At its 45th meeting, UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) agreed that the topic of the thematic segment of the upcoming PCB meeting would be “Cervical cancer and HIV: addressing linkages and common inequalities to save women’s lives”. The thematic segment will take place on 18 December 2020.

The thematic segment will provide an opportunity to:

• Review evidence on the bi-directional links between HPV/cervical cancer and HIV, including co-infections/-morbidities, among women and girls living with, affected by and at risk of HIV, in order to reduce the burden of and eliminate HPV/cervical cancer, reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among women and girls, and increase the wellbeing and quality of life of women and girls.

• Explore opportunities for collaboration between HPV/cervical cancer/NCD and HIV programmes, and the role of primary health care as well as the role of multisectoral responses in addressing the common health, gender and socio-economic inequities, and stigma and human rights issues that drive HPV/cervical cancer and HIV, and their co-occurrence.

• Inquire into how programmes can work together to identify and reach most vulnerable and left behind groups of women and girls with multi-sectoral interventions and services they need, and to achieve UHC and the broader SDGs.

• Provide an opportunity to identify strategic directions for integrated, people-centred and multi-sectoral responses to cervical cancer and HIV.

UNAIDS is seeking examples of good practices of joint responses to cervical cancer/HPV and HIV to inform the thematic segment background note and the discussions during the segment.

Scope of submissions

Specifically, UNAIDS is seeking examples of policies, programmes, services and other actions in the following areas (but not limited to):

1. Effective policies and practices integrating HIV and HPV/cervical cancer focused interventions / services across the cervical cancer and HIV prevention, treatment and care continuum in health care facilities or non-health care settings, among those at community level, for women and adolescent girls, including for those living with HIV, key populations and those marginalized, and addressing stigma and discrimination;
2. Multisectoral interventions at the political or/and societal level and in the community that address vulnerabilities, gender and other social, cultural and economic inequalities, and health disparities associated with HIV and HPV/cervical cancer, including for key and other vulnerable populations of women and adolescent girls, across the lifecycle (including adolescent girls, young women, adult women, older and elderly women);
3. Effective interventions for strengthening systems for health, including human resources, service delivery, information systems, financing, community systems, etc., and innovative technologies and implementation modalities in support of scaling up quality, affordable and acceptable integrated HIV and cervical cancer prevention, treatment, care and support interventions to eliminate cervical cancer and end the AIDS epidemic.

Who can submit?

UNAIDS welcomes submissions from national AIDS programmes; Ministries of Health or other relevant Ministries, civil society organisations, particularly those representing affected communities, academic institutions, National Human Rights Institutions, United Nations system organizations and other inter-governmental organization; and other national or local entities implementing joint programmes addressing HPV, cervical cancer and HIV.

How will your submission be used?

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) was the first United Nations program to have formal civil society representation on its governing body. It is guided by the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) with rotating representation from 22 Member States, the 11 cosponsoring UN agencies of UNAIDS, and an NGO Delegation with five seats (one per UN region). These seats are occupied by five main delegates and five alternate delegates. The PCB holds the Joint Programme accountable and ensures that the needs of communities affected by the HIV response are addressed in strategy and programming.

The UNAIDS PCB is the key global forum for HIV and AIDS policy, and the NGO Delegation is integral to the active inclusion of community voices and representation of communities and civil society, including people living with HIV. Being a member of the PCB presents a unique opportunity for committed activists and advocates to make a difference in HIV and AIDS policy implementation in their respective regions.

The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB has vacancies for a full two-year term (2021 - 2022) and is now recruiting for:

• 1 Delegate for Africa (apply)
• 1 Delegate for Asia and the Pacific (apply)
• 1 Delegate for North America (apply)

The NGO Delegation upholds the principle of greater involvement of people living with HIV and key populations. Applications from young people, women living with/affected by HIV, trans persons, and other key populations are strongly encouraged.

The NGO Delegation is keenly aware of the importance of having balanced representation from each region. Therefore, geographic region and representation from various key populations or constituencies will factor in the decision-making processes. In addition, previous NGO Delegates and their organizations may not serve more than one term consecutively, and a maximum of two terms total.

IMPORTANT: Please read the NGO Delegation’s terms of reference, mission/vision/principles, as well as the call for applications.