Source description last updated: 20 April 2020

In brief: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is a UN initiative that aims to coordinate countries’ efforts against HIV/AIDS.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Progress reports and other relevant publications

Covered quarterly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A, B and C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was “[e]stablished in 1994 by a resolution of the UN Economic and Social Council and launched in January 1996 […].” (UNAIDS website: UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, undated). It provides “strategic direction, advocacy, coordination and technical support needed to catalyse and connect leadership from governments, the private sector and communities to deliver life-saving HIV services. […]

UNAIDS generates strategic information and analysis that increases the understanding of the state of the AIDS epidemic and progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels.” (UNAIDS website: About UNAIDS, undated)

“UNAIDS is guided by a Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) with representatives of 22 governments from all geographic regions, the UNAIDS Cosponsors, and five representatives of nongovernmental organizations, including associations of people living with HIV” (UNAIDS website: UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, undated). The UNAIDS’s Cosponsors are organisations within the United Nations system. (UNAIDS: About UNAIDS, undated).

“The UNAIDS Secretariat has offices in 70 countries, with 70% of its staff based in the field […].” (UNAIDS: About UNAIDS, undated).

Funding:

UNAIDS is financed by contributions from United Nations Members States and other stakeholders. Donors of UNAIDS may be “from both the public and private sectors” (UNAIDS: Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF); Workplan and Budget 2020-2021, 21 June 2019, pp. 11-12). In addition, UNAIDS is co-sponsored by eleven UN agencies (UNAIDS website: About UNAIDS, undated) and receives individual donations (UNAIDS website: Donate, undated). “The budget for the Joint Programme for 2018 [was] US$ 242 million.” (UNAIDS: About UNAIDS, undated)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: all countries

Thematic focus: HIV prevention and treatment, human rights of persons living with HIV, gender issues, situation of children, social protection

Methodology:

“Under a mandate from the United Nations General Assembly, UNAIDS works with all countries to collect and analyse data on their AIDS responses […].” (UNAIDS website: Data, undated)

Progress reports are “submitted by countries to the UNAIDS Secretariat for the monitoring of progress towards the targets set in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. Each report is presented exactly as submitted by the country, without editing or other alteration.” (UNAIDS: 2019 Progress reports submitted by countries, undated)

Many reports are submitted in a standard format which more or less follow a unified set of questions, with answers provided by the relevant country’s authorities. These reports do not contain references to sources of information (see, for example, UNAIDS: Country progress report – Afghanistan, 2019 and UNAIDS: Country progress report – Cambodia, 2019).

Some countries may submit reports in a format of their own. Those reports may include references to sources of information presented in graphs and infographics or in the text (see, for example, UNAIDS : Situation épidémiologique du VIH au Sénégal 2017‐2018, March 2019).

Languages of publication:

English, French, Spanish, Russian

 

All links accessed 20 April 2020.