|
Executive summary
The scale and severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in southern and eastern Africa, interlinked with
poverty, chronic and recurrent food insecurity, drought and weakened institutional capacity, mean
that all UN agencies must urgently retool and scale-up their support of national and community
capacities to enable a multi-sectoral response.
The purpose of this paper is to present a coherent system-wide policy and programming approach
for the UN on HIV/AIDS with specific recommendations to be endorsed by the Chief Executives
Board. After a brief introduction, the paper summarizes the inter-linkages between HIV/AIDS, food
insecurity and governance (section II); it then identifies the paradigm shift required in the UN
system in order to meet these new challenges (section III); lastly the paper presents programmatic
and institutional actions UN agencies must undertake (sections IV and V).
There are five fundamental ways in which the UN response must be either entirely new or
radically scaled-up in order to make a difference.
First, results for households and communities. While the UN will continue to work with, and
through, governments, households and communities must be placed squarely at the centre of
research and analysis, programme design and implementation, and, ultimately, assessments in
order to determine UN success or failure.
Second, simultaneous humanitarian and development action. Given the combination of shortterm
shocks and long-term challenges associated with the crisis, the dichotomy of ‘humanitarian’
and ‘development’ assistance must be overcome; instead an approach should be composed of
‘developmental relief’ and ‘emergency development’. This approach applies equally to
communities receiving traditional humanitarian assistance such as refugees and displaced
persons.
Third, accelerated capacity development. Capacity building in a broad range of sectors will be
required in order to enable governments, non-governmental organizations and communities to
adapt to changing conditions shaped by the triple threat.
Fourth, scaling-up women’s programming. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of
the AIDS crisis. Programmes dedicated to the economic and social empowerment of women must
be initiated and scaled up. For effective prevention, universal access to sexual and reproductive
health must be ensured.
Fifth, a livelihoods approach. A livelihoods approach recognises that there is need for action at
household, community, local and national levels to address AIDS within a context which is most
often defined by poverty and food insecurity. A range of livelihood interventions are required in
order to address root causes of vulnerability within a context characterized by a generalized AIDS
epidemic.
Based on these five principles and approaches, eleven programmatic actions are
recommended for UN agencies to implement in southern and eastern Africa in order to achieve
the targets outlined in the Declaration of Commitment (UN General Assembly Special Session on
AIDS, June 2001) and, more broadly, the Millennium Development Goals:
| Action 1: |
Implement community safety net programmes |
| Action 2: |
Improve data collection on community impact and dynamics |
| Action 3: |
Strengthen livelihoods in highly affected communities and for key groups |
| Action 4: |
Undertake dedicated programmes for women’s empowerment |
| Action 5: |
Undertake dedicated programmes to assist the growing orphan population |
| Action 6: |
Undertake urgent capacity building to fight AIDS, especially in the health sector |
| Action 7: |
Undertake urgent capacity building to deal with the impacts of AIDS |
| Action 8: |
Mainstream AIDS into development planning |
| Action 9: |
Build leadership to lead participatory programme reviews |
| Action 10: |
Advocate and support partnership forums |
| Action 11: |
Invest in monitoring, tracking and evaluation systems |
To implement these programmes, in an urgent manner which addresses simultaneously short-term
needs and long-term challenges, requires a reorganization and an intensification of UN action.
The UN must employ the tools at its disposal, in particular those of UN reform, direct its moral
authority and invest managerial and financial resources to help its partners defeat the AIDScompounded
crises. Eleven institutional actions are proposed for the UN system to
implement in eastern and southern Africa:
| Action 12: |
UN Country Teams in collaboration with governments to review CCAs and
UNDAFs |
| Action 13: |
UN Theme Groups to prepare joint implementation support plans and report
annually |
| Action 14: |
Review and strengthen the functioning of the UN Resident Coordinator system |
| Action 15: |
In a highly-affected small country, implement an accelerated vision of UN reform |
| Action 16: |
UN agencies to improve skills and modalities in working with new partners |
| Action 17: |
Enabling governments to coordinate external support and ensure accountability |
| Action 18: |
UN system, principally through RIACSO, to `advocate with regional bodies and
governments |
| Action 19: |
UN system to advocate and work with international partners to increase
investments |
| Action 20: |
UN Country Teams to prepare policy and programme advocacy plans |
| Action 21: |
UNDG, in collaboration with IASC, to increase support and guidance to UN
Resident Coordinator system; UN agency headquarters to strive to increase
funding |
| Action 22: |
A regional Directors’ Group to serve as an oversight authority for UN action in
southern and eastern Africa |
Finally, a series of recommendations are made to the CEB to endorse the actions in the paper.
The declaration entitled “Accelerating Country and Regional Action on HIV/AIDS in Eastern and
Southern Africa made by UN regional directors for Africa, who met in Maputo on July 9, is attached
as Appendix.
|
|
Related documents
- 268Kb ~ 1 min (20 pages)
