIV acquisitions and AIDS-related deaths among children. The right people are the Adolescent girls and Young women, both living with and at most at risk of HIV; We MUST break barriers to reach AGYW living in Poverty, In conflict zones & key populations, particularly SEX WORKERS.
Let me break it down for you— maybe it will help you understand the gravity of this issue.
Call to Action:
To every donor, every Member State, and every partner in this room: This is your moment to make a difference and save humanity. Every dollar you invest, every policy you shape, and every program you champion has the potential to rewrite a child’s story. It’s not just about ending AIDS; it’s about giving them back their childhoods, their joy, and their right to a future where they can thrive.
Let us not look back years from now and wonder if we could have done more. Let us act today; with hearts, full of compassion and courage. We MUST dismantle the barriers of inequality. Let us ensure that every child and adolescent– no matter where they are born or who they are, has the opportunity to live a full and vibrant life.
I want to leave you with a quote by; Johanne Wolfgang Von Goethe: “Knowing is NOT enough – We must Apply, Willing is NOT enough – We Must Do!
Thank you!
NGO Delegate representing North America
Thank you, Chair,
I speak on behalf of NGO North America. I want to begin by highlighting how crucial it is that we focused on children and adolescents today.
Twenty years ago, when I was 15 — just a teenager attending school in Toronto, I saw friends getting pregnant, classmates contracting STIs and HIV, and no one daring to address the issue.
Talking about sex was taboo. Adults either avoided or refused to acknowledge the problem. That’s why, at 15, I founded LetsStopAIDS, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, which has since become a Global Youth-HIV charity – allowing me to not just think locally, but act globally.
Youth work exhaustively – little to no income, but driven by passion. Doing workshop after workshop, speech after speech, while still going to school and working. I am part of this fight.
Thousands of young people share stories like mine, many here at this PCB. I remember when I didn’t get support – I kept asking until someone listened. Not every youth has that luxury. Young people taking action – saving lives, and curbing new HIV acquisitions.
Children, adolescents, and young people must be central to the global HIV response (say phrase twice). They deserve decision-making roles in matters that shape their futures. Trust them. Give them space to lead. Member States, will you challenge your governments to do this?
I am a global advocate. Over the past 20 years, it’s clear that to connect with young people, we often fail because we don’t adapt our communication and open-mindedness. We need to use language and media platforms young people frequently use.
Telling young people to visit a clinic and get tested isn’t enough. It takes confidence. Have we forgotten about stigma? This doesn’t even touch on gender equality and equity concerns. We need effective communications about why testing matters.
We know how important Social Media can be, but we set ourselves for failure with outdated messaging and old communication strategies on modern platforms.
“I’ll DM you a disappearing message to your IG, or send it to you on Snap. But my account is private.” If this sounds unfamiliar, we’re not evolving with youth.We must be relevant because we’re competing for young people’s attention.
In Canada, LetsStopAIDS found that youth struggle not just with accessing or using condoms, but with negotiating their use. Many don’t know that removing condoms without consent is a crime. Knowledge of PrEP and PEP is limited. 70% have never been invited for HIV testing by a health professional.
Age of Consent for accessing health services also puts adolescents at risk. Would you feel comfortable sharing with your parents about your sex-related issues? Neither do many adolescents. Migrants and trans youth face additional barriers, with some countries denying their sexuality or care access entirely.
We need comprehensive, youth-centred prevention, treatment, and care, supported by modern communication and investment. Our communities have shown what works. Let’s build on this.