UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UkraineDevelopment Programme,the United Nations Officeon Drugs and Crime, theRussian Federation and theWorld Health Organization. It assessed the practicesof drug use among youngpeople. Another jointventure was the setting upof a joint Monitoring andEvaluation Programme,funded predominantly bythe U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention butcoordinated by UNAIDS,and bringing togetherthe various players in theresponse, in particular, civilsociety.141Girls light candlesduring an AIDSAwareness rally in Kiev,Ukraine, in 2005.Reuters/CorbisThe overall focus initiallywas on advocacy, ensuringthat AIDS would feature on the political agenda at the same time as all the otherurgent and emerging issues in a country in transition. The UNDP-supportedRace for Life became a major annual advocacy event, as did the World AIDS DayCommemoration, gaining increasing support from civil society. The success in accessinga Round One grant from the Global Fund was of great importance, signifying bothpolitical commitment and good collaboration at country level between partners in theresponse.In January 2004, the Global Fund announced that it had temporarily suspended itsgrant in Ukraine, citing the slow progress of Fund-backed HIV programmes. Afterbeing among the first countries to have received a first round grant for US$ 92 million,the Fund worked closely with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, as the new grantrecipient, to reinstate the grant within weeks. The grant supports HIV treatment, HIVprevention (including prevention of mother-to-child transmission), care and supportservices and is now recognized as one of best performing AIDS grants in the GlobalFund portfolio.Though Ukraine in general may not have a strong civil society history andbackground, the All Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV has become astrong player and has given a face and voice to the epidemic. Jacobi recalled that the