47^th

Engagement, Evidence and Impact: 25 years of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB

This 2020 NGO Report marks the 25th anniversary of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB. It takes stock of the engagement, evidence, and impact of the Delegation to date, highlighting examples of key actions and results. It also makes recommendations for the future, in a context where responses to HIV by key populations, for people living with HIV,
women, young people, and migrants (referred to in this report as “communities and civil society”) are more vital than ever. The report notes with deep concern that the political space, human rights, financial viability, and the very existence of those organizations and networks are under threat.

Over the past 25 years, there has been extensive evidence of the NGO Delegation’s positive impact on the work, discussions, and decisions of the UNAIDS PCB. Examples shown in this report have been identified from three major sources:

• The documented decision points of the 1^st to the 46^th PCB meetings;
• The NGO Delegation’s communiqués for the 22^nd to the 46^th PCB meetings;
• And the key informant interviews and the survey conducted for the NGO Report 2020.

It is important to note that this report shares examples of results to which the NGO Delegation is considered to have made a significant or catalytic contribution, often in collaboration with other PCB members, NGO Observers, and wider civil society. It does not claim that all of these examples are solely attributable to the Delegation.

The survey conducted for the 2020 NGO Report found that 64% of respondents consider that, overall, the NGO Delegation has made a “major difference” to the UNAIDS PCB, while 28% consider it has made “some difference”. Respondents were also asked to rank the level of contribution that the Delegation has made to specific aspects of the work of the PCB. The highest level of “major contribution” was seen in relation to “bringing evidence, attention, and passion to neglected issues for the PCB” (selected by 84% of respondents). This was followed by: “supporting UNAIDS to evolve the response to HIV and connect the response to wider issues and processes” (79%); “bringing the face of HIV to the PCB and advocating for communities/civil society’s priority issues” (78%); and “bringing a regional perspective to the PCB––highlighting community/civil society issues from specific geographic areas” (71%). The lowest levels of “major contribution” were seen as “contributing to the effectiveness and accountability of the PCB as a global health governance structure” (63%) and “influencing the governance structures of other global health institutions” (47%).