UNAIDS was not expected to fund the efforts of the global community. Intended to be a model of U.N. reform, UNAIDS is the United Nations’ first joint, cosponsored program of its type. Funding by U.N. and bilateral donors has also increased. Many national governments around the world were slow to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, even those in the most affected areas in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the UNAIDS Secretariat, a U.N. system integrated plan on HIV/AIDS is the basis for coordinated U.N. support to the national response and is the single most valuable indicator of the U.N.’s commitment at the country level. UNAIDS Has Made Mixed Progress in Improving Technical Support, Best Practices, and Other Information to Enhance the Response to the Pandemic

UNAIDS is charged with developing and providing information to enhance the U.N. and global response to the HIV/AIDS worldwide epidemic. Various problems, however, have hindered its efforts in this area. U.N. organizations are expected to enhance U.N. coordination and the global response and to provide program and financial support. Appendix II: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, requested that we (1) assess the progress of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, especially at the country level, toward increasing the coordination and commitment of the U.N. and global community; (2) assess UNAIDS’ progress in providing technical support and information and in developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure results; and (3) identify factors that may have affected UNAIDS’ progress.
Why GAO Did This Study

Despite efforts by the international community to reduce the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, AIDS is now the fourth leading cause of death in the world and the primary cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), funded in part by the United States, is one important international effort against the disease. UNAIDS was established by the United Nations (U.N.) in 1996 to provide coordinated U.N. action and to lead and promote an expanded global response to the worldwide epidemic. This report (1) assesses UNAIDS' progress, especially at the country level, toward increasing the coordination and commitment of the U.N. and global community; (2) assesses UNAIDS' progress in providing technical assistance and information and in developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure results; and (3) identifies factors that may have affected UNAIDS' progress.

What GAO Found

GAO found that UNAIDS has made progress in increasing U.N. coordination and enhancing the global response to the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic, but its country-level efforts need to be strengthened. UNAIDS has provided financial and technical support to about 50 HIV/AIDS technical networks worldwide, but has not been as successful in tracking the funding and actions host governments and others have taken to address the AIDS problem. UNAIDS has also been unable to follow its intended model of U.N. reform, whereby a single Secretariat together with several U.N. agencies would marshal the U.N. and global community's resources to address the AIDS epidemic.