The ILO - cosponsor of UNAIDS
> What is UNAIDS?
> What can the ILO contribute?
> How does UNAIDS work?
> What's changed since 1996?
What is UNAIDS?
UNAIDS is the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, set up to help mount and support a global and multi-sectoral response. It brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to help the world prevent new HIV infections, care for those already infected, and mitigate the impact of the epidemic. The ten cosponsors are:
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
- World Food Programme (WFP),
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
- World Health Organization (WHO),
- World Bank,
- and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
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What can the ILO contribute?
As the UN agency with special responsibility for the world of work, the ILO plays an important role in mobilizing the workplace, organizations of employers and workers, and ministries of labour to support national efforts on HIV/AIDS. The ILO promotes decent work and combats HIV/AIDS through a unique combination of standard-setting with practical action at the workplace - public and private, formal and informal.
The ILO's particular contribution to UNAIDS includes:
- its tripartite members, their networks, and existing structures in the world of work (e.g. occupational safety and health)
- direct access to the workplace, with its opportunities for HIV prevention as well as care, support and treatment
- long-standing experience in protecting and promoting the rights of workers
- a global network of field offices and technical cooperation projects; and
- capacity for research, information sharing, and training.
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How does UNAIDS work?
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| • | Each cosponsor has a Global Coordinator - the head of the AIDS programme or department in each agency - and a technical Focal Point. They meet regularly to prepare and follow up on CCO activities and decisions. They ensure practical coordination and are increasingly involved in joint programming. |
| • | The Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations (CCO) serves as the forum for the cosponsors to meet at the highest level, usually through the heads of agencies. It meets twice a year and provides guidance on the policies and strategies of UNAIDS. Read more about its functions. The chair rotates annually: as of 1 July 2006, the World Food Programme took over from the ILO. |
| • | The Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) is the governing body of UNAIDS. It consists of 22 representatives of governments from all regions, five representatives of NGOs, including associations of people living with HIV/AIDS, and the UNAIDS cosponsors. |
| • | At country level, Joint UN Teams on AIDS are being established to strengthen and coordinate action to address HIV/AIDS. They develop unified technical support plans with and for each country. These aim to clarify and strengthen roles, responsibilities and accountability, thus reducing duplication of activities among cosponsors. |
Chairing the CCO: the ILO's experience
In July 2005, the ILO took over as the Chair of the CCO, a commitment which lasted until the end of June 2006. The position brings with it responsibilities and opportunities to shape the UNAIDS agenda. The ILO was able to generate a new level of understanding and consensus on the role of the workplace in responding to HIV as well as raising awareness within the Organization of the implications of HIV for the world of work. The ILO demonstrated to a broad group of development stakeholders the inter-connections between HIV/AIDS and the Decent Work Agenda, changing patterns and trends in the world of work, and the social dimensions of globalization. As CCO Chair, the ILO was also able to contribute to the strengthening of the Joint United Nations Programme and national responses: it encouraged and guided collaboration and harmonization, and situated the world of work as a key entry point for Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support.
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What's changed since 1996?
UNAIDS started in 1996, with six cosponsors (the ILO joined in 2001 as the eighth cosponsor). There have been many changes over the last decade - in the epidemic itself, in the availability of treatment, in the scale of funding and numbers of actors involved, in the legal and political environment, and in the policy framework which has encouraged the shifting of resources to the country level and greater coordination between players, especially UN agencies, at all levels. UNAIDS produces a global report every two years which helps capture key trends in the epidemic and major developments in the response (2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic). The cosponsors too undertake research and analysis in their own particular areas of responsibility (see Research and policy analysis for the world of work)
Improving AIDS coordination among multilateral agencies and international donors: common goals and streamlined structures
i. agreement on goals
The UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution in December 2005 which requested UNAIDS and its cosponsors to help facilitate "inclusive, country-driven processes for scaling up HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with the aim of coming as close as possible to the goal of universal access by 2010 for all those who need it." This goal is often simply referred to as 'Universal Access' but it is important to note that it includes prevention and care as well as treatment.
Reaching the goal will depend on countries finding all possible entry points to deliver essential HIV services, and involving all possible partners in a comprehensive and integrated response. The world of work - with its structures, competencies, partners and networks - offers practical solutions to scaling up access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
ii. agreement on structures and process
In March 2005, a Global Task Team (GTT) was set up to make recommendations for action to strengthen coordination, alignment and harmonization, in the context of UN reform and of the 'Three Ones' principles to improve country-level coordination. The ILO Governing Body at its March 2006 Session endorsed these recommendations (available in English, French, Russian and Spanish). Joint UN Teams on AIDS are being set up at country level to put the recommendations into practice, with appropriate support tools and mechanisms.
The Three Ones
In April 2004 donor countries, host countries, bilateral and multilateral institutions and international nongovernmental organizations, all endorsed a set of guiding principles for improving the country level response (Consultation on Harmonization of International AIDS Funding Washington DC, April 2004). These principles are known as the 'Three Ones':
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| • | One agreed HIV/AIDS Action Framework for the work of all partners at country level; |
| • | One National AIDS Coordinating Authority with a broad-based multi-sectoral mandate; and |
| • | One agreed mechanism for monitoring and evaluation. |
These principles are intended to achieve the most effective and efficient use of resources, and to ensure rapid action and results-based management.
The ILO coordinates a strategy and implements activities respecting these principles, and helps its partners and their networks buy into the enhanced nationally-led HIV/AIDS response.
Implications for the ILO
The increased availability of funds at country level and new structures for collaboration provide an exceptional opportunity for the ILO to promote the greater participation of the tripartite constituents in national AIDS responses, and to give them adequate tools to participate in national bodies, access resources and carry out effective workplace programmes.
The ILO has committed to help implement the GTT recommendations in the following ways:
- Provide intensified prevention and increased access to treatment, care and support at and through workplaces;
- Support Joint UN Teams on AIDS in developing and implementing a coherent multisectoral programme, in particular by ensuring
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- a) the inclusion of the workplace in national responses to HIV and AIDS, and
- b) the inclusion of HIV and AIDS in labour laws and world of work policies, structures and activities, especially Decent Work Country Programmes;
- Support Joint UN Teams on AIDS in strengthening and sustaining human resource capacity on HIV and AIDS, in particular by mobilizing the social partners and enhancing their capacity to contribute to national efforts;
- Strengthen the HIV and AIDS response in the UN workplace. |
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