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AcknowledgementsCombating HIV/AIDS is a criticalchallenge for human development inSouth Asia, and as such one of the keyMillennium Development Goals that theworld community has set for itself. Thereis now a consensus that public policy isrequired to address not only the medicalor public health issues, but also the socioeconomiccontext, including issuespertaining to human dignity andelimination of stigma and discrimination.This Report is an attempt to utiliseUNDP’s principal advocacy platform tomake a compelling case for coherent,practical action across sectors andstakeholders, keeping in mind the groundrealities of South Asia and the possibilityof the epidemic reversing the gains ofhuman development in the region. Itmarshalls relevant facts and evidence andanalyses the two-way linkage betweenhuman development outcomes and thetrajectory of the epidemic. It is hoped thatthis would help widen the currentdevelopment debate on the subject andpromote experience sharing acrosscountries and contribute to the ‘humandevelopment movement’ worldwide.The leadership of Mark Malloch Brown,UNDP Administrator and his vision of thenew UNDP as a knowledge network hasinspired the preparation of this Report inone of UNDP’s key practice areas.The encouragement by the RegionalBureau for Asia Pacific (RBAP), under theleadership of Hafiz Pasha was valuable.This is the first Report funded under RBAP’sRegional Initiative on HDRs in Asia andthe Pacific. This Report has been preparedby the Human Development ResourceCentre (HDRC), and Regional HIV andDevelopment Programme (REACHBeyond Borders), New Delhi incollaboration with UNAIDS. SubinayNandy, Joanna Merlin-Scholtes, KanniWignaraja and Arusha Stanislaus at theBureau have extended useful support.Sarah Burd-Sharps and SharmilaKurukulasuriya from the National HDR(NHDR) Unit at the Human DevelopmentReport Office (HDRO) have been ourcomrades-in-arms, not only facilitating apresentation on the Report at the XIVInternational HIV/AIDS Conference atBarcelona, but also in facilitatingdiscussions on the NHDR network. We aregrateful to members of the NHDRNetwork, particularly the CambodiaNHDR team and Hakan Bjorkman fortheir detailed comments, which helpedimprove the draft. Gillman Rebello andBarbara Lemoine at the United NationsOffice for Project Services (UNOPS) weremost helpful.The support from the country offices ofUNDP and UNAIDS in the regionincluding the HIV/AIDS focal points forfacilitating the sharing of the draft isacknowledged. David Miller, K. Pradeep,Pernilla Berlin from UNAIDS IndiaCountry Office, Vidya Ganesh fromUNAIDS, South Asia Inter-Country Team(SAICT), Sunita Dhar from UNIFEM,South Asian Regional Office (SARO),vi