§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos):My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.
I am announcing today a new commitment of £36 million over four years (2004–07) for UNAIDS (the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS). This will support the UNAIDS secretariat, its country co-ordinators, and the 10 co-sponsor agencies that together make up the Joint Programme1. The new commitment represents a tripling of our core funding to UNAIDS compared with the past four years. DfID is finalising a new UK strategic partnership with UNAIDS to accompany the multi-year financing arrangement, linked to UNAIDS' own work programme. DfID is also increasing its direct funding to several co-sponsor agencies including the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
UK funding will enable UNAIDS to expand its work to ensure developing countries affected by HIV and AIDS can access appropriate and co-ordinated support from donors. UNAIDS will be working with governments to take forward the "Three Ones" initiative, which stresses the responsibility donors have to work through one national HIV and AIDS action plan, through one co-ordinating authority and to work to one monitoring and evaluation framework in each country.
UK funding will also support UNAIDS' advocacy work. This includes helping to ensure new or neglected issues are taken up, and building partnerships across government, the private sector and civil society. UNAIDS will be working with the World Health Organisation and others to ensure that treatment programmes address equity and access issues and that a proper balance is maintained between prevention and treatment. UK funding will also support UNAIDS' technical work, including helping countries to access new funding and ensuring it is used properly. UNAIDS has a strong track record in this area.
1 The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN Education and Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).