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Monitoring The UN > The UN and Sustainable Development HIV/AIDS and Development “HIV/AIDS is more than an epidemic. …it undermines all efforts to move towards sustainable development.” Background In response to the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has identified Combating the spread of HIV/AIDS as one of the five main focus areas for the period 2000-2003. The UNDP has been involved in the fight against this epidemic since the early 1990’s. The Governing Council of UNDP created the HIV and Development Programme to address the development issues related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The UNDP Governing Council has set four specific objectives for UNDP in approaching the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The objectives are to:
HIV and Development Programme The HIV and Development Programme is designed to support nations and organizations to respond effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The programme focuses on:
The HIV and Development Programme Regional Bureaux coordinates and provide policy and programming direction for UNDP’s work in the field with assistance from the United Nations Volunteers, the Office of Human Resources and other concerned parties. UNAIDS - An Important Stakeholder in UNDP’s Fight Against the HIV/AIDS Epidemic UNDP HIV and Development Programme works with other UN agencies such as the United Nations Joint and Co-sponsored Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The UNAIDS organization was established in 1996 with the participation of several UN and other organizations, each a Co-sponsor of the programme. The six original Co-sponsors that were instrumental in creating UNAIDS are: UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund UNDP – United Nations Development Programme UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization WHO – World Health Organization World Bank – The World Bank In April 1999, the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) joined to become the seventh Cosponsor. It’s global mission is to take a leadership role in, as well as strengthen and support the response to the AIDS epidemic. UNAIDS benefits from the expertise of each sponsor. Together its role is to encourage cooperation for more cost-effective action against HIV/AIDS. Among the guiding principles of UNAIDS, is its role as a complementary organization to the efforts of the Co-sponsors. The Governance Structure of UNAIDS UNDP has a specific responsibility to liaise with UNAIDS. UNAIDS operates with the assistance of a Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) which serves as its governing body. The Economic and Social Council elects the Programme Coordinating Board member officials. The PCB has the following regional representation:
The governance structure of UNAIDS is comprised of representatives from 22 governments, representatives of the 7 UNAIDS Co-sponsors and 5 representatives of non-governmental organizations. The Secretariat of UNAIDS is based in Geneva, Switzerland and coordinates actions to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The UNAIDS organization has an annual budget of US $60 million and a staff of 129. The funding for UNAIDS is received from donors in both developed and developing nations. As of 1999, the United States Government was the single largest donor, with a donation of US $15 million. Other developed nation donors included the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The donors from developing nations include China, Thailand and South Africa, where the AIDS epidemic is most prevalent. A Global Impact–the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Around the World The 1999 UNAIDS report indicates that India and South Africa, both now have the fastest growing epidemics. With a total of 4.2 million infected people, South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. In Africa, AIDS now kills ten times more people a year than war. Figures indicate that in 1998, 200, 000 Africans died in war, but more than 2 million died of AIDS. About 34.3 million people men, women and children were estimated as living with HIV or AIDS in 1999. Global Summary of HIV/AIDS epidemic ending 1999
The Development Crisis “HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact on families, communities, societies, and economies. Decades have been chopped from life expectancy and young child mortality is expected to more than double in the most severely affected countries of Africa. AIDS is clearly a disaster, effectively wiping out the development gains of the past decades and sabotaging the future.” Nelson Mandela, XIII International AIDS Conference, Durban, South Africa, July 2000 The impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic extends to the socio-economic strata of: households, education, health sector, agriculture, and the economy. Households The quality of life of households is affected by the AIDS epidemic. Often when a family member falls sick, spending on education is reduced, and health care expenditures rise. The means of living, such as agriculture production, are affected, thereby threatening food security. In AIDS affected households, children are taken out of school and are sometimes sent away to extended family members where basic needs can be met. The breakdown of households results in AIDS orphans. These orphans have either lost their mother or both parents to AIDS when they were under the age of 15. Since the beginning of the epidemic to 1999, 13.2 million children have been left orphaned. About 95% of these orphans are in Africa. In eight African countries—Botswana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe—one out of every three or four children will be an orphan. Education In countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic, the impacts extend both to the educational institutions and to the students. AIDS is eroding the supply of teachers, increasing class sizes, and thereby reducing the quality of education. In the case of the Central African Republic, the number of teachers that retired was matched by the number of teachers that died. Among those that died, 85% were found to be HIV positive. With households being affected by the epidemic, less money is available for students to pay school fees. Children drop out of school and often join the workforce. This trend is particularly common in the case of AIDS orphans. In Zimbabwe, 48% of orphans of primary school age had dropped out of school and not one orphan of secondary school age was still in school. Health Sector The increased demand for health care for people with HIV/AIDS is burdening the already challenged public health care systems in many developing nations. In 1997, public health spending on AIDS alone exceeded 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 7 of 16 African countries. In these countries, the total health care expenditures were 3.5% of the GDP. Agriculture This industry serves as a means of living for almost 80% of all people in developing countries. When a farmer falls ill due to the HIV epidemic, food security is threatened due to a loss of human and financial resources. Economy and Business Businesses have been affected by the AIDS epidemic, thereby impacting the economy. The absence of employees due to illness have resulted in the loss of productive work, with overall production and profitability being reduced. This has increased overtime costs with available employees. Other costs incurred by a company include funeral costs and health costs. Illness has been cited as one of first reasons that employees leave a company. The objective of the UNDP through the HIV and Development Programme is to use the strategy of a multidisciplinary approach to curb the speed of the spread of HIV, and its’ socio-economic impacts. UNDP –Projects in Action UNDP supports numerous project iniatives that address the development challenges resulting from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Some of these initiatives include: UNDP sponsored Working Group on HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Working Group
supports the UN Secretary General’s, International Partnership
Against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) that was launched in December 1999 under
the auspices of UNAIDS. UNDP is one of the several sponsors of netaid.org which uses the power
of the Internet to end the cycle of poverty. The Netaid.org Foundation
funds community based programs, such as Save the children designed to
help the country of Malawi cope with the AIDS crisis. This program addresses
the needs of health care, social activities and economic opportunities
for children and families. AIDS in Canada “HIV is a fundamental threat to human security in countries around the world—and will be the most disastrous force human kind has witnessed in centuries-if we do not act now.” Maria Minna, Canadian Minister for International Cooperation, The first case of AIDS in Canada was reported in 1982. As of December 31, 1999, 16, 913 AIDS cases have been reported in Canada and it is estimated that the real number of cases is close to 20, 000. At the end of 1999, it is estimated that 45,000 to 53,000 Canadians are living with the HIV infection. According to the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, one third of those Canadians living with HIV do not know they are infected. A particular group of Canadians that are at risk to this epidemic are Aboriginals. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network reported that by 1999, Aboriginal Peoples were five times more likely to have AIDS than other Canadians (June 7 2000 Press Release). According to Jake Linklater, Executive Director of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, “the deplorable extent of HIV/AIDS and other health and social problems among Aboriginal Peoples represents a human rights failure in Canada.” Links International Links Canadian Links |
