UNAIDS has revised its internal adoption and paternity leave policy and introduced new rules on surrogacy leave, marking an important step in ensuring a more inclusive working environment.

The revised policy includes the extension of adoption leave from eight to 16–18 weeks, depending on the number of children being adopted, the extension of paternity leave from four to 16 weeks and the introduction of 16 weeks of leave for a single birth by surrogacy and 18 weeks for multiple births by surrogacy.

The new policy is the result of concerted advocacy efforts by the UNAIDS Secretariat Staff Association (USSA), in collaboration with UNAIDS management, and is one of the commitments made in the recently launched UNAIDS Gender Action Plan 2018–2023.

“The revised policy will allow fathers to spend more time with their families at a critical stage in life,” said a staff member who will soon become a father. “Men can and have to play an important role in childcare and actively challenge gender norms that pass most responsibility for childcare onto women,” he said.

Adopting a more equitable policy framework that supports caregiving by both men and women can help in overturning perceptions that women of childbearing age are potentially too expensive or an absentee risk when compared with similarly qualified men.

“The UNAIDS Secretariat Staff Association welcomes this important milestone in our internal policy framework, which will not only bring direct benefits to staff who will become parents, but to all staff, as it challenges pervasive gender norms,” said Pauliina Nykanen-Rettaroli, USSA Chair.

The introduction of specific leave for births by surrogacy reflects UNAIDS’ commitment to diversity. “It doesn´t make a difference if you become a parent by natural birth, adoption or surrogacy; you still become a parent and should be entitled to the same benefits,” said a staff member. “This policy reflects the organization’s commitment to be as inclusive as possible and walk the talk of what it advocates for, which is dignity and respect for all,” she added.

“In our new Gender Action Plan, we committed to adopting a single parental leave policy and I am proud that UNAIDS has now delivered on this. All parents should be supported to spend time with their children. By supporting this, UNAIDS is contributing to shifting the burden of care and advancing gender equality,” said Gunilla Carlsson, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Management and Governance.

David Chipanta started his UNAIDS career in Liberia as the UNAIDS Country Director, where he helped to strengthen the national AIDS commission and national strategy framework. He is particularly proud of putting gender and ending sexual violence front and centre in the AIDS response in the country and giving the national network of people living with HIV more of a voice.

“What I found exciting was tackling the many barriers that surround access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support,” he said. By barriers, he means the stigma, discrimination, poverty and inequalities that constrain people from accessing HIV services.

An economist by training, Mr Chipanta remarked, “We cannot forget the importance of all the things that relate to people’s lives—do they feel secure, do they have food, do they have a house, a family, a job?” Giving the example of Zambia, he described some people only taking their HIV medicine during the rainy season because food is more readily available then.

“It hit me that the peripheral stuff is very important, because without it HIV services will have a limited impact,” Mr Chipanta said. His current job as the UNAIDS Social Protection Senior Adviser in Geneva, Switzerland, focuses on just that—connecting people affected by HIV to social safety nets and improving livelihoods, as well as reducing poverty and improving education.

“UNAIDS has created more awareness about social protection services and the hurdles that people living with HIV face,” he said. For example, he explained that in Liberia and Sierra Leone, sex workers said they weren’t accessing social protection services because the administrators often treated them badly; in response, his office set up sensitivity training.

Another issue close to his heart is girls’ education. Keeping girls in school has been shown to lower HIV prevalence and is an important factor in increasing access to HIV treatment. “In low-income settings, we shone the light on the importance of cash transfers to keep girls in school,” Mr Chipanta said. His next challenge is advocating for more synergies with programmes for mentoring, empowerment and social support.

“As a person living with HIV, I never thought I would accomplish so much,” he said. In 1991, when he found out his HIV status in his native Zambia, he assumed that his life was over. “I thought, before I die, let me help others,” he added.

“I was personally motivated to work in the HIV field,” he said. “But I felt like I wanted to become an expert in my own right.”

Krittayawan (Tina) Boonto reflected on her 20 years at UNAIDS by also saying she couldn’t believe how far she had got. Ms Boonto started work in her native Thailand before moving to Geneva.

“It was supposed to be temporary, but I stayed seven years,” she said.

She then went to Indonesia as the Programme Coordination Adviser in 2005. She helped the Ministry of Health with technical support and accessing financial resources from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. That experience proved pertinent, because in 2010 she moved to Myanmar as the Senior Investment and Efficiency Adviser.

“The country was opening up at that time, so my field experience in other countries came in handy,” she said. For example, UNAIDS advocated to decentralize the provision of antiretroviral medicines so that people from rural areas could get their treatment at primary health-care centres without traveling to the main cities.

“It was so rewarding to be on the ground and witness the change.” According to Ms Boonto, antiretroviral medicine access shot up to more than 120 000 people accessing the medicines, up from 30 000 people in three years.

“That’s when I realized that it’s not just about money, it’s also about the willingness to change,” she said.

A year ago, she returned to Indonesia, but this time as the UNAIDS Country Director. It’s been challenging for her because despite the scale-up when she was in the country the first time, Indonesia lags behind its neighbours, such as Thailand and Myanmar, in terms of antiretroviral medicine access and reducing new HIV infections. “It ranks third after India and China in the region in terms of new HIV infections,” Ms Boonto said.

Her tactic has been to raise HIV awareness among decision-makers and stress to them that the epidemic is not under control. “We present data and push to keep HIV a priority,” she said. Recently, she has been knocking on doors to raise alarm bells about tuberculosis—a disease that remains one of the leading causes of death among people living with HIV, despite being treatable and preventable.

“It all boils down to political will and getting the autonomous country districts on board once the Ministry of Health approves,” she said. Not flinching, Ms Boonto said, “My job never lets me forget what I am working for: people living with HIV.” She added, “We are still relevant and are still much needed, and that is the greatest satisfaction of all.”

Satisfaction for Catherine Sozi has been observing the shift from, “How can we roll out treatment for so many people, to getting 21 million people on treatment in the space of 10 plus years,” she said. In her third stint in South Africa, she feels UNAIDS’ advocacy work has paid off. Recalling a conversation she had in Zambia with the government when she worked there 15 years ago, many feared that the money and support would not come if countries started to offer antiretroviral medicines. “I made the case that money would come based on the countries’ growing commitment and that we would work to get the prices down,” she said. In 2005, prices for antiretroviral medicines were high. “The governments listened to us and to civil society and, based on solid results in 2015, it suddenly looked feasible to put an end to AIDS,” Ms Sozi said.

As the Regional Director for the eastern and southern Africa region, she is thrilled by the positive energy in the region, despite the many challenges remaining. “A lot still needs to be done to stop new HIV infections, get even more people on treatment and have them stay on treatment, and that includes testing even more adolescents, children and adults for HIV, including key populations,” she said. Another big issue involves tackling rampant sexual violence, which leads in part to higher numbers of new HIV infections among girls and young women, she explained.

“In this case, a biomedical response won’t help. We need to change how we relate to households, the police and the legal system and get faith leaders, women activists, nongovernmental organizations and men involved to turn things around,” Ms Sozi said. Trained as a doctor in Uganda, she admits that her career has propelled her into a much wider arena than she had ever anticipated.

“The UNAIDS women’s leadership programme empowered me to become a leader and reassured me that I could manage a large, diverse staff as well as resources and still be technically strong,” she said.

Her four years as the UNAIDS Country Director in China, before her latest move to South Africa, proved to be very enriching on a personal and professional level. “As a family we had a wonderful time in a country that is in itself so diverse in all aspects,” she said. The commitment by the government and civil society to work on the epidemic was both invigorating and challenging.

One of her biggest accomplishments in Asia was her contribution to the China–Africa health dialogue. “For me, to support the South–South dialogue on China–Africa health cooperation meant a lot,” Ms Sozi said. “I see myself as a facilitator of change.”

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UNAIDS has been recognized for meeting or exceeding all of the 15 performance indicators of the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP), a year ahead of the deadline established by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination.

In a letter sent by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, the organization is commended for its significant dedication to gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels. UNAIDS has achieved overall gender parity at the professional and higher levels and has created an enabling work environment through extended maternity leave and flexible working conditions.

The findings of UN-SWAP reaffirm UNAIDS’ role as a leader for gender equality and the empowerment of women across the United Nations system. UNAIDS meets or exceeds the requirements of 100% of the UN-SWAP performance indicators, compared to only 64% for the overall United Nations system. In addition, UNAIDS exceeds the requirements for 53% of the indicators, compared to 19% for the overall United Nations system.

Since the inception of UN-SWAP, UNAIDS has demonstrated continued progress in each annual report and has commitment to improving its UN-SWAP scoring in at least one performance indicator over this year.

UN-SWAP is a United Nations system-wide accountability framework designed to measure, monitor and drive progress towards a common set of standards for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Sixty-five entities, departments and offices of the United Nations system report on it every year.

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The Global Review Panel on the Future of the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model has issued its final report, Refining and reinforcing the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model, which offers guidance on ways the Joint Programme can step up efforts to deliver more results for people living with and affected by HIV.

Around 100 participants, representing a wide range of stakeholders, including United Nations Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society, gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 April to discuss the findings and recommendations of the panel at a global multistakeholder consultation.

The panel validated the vision and model of UNAIDS, recognizing its irreplaceable value in the AIDS ecosystem and underscored its strong foundation of assets—among them, country presence, political legitimacy and UNAIDS’ role as an international standard-bearer for producing data and evidence that is used to drive decision-making.

In its report, the panel recommends that UNAIDS should continue to transfer human and financial resources to the countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic. Other recommendations include reconfiguring United Nations country AIDS teams to be more responsive to the specific nature of the HIV epidemic and to improve accountability, including by engaging a range of stakeholders at all levels in monitoring progress on the AIDS response.

By refining its ways of working, UNAIDS will be better positioned to fulfil its unique mandate of exercising political leadership, providing strategic information and supporting the engagement of countries with other partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The report details how UNAIDS could further enhance its support to countries in reaching the ambitious Fast-Track Targets by 2020—reducing new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000, reducing AIDS-related deaths to fewer than 500 000 and eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination—which were adopted by United Nations Member States at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June 2016. The report also recognizes UNAIDS as a model and pathfinder for progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as an innovative joined-up approach at the cutting-edge of United Nations reform.

The Global Review Panel, requested by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, was set up to make recommendations for a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS. It focused on three fundamental pillars of the Joint Programme: financing and accountability, joint working and governance. It was co-convened by Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group, and Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. The Panel Co-Chairs were Awa Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal, and Lennarth Hjelmåker, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health. It undertook an extensive process of consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including at the global and country levels. A revised operating model of UNAIDS will be presented at the Programme Coordinating Board meeting in June for consideration and approval, which will take into account the recommendations of the Global Review Panel.

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A group of 18 of UNAIDS’ top donors have published a report highlighting UNAIDS’ unique value to the communities it serves and its partners and key stakeholders. The assessment, carried out by the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN), which was set up to monitor the performance of multilateral development organizations at the country level, found UNAIDS’ use of strategic information, convening power and mutual accountability systems to be among its key strengths.

UNAIDS was assessed on areas that include strategic and operational management and delivering results. The assessment identified a set of core areas in which UNAIDS scored most highly, including achievement of results, organizational and financial framework, relevance to partners and results focus.

“It is reassuring to hear that UNAIDS’ work continues to be highly valued by our partners and donors,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “UNAIDS is a unique programme that consistently adapts to the new realities of global health and development, drives change and promotes innovation. We are pleased with this assessment and we will use it to continue to strengthen our impact."

The assessment shows that the UNAIDS Secretariat meets the vast majority of the requirements of an effective multilateral organization and highlights the unique value of UNAIDS as a force for change at this critical point in the AIDS epidemic.

Luxembourg led the assessment process and convened a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 March to discuss the report. UNAIDS’ senior leadership, the MOPAN Secretariat and representatives of more than 35 permanent missions attended the meeting.

“A key strength is building up the capacity for local partners, especially community-based organizations and networks to support community-based programmes for the most vulnerable groups,” said a partner interviewed for the MOPAN assessment.

The assessment also provides an opportunity for UNAIDS to build on key areas of work, including improving evaluation systems to better capture results and incorporate learning into developing new innovations.

The report presents a comprehensive, robust, evidence-informed review of UNAIDS’ work in countries and UNAIDS encourages donors to continue to use the tool to assess UNAIDS’ work in the future. The positive assessment will help UNAIDS to continue to improve and build on its unique strengths to provide the most effective support to partners in our joint efforts to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.   

MOPAN members are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, which represent 94% of UNAIDS’ core funding.

The Global Review Panel on the Future of the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model has launched a virtual consultation that will run until 15 February. The panel is seeking input on how the Joint Programme can be refined and reinforced to better support countries to end AIDS.

The online consultation is open to everyone to share their views.

The Global Review Panel is tasked with making recommendations for a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UNAIDS. The virtual consultation aims to give voice to a wide range of stakeholders and to encourage meaningful engagement on a number of questions on how the Joint Programme works. It will serve as a primary input for the panel’s report and recommendations.

The discussion forums of the virtual consultation are organized around the three fundamental pillars of the Joint Programme: joint working, governance, and financing and accountability. There is also one forum for general discussion about the added value of UNAIDS.

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A special panel has begun deliberations on how to strengthen UNAIDS’ unique model and further align it to international efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Global Review Panel on the Future of the UNAIDS Joint Programme Model includes representatives of United Nations Member States, key populations affected by HIV, United Nations agencies and other multilateral organizations and private foundations. Established by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, the panel is co-convened by Helen Clark, Chair of the United Nations Development Group, and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and co-chaired by Awa Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal, and Lennarth Hjelmåker, Sweden’s Ambassador for Global Health.

At the first meeting of the panel, held on 20 January in Geneva, Switzerland, Ms Clark called on the panel to ensure that UNAIDS remains at the forefront of United Nations reform, while Mr Sidibé challenged panel members to develop bold ideas for the future of the Joint Programme.

Mr Hjelmåker praised UNAIDS for its leadership, advocacy and catalytic role within the global response to HIV. He also highlighted that key aspects of the Joint Programme need to be refined and reinforced to ensure that joint United Nations efforts on AIDS are fully integrated within the broader health agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the meeting, panel members achieved consensus on key issues to be addressed within three fundamental pillars of the Joint Programme: joint working, governance, and financing and accountability. Moving forward, these issues will be further discussed in February within a public virtual consultation. The panel will meet again in March to consider the results of the public consultation and agree on a set of recommendations. 

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