UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UNAIDS The First 10 Years142network and the UN organizations were not always able to bridge the communicationgap. In setting up regular meetings with the network and including the network asco-chair of the technical working group on treatment and care, UNAIDS tried tostrengthen the collaboration. The network played a significant role in the developmentof the Global Fund proposal and became increasingly engaged in policy discussions.As they gained prominence, their role as key partner in the response was recognizedand they became an example to other organizations in the region and exchanges withother networks were supported.For instance, the network was one of the initiators and key partners of UNAIDS inestablishing the Eastern European and Central Asian Union of Organizations of PeopleLiving with HIV. They currently serve as the Secretariat to the Union and are globallyrecognized as one of the strongest national networks of people living with HIV.The current UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Anna Shakarishvili, praised the membersof the network for their work on reducing stigma and discrimination. As a testimonyto their role and contribution in this area, they were awarded the first Red RibbonAward, ‘Celebrating Community Leadership and Action on AIDS’, at the InternationalAIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2007.When Shakarishvili joined as UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Ukraine in 2005,there was a small but active Theme Group, chaired by UNICEF, that continues to playan important role in the implementation of the “Three Ones” and in strengtheningcoordination within and beyond the UN system in Ukraine. The Joint Team on AIDS,established in April 2007, became an entry point for various partners seeking technicalassistance from the UN system in Ukraine.One of the first tasks accomplished by the Joint Team was to assist the NationalCoordination Council in the development of the country proposal in response to theGlobal Fund’s sixth Call for Proposals for grant funding for HIV – with a total budgetof US$ 151 million. In the context of the development of this proposal, a number ofimportant initiatives were undertaken under the auspices of the National CoordinatingCouncil. They included donor harmonization and alignment, developing nationaltargets and a roadmap towards universal access by 2010, a National AIDS SpendingAssessment and a gap analysis and costing exercise of the National AIDS Strategy.The Global Fund approved the country proposal, and aims to provide wide-scaleprevention, care and support services to most at risk populations in Ukraine. It is inline with the national targets and goals towards achieving universal access by 2010.Following UNAIDS’ and other partners’ successful advocacy work, the UkraineGovernment substantially increased the amount and scope of funding for HIV services,with an increase of 260% to the national AIDS budget, from US$ 7.3 million in 2007to US$ 19.6 million in 2007. For the first time in the history of Ukraine, state funds