The United Nations General Assembly will hold its first high-level meeting on HIV since 2016 on 8–10 June 2021.
In the run-up to the meeting, before the end of April 2021, an interactive multistakeholder hearing will be held with the participation of communities and other stakeholders, who will also participate in other activities before and during the high-level meeting itself.
To ensure the involvement of civil society and ensure an open, transparent and participatory process, UNAIDS is forming, by the end of March, a multistakeholder task force comprised of representatives of civil society and the private sector. The task force will advise UNAIDS on the format, theme and programme of the multistakeholder hearing and will help to identify speakers for the hearing and high-level meeting plenary and panel discussions.
Different constituency networks are asked to use their own networks and selection processes to nominate people to be considered for the task force. UNAIDS and the Programme Coordinating Board nongovernmental organization delegation will select individuals for each of the categories of members:
- One representative openly living with HIV of networks of people living with HIV.
- One representative openly living with HIV of networks of women living with HIV.
- One representative openly living with HIV of networks of young people.
- One representative of each of the key populations (people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, gay men and other men who have sex with men, people in prison settings).
- One member of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board nongovernmental organization delegation.
- A representative of a women’s organization, particularly working on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- A representative of a young’s people organization, particularly working on sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- A representative of the private sector.
- A representative of a faith-based organization.
- A representative of networks or organizations of indigenous people.
- A representative of networks or organizations of people with disabilities.
- A representative of an organization working with tuberculosis and HIV.
“The engagement of people living with HIV, key populations and other priority communities is fundamental for the success of the high-level meeting. Communities have led the way in the HIV response since the beginning and know what is needed to make sure that all people everywhere have what they need to prevent new HIV infections and to ensure that people living with HIV can survive and thrive. The task force represents an important platform for participation in the preparatory phase for the meeting. As the task force is necessarily limited in size, we are particularly interested in nominations of people from networks, who are closely linked across their communities and across regions, to be able to bring a deep and broad perspective. Additional opportunities for people living with HIV, key populations and other affected groups to engage with be made available throughout the lead-up to the high-level meeting,” said Laurel Sprague, UNAIDS Chief/Special Advisor, Community Engagement.
Civil society networks and relevant stakeholders are asked to submit nominations here by 16 March 2021 at 18.00 CET. The call for nominations with detailed information can be accessed here.
