UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 5Nina Ferencic, UNAIDS Regional Coordinator for Latin America andthe Caribbean, explained: “UNAIDS was not [itself] creating a partnershipbut [was] the force backing up the Caribbean CommunitySecretariat [i.e. CARICOM] that had the authority to convene”.Ferencic continued: “So, we said ‘okay, what [UNAIDS] can bring isthe technical expertise and the know-how, but what CARICOM canbring is the political influence, the contacts and the buy-in at thehighest levels of government in Caribbean countries’”.131A regional response suited the Caribbean because ‘a commonmarket economy with free movement of professionals and workerswith other skills made the political and natural boundaries irrelevantfor the fight against AIDS … If some countries did not mountan effective response, it was inevitable that the consequenceswould be felt in other countries’ 33 .The signing of the PanCaribbean Partnershipagainst HIV/AIDS,February 2001.AIDS WindowThe Caribbean PartnershipCommittment, 2001UNAIDSA collaborative, coordinated response can help to overcome the very limited human resource(and financial in some cases) capacity of some of the smaller islands, as well as gainingeconomies of scale and enhancing quality of programmes. A significant result of the partnershipis ‘strength in numbers’ or being able to pull more weight through a united stand 34 .Although it took at least two years of advocacy to involve prime ministers and presidents,the number of actors involved in the AIDS response in the Caribbean eventually grew to 60.Today, all countries in the Caribbean are engaged in PANCAP.As a result of consistent advocacy by PANCAP leaders, resources frommulti lateral and bilateral donors as well as other international sourcesfor the response to AIDS in the Caribbean (including funding from theGlobal Fund and the World Bank) more than quadrupled in the first threeyears of the Partnership.In relation to the Global Fund, PANCAP became the RegionalCoordination Mechanism, thus avoiding the need to create a separatestructure and an example of how a partnership structure can reduceduplication of efforts.By 2007, more than 220 projects were operational in the PANCAPconstituency, representing a total value of more than US$ 880 million.Five years into its existence, PANCAP has established itself as a highlyactive and highly visible partnership – a champion for change.33UNAIDS (2001). A Study of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP). Common Goals,Shared Responses. Best Practice Collection. Geneva, UNAIDS.34Ibid.