23^rd

The Relationship between UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: issues of relationships with the international technical support architecture and Public-Private Partnerships

The 22nd Programme Coordinating Board chose the above as the theme for its next meeting to be held in December 2008. The discussions occur at a time when the technical support landscape has changed significantly, with increasing levels of complexity in the nature of the response and demands placed on country systems, and a proliferation of technical support providers. This welcome attention places a new emphasis upon the need for strong ownership, better coordination and the need to enhance and strengthen capacity building and accountability in the delivery of technical support. This is in the context of the identified need to base national responses more clearly on a “know your epidemic and response” analysis that results in shifting resources and programmes to more equitably and effectively address the populations most at risk and/or affected by it, whether they be women, young people, men who have sex with men, drug users, migrants, sex workers and their clients and other vulnerable groups. It is also in a context where HIV prevention must be intensified for a sustainable response and where “combination prevention” calls for the right combination of biomedical, behavioural and structural approaches to prevention. Equally, there are new initiatives, including Public Private Partnerships, which play an increasingly influential role within the overall development framework and whose potential must be positively harnessed. The discussions will also take into account the recommendations on Partnerships from the Global Fund’s Five Year Evaluation.