UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 3resources. “The UN collectively offers a unique platform from which to support countries”because of the mix of technical skills that it can mobilize through the different agencies.51The UN Theme Group was not a new entity, specific to AIDS. In many countries, UN ThemeGroups worked on issues such as population, gender, environment and basic education.They had been introduced as part of the UN effort to encourage improved collaborationamong agencies. Paul De Lay, who was working for the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) in 1996, described how they “were [often] established to get theThe involvement of civilsociety was essential tothe AIDS response. Thisincluded faith-basedorganizations thatprovided the majority ofcare in many countries,such as this missionhospital run by theCatholic Church in theUnited Republicof Tanzania.UNAIDS/I.GubbUN to work together and especially used for emergencies. For example, when there wasa cholera outbreak or a famine, the UN [agencies] would create a Theme Group to dealwith this, creating a space where the World Food Programme (WFP) would be motivatedto work collaboratively with WHO”. But those that were created to deal with the AIDSepidemic represented a unique creation, having both a formal mandate and a cosponsoredprogramme to support them.The aim was to avoid the duplication of work and competition for funds among agenciesthat in part led to the demise of the GPA, and to provide one clear UN voice to advise andsupport governments in combating AIDS. Ensuring the smooth running of the Theme Groupon HIV/AIDS was part of the role of the Resident Coordinator, the highest ranking UN officialin each country, responsible for coordinating the UN system in the country.