The 37th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board adopted the UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy, which it notes is the first Strategy adopted by UN Member States since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
26 October 2015: The 37th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board adopted the UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy, which it notes is the first Strategy adopted by UN Member States since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“The countdown to 2030 has started and calls on us to work in different ways,” UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé told the Board. He provided an update of progress made in the response to AIDS, and stressed the 2030 Agenda as an opportunity to renew the global commitment to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. Sidibé urged accelerated investment and action to achieve SDG target 3.3 on ending the AIDS epidemic.
The UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy calls for action to “get on the ‘Fast-Track’ and reach the people being left behind,” Sidibé said, noting that the Strategy focuses on reducing new HIV infections to “bend the trajectory of the epidemic.”
The Board discussed the AIDS response in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. Their decision encourages Member States to advocate for the global indicator framework on the SDGs to accurately monitor progress on the AIDS response in all countries and for all populations, and to advocate for key approaches of the AIDS response, including “leaving no one behind” and the inclusion and meaningful participation of communities most affected, in the global framework for follow-up and review.
The Board also recognized that implementing the UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy will demand action across a range of relevant SDGs, and called for multi-sectoral work as the norm, rather than the exception, and for UNAIDS to adapt how it works to ensure it effectively delivers on the SDGs.
The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board convened from 26-28 October 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland. The session included a thematic segment on shared responsibility and global solidarity in pursuit of an effective, equitable and sustainable HIV response for the post-2015 development agenda. [UNAIDS Press Release] [UNAIDS Executive Director Report] [Meeting Documents]