UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Haitihave AIDS?), by Haiti’s most well-known film-maker Arnold Antonin. A number ofvery popular Haitian stars participated in this movie. UNAIDS was instrumental inadvocating the production of the film, in mobilizing resources from the UN agenciesand bilateral donors and in providing technical advice to the filmmaker. The filmwas first shown in commercial cinemas before being shown in schools and open-airscreenings in towns and rural areas throughout the country.179Haiti managed to submit a sound proposal for the first round of the Global Fundand, with Ghana, was one of the first two countries to receive disbursements fromthe Fund. Boyle felt that UNAIDS, through Tallarico, played a key role here, bybeing a strong advocate, providing information and strategic advice on the processand facilitating the involvement of all partners. Tallarico herself emphasized theimportance of the functioning of the CCM in a difficult environment, since lackof transparency was one of the major obstacles during the Aristide administration.The CCM came up with an innovative mechanism to safeguard accountability andtransparency to counter the doubt that a troubled country such as Haiti could managethe almost US$ 67 million that would be coming its way. This mechanism made Haitione of the best examples of a functioning CCM.Through an equally successful fifth round proposal, Haiti now receives almostUS$ 117 million through the Global Fund. The second proposal was prepared undervery difficult circumstances. In Boyle’s view, this illustrates the strength of the jointefforts by the UN and other development partners, in particular, the US President’sEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that became operational in Haiti in 2004through the CCM.Surveillance estimates over the years have shown a decreasing prevalence of HIV,predominantly in urban areas, from 9.3% in 1993 to 3.7% in 2003-2004. The nationalestimate currently stands at 3.8%, down from 5.9% in 1996. Although many challengesremain, and Haiti is still a poor country, the response to HIV is making good progress.The collaboration of civil society, the UN, donors, the government and other partnerscontinues.