The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

This chapter centers on the role of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in promoting and protecting HIV-related human rights. It starts by recalling the rationale for creating UNAIDS and explains how its mandate and structure has enabled communities affected by HIV to remain engaged. This engagement has been critical in ensuring that human rights considerations remain at the forefront of the global AIDS response. The chapter also looks at the journey ahead, taking AIDS “out of isolation.” It argues that this process can benefit not only the AIDS response but also other health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, in particular universal health coverage (UHC). It concludes by recognizing the SDGs as a springboard for UNAIDS to scale up efforts to support the realization of human rights, which will ultimately determine whether we will be able to reach the end of the AIDS epidemic.