UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 6Major reasons for this were that Theme Groups were relatively new and untested, and theiraccountability was not clear; the Programme Coordinating Board had limited influenceover country-level activities, and there was a lack of incentive for Cosponsors to develop agenuinely integrated approach. For example, promoting coherent, system-wide action onAIDS was still not included in the performance appraisal of UNAIDS Cosponsor staff. The keyexpectation that UNAIDS would reduce duplication of effort and ensure consistency amongUN organizations had not yet beenmet, according to the EvaluationTeam.149The team recommended highprominence for work on gender,admitting that UNAIDS couldbe criticized for not making thisa higher priority, despite someconsistent work over the years.The primary message of theEvaluation was for UNAIDS to shiftits focus on efforts to the countrylevel, where there was still a greatneed for advocacy, resourcemobilization and coordination.Followingrecommendations fromthe Evaluation, majorefforts were made to focuson country-level work.They were plannedand overseen by MichelSidibe (third fromright, here in Cameroon),who had joinedUNAIDS as Directorof the Country andRegional SupportDepartment in 2001.UNAIDSInvolving a wide range of partners in the fight against AIDS is a key step in building an‘ideal’ expanded, country-level response. According to the Evaluation, an ‘ideal expandedcountry-level response’ is one in which actions would be broadly spread through bothhealth and non-health departments, sector agencies, nongovernmental organizations andcommunities; basic services and condoms would be widely available; prevention effortswould focus on populations at high risk as well as the general population and young people;voluntary and confidential testing services would be available and lead to treatment forsexually transmitted infections, opportunistic infections, action to prevent mother-to-childtransmission and treatment with antiretroviral therapy; legislation and work practice wouldalleviate stigma and discrimination; and the system would be supported by statisticalservices enabling monitoring of the epidemic’s trends.Changing the United Nations landscape in countriesIn December 2002, the recommendations of the Evaluation were accepted by UNAIDS’governing body; consequently, major efforts were made to focus on country-level work. Theywere planned and overseen by Michel Sidibe, who had joined UNAIDS as Director of theCountry and Regional Support Department in 2001, after many years working for the UnitedNations Children’s Fund in Africa and New York.