Feed aggregator

UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Dec 1 2025 (IPS)

“It’s like adding fuel to an already burning fire,” says Aditia Taslim.

“We have not recovered from the impact of the US funding cuts earlier this year, and closing down UNAIDS prematurely will only make things worse, especially for key populations and other criminalized groups, including people who use drugs,” Taslim, who is Advocacy Lead at the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), tells IPS.

Her view is shared widely by HIV activists around the world who were stunned by a proposal from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September, included in a report on progress on UN reforms, to shut down the UN’s main agency to fight HIV/AIDS next year.

UNAIDS, the civil society groups that sit on its board, experts, and national governments across the globe had already been working on a transformation plan for the agency, which would see it end in its present form around 2030 when current HIV targets expire.

And many still do not understand exactly why closure next year is now being planned.

“There is a lot of confusion around this right now. We’re not sure why 2026 was chosen. Perhaps it was because we were in fact already in a process of transformation,” Angeli Achrekar, Deputy Executive Director of the Programme Branch at UNAIDS, told IPS.

But the proposal has been met with vociferous pushback—a call from the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) NGO Delegation to the Secretary General urging him to reconsider was endorsed by more than 1 000 NGOs.

World Aids Day has been commemorated since 1988 and is a significant platform for people to unite against the disease. Credit: UNAIDS

Many of those same groups have warned that if the early closure does go ahead, gains in fighting the disease will be at risk, and, some are certain, lives will be lost unnecessarily.

“If this happens, the world will be much less effective in preventing and treating HIV, which means more people dying from a disease that is completely preventable and treatable. There’s no doubt in my mind that closing UNAIDS will lead to more HIV infections and deaths,” Julia Lukomnik, Strategic Advisor at Dutch organization Aidsfonds, told IPS.

UNAIDS, which started operations in 1996, is unique among UN structures in that its governing board actually includes civil society groups. This, experts say, has meant that in all its work, those on the ground working directly with the communities affected by the disease – not just people living with HIV (PLHIV), but also key populations most at risk, including drug users, sex workers, members of the LGBT+ community, and others—have had a crucial say in developing its policy and implementing its work.

Indeed, while the agency’s activities include treatment projects, in many countries it is seen as a vital bridge, directly and through partnerships with local NGOs, between communities and local, regional, and national authorities.

“If UNAIDS were to close in 2026, the impact would be significant, particularly in countries like Vietnam where community-led organizations depend on UNAIDS for data, technical guidance, coordination, and engagement space. UNAIDS has played a critical bridging role, connecting governments, donors, and civil society in Vietnam,” Doan Thanh Tung, Executive Director at Lighthouse Vietnam, one of the largest LGBTQ+ organizations in Vietnam, told IPS.

This is of particular concern at a time when marginalization and criminalization of key populations and PLHIV in many countries is worsening.

UNAIDS has played a crucial role in advocating for the rights of key populations and PLHIV, including helping bring in landmark legislation enshrining some rights and access to services.

UNAIDS workers provide support to communities in need of their services. The organization and its workers have been badly affected by the impact of a sudden acceleration of cuts to international HIV financing. Credit: UNAIDS

Campaigners fear that without UNAIDS presence, some communities would very quickly face increased marginalization or criminalization, without anyone to speak up for them.

“We’re in a context of increasing criminalization of key populations for the HIV epidemic. We know—in part because of UNAIDS— that violating the rights of key populations leads to increased HIV cases. When you criminalize gay and trans people, you increase HIV cases. When you criminalize sex workers, you increase HIV cases. When you criminalize safe injection sites, you increase HIV cases,” said Lukomnik.

“Closing the UN body that most strongly advocates for the human rights of these groups at the very time when these rights are increasingly threatened will almost certainly increase both rights violations and HIV cases,” she added.

Within UNAIDS, officials are aware this could be a problem.

“The question is where can advocacy for key populations be maintained [without UNAIDS] in countries. UNAIDS can raise issues to do with key populations with governments. Will other organizations be able to do that?” Eammon Murphy, UNAIDS Director, Regional Support Teams for the Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions, told IPS.

“One of the critical functions we perform is being the voice of communities. The voice of the community must be safeguarded at the local, regional and global levels,” Achrekar said.

As well as allowing it to advocate for communities, the trust that communities have with the agency means it can have a better view of an epidemic in a given country than state authorities might have, say experts.

They highlight UNAIDS’ vital role in collecting and evaluating data on the disease in specific communities and using data to develop effective interventions and national policies and set HIV targets. If that monitoring and evaluation capacity is lost suddenly with no time to replace it properly, the impact on authorities’ efforts to fight an HIV epidemic could be devastating, they argue.

“UNAIDS set the targets for the global AIDS response that has given countries the ability to shape their strategic plans to respond to HIV and AIDS. Those targets and strategic plans ensured high-impact interventions that led to a reduction of new HIV infections, addressing inequalities, gender-based violence and stigma and discrimination against people with HIV or AIDS,” Tendayi Westerhof, National Director, Pan African Positive Women’s Coalition-Zimbabwe, told IPS.

“It was responsible for the Global AIDS  Programme report that monitored progress of the AIDS response by countries. If UNAIDS is closed, this will have a huge impact on the monitoring of progress by countries in fighting AIDS,” she added.

The proposed closure of the agency also comes at a time when HIV groups are still reeling from recent upheavals in global aid funding.

The withdrawal of US aid at the start of this year, which had previously accounted for 73 percent of international HIV/AIDS financing, has already had a devastating effect on the fight against the disease, forcing many organizations on the frontline of the HIV response to close.

UNAIDS modeling forecasts the funding cuts could lead to an additional 6.6 million new HIV infections and 4.2 million AIDS-related deaths by 2029.

Closing UNAIDS against this backdrop could further imperil the sustainability of the HIV response in some places, especially in those where services for key populations are already underfunded.

“We have seen the impact of the abrupt funding cuts from the US, which have crippled a lot of harm reduction services and forced many drug user-led networks and organizations to close their operations. Harm reduction has also been severely underfunded. Closing down UNAIDS will only create reasons for governments to close down services and programmes, as well as funding for people who use drugs,” said Taslim.

“In most low- and middle-income countries, services and programmes for people who use drugs… are still heavily dependent on international donors. Closing UNAIDS prematurely means that services and programmes for our community will be the first to be removed from national priorities. There is no sustainability strategy in place for services and programmes for people who use drugs and other key populations, as well as other criminalized and marginalized communities,” he added.

Tung warned that dismantling UNAIDS at a time when global funding for HIV is shrinking “would likely erode global-to-local solidarity, reduce community engagement in the HIV response, and weaken independent data systems, which could further exacerbate the epidemic and undo decades of progress in HIV prevention and control that would be extremely difficult to recover.”

But while activists warn of the potential for a 2026 closure of UNAIDS to profoundly impact the world’s HIV response, they also point out that so far it is only a proposal and that there is some hope it may not come to pass.

“The proposal to end UNAIDS in 2026 was made by the UN Secretary General, but it’s really up to the UNAIDS PCB to make this call,” said Lukomnik.

UNAIDS officials point out that the agency had already begun a process of transforming itself.

Earlier this year, the PCB set out its plan to restructure between 2025 – 2027, and then review its structure and mandate again in 2027. It had been expected that after that, a transition period would see key UNAIDS functions shifted to other parts of the UN system or other actors involved in the HIV response by 2030.

The first phase of this restructuring involved the agency this year beginning a huge reduction in the number of its staff and offices around the world—both are to be cut by more than 50 percent.

Achrekar said the transformation was in part a response to global funding changes but also to reflect moves towards greater sustainability in the global HIV response.

“Our transformation is partly because of the current funding volatility, but it was already underway before that. We are focused on ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and even before the General Secretary’s proposal, we at UNAIDS knew that we had to transform for where the HIV response was shifting to in the future—that as countries start to approach 2030 HIV targets, the HIV response would need to be sustainable after 2030. Our transformation means we can be fit for when the HIV response needs to become sustainably supported by countries,” said Achrekar.

“We are not certain if this SG proposal can be turned back. But we believe there could be a way to bring some coherence to what the SG has proposed and the transition we had already planned. UNAIDS is not afraid of transforming,” she added.

However, if the proposal does come to pass and UNAIDS closes next year, the organization is hoping others involved in the global HIV response will be able to step up, to some extent, to help maintain the response.

“We are just one player in the HIV response and all the others have critical roles too. The global solidarity in the HIV response must be maintained in future and we have to be able to safeguard what is critical in the HIV response and the people affected by HIV,” Achrekar said.

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

The regime change has not resulted in weakening the rampant abuse of human rights by state institutions.

Les meilleurs candidats à l'examen du Baccalauréat session de juin 2025, ont été officiellement récompensés le vendredi 28 novembre dernier au Palais des congrès de Cotonou. C'était à l'occasion d'une cérémonie présidée par la ministre de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche scientifique, Eléonore Yayi Ladékan, assistée de la ministre conseillère, Sèdami Mèdégan Fagla, la présidente de la Haute cour de justice, le préfet du Littoral et plusieurs autres personnalités.

Un ordinateur portable neuf, "Made in Bénin", fabriqué par l'entreprise Asuka Spirit de l'entrepreneur Richard ODJRADO, c'est le cadeau offert aux meilleurs candidats à l'examen du Baccalauréat session de juin 2025 au Bénin. En plus de cette récompense, des bourses d'études ont été attribuées à chaque lauréat afin de lui permettre de poursuivre en toute sérénité, les études supérieures.
Outre ces prix, les deux premiers, une jeune fille et un jeune homme, ont reçu chacun une parcelle à Abomey-Calavi, et un chèque de 500 000 francs CFA.

Après avoir félicité les lauréats pour leurs performances remarquables, le ministre de l'enseignement supérieur les a invités à maintenir le cap de l'effort, de la persévérance et de l'excellence afin de concrétiser pleinement leurs objectifs académiques et professionnels.
Autorités à divers niveaux, chefs d'entreprises, parents et amis présents à la cérémonie de remise de prix, ont salué le courage et l'effort des lauréats.

F. A. A.

Despite the growing demand for gender-disaggregated statistics on poverty, there is hardly any cross-country evidence of gender disparities in poverty. The paper contributes to filling this gap, by using two novel individual-level indices of multidimensional poverty. Relying on data from 78 low- and middle-income countries, it finds that almost everywhere female poverty exceeds male poverty. In the median country, female poverty is 58%–85% higher than male poverty. The highest gender disparities in poverty were detected in the MENA, Latin America and South Asia regions. Finally, the majority of countries experienced an increase in the female/male poverty ratio, thus a feminization of poverty.

Despite the growing demand for gender-disaggregated statistics on poverty, there is hardly any cross-country evidence of gender disparities in poverty. The paper contributes to filling this gap, by using two novel individual-level indices of multidimensional poverty. Relying on data from 78 low- and middle-income countries, it finds that almost everywhere female poverty exceeds male poverty. In the median country, female poverty is 58%–85% higher than male poverty. The highest gender disparities in poverty were detected in the MENA, Latin America and South Asia regions. Finally, the majority of countries experienced an increase in the female/male poverty ratio, thus a feminization of poverty.

Despite the growing demand for gender-disaggregated statistics on poverty, there is hardly any cross-country evidence of gender disparities in poverty. The paper contributes to filling this gap, by using two novel individual-level indices of multidimensional poverty. Relying on data from 78 low- and middle-income countries, it finds that almost everywhere female poverty exceeds male poverty. In the median country, female poverty is 58%–85% higher than male poverty. The highest gender disparities in poverty were detected in the MENA, Latin America and South Asia regions. Finally, the majority of countries experienced an increase in the female/male poverty ratio, thus a feminization of poverty.

Sa majesté Naaba KIBA Roi du Yatenga,
La grande famille royale du Yatenga,
Le You Naaba Sanem, ses frères et sœurs,
Son épouse ZOUNGRANA Fatimata,
Sa grande sœur Ouedraogo Talata,
Son petit frère OUEDRAOGO Souleymane,
Les enfants : Madame SAWADOGO née OUEDRAOGO Alimata, Abdoul Kader, Seydou, Aziz, Ibrahim, Neimata, Faïçal, Abdoul Bassit ;
Les familles alliées ;

OUEDRAOGO à Rouni/Tikaré, SAWADOGO, TABOR, OUEDRAOGO, YANOGO, BEREHOUDOUGOU.
Ont le profond regret de vous annoncer le décès de leurs fils, frère, père, époux, Grand père, Monsieur OUEDRAOGO Oumbagnessego Hamidou, survenu le dimanche 30 novembre 2025 à Ouagadougou.

PROGRAMME DES OBSEQUES

Mardi 02 décembre 2025 :
7H : Levée du corps à la morgue du CHU Bogodogo pour son domicile puis transfert de la dépouille à Ouahigouya.
14H : Enterrement au cimetière familial, route de Bogoya.

Son excellence Naaba TIISSE chef de canton de Louda ;

La famille SOULGA et SAWADOGO à Wimgyan, Boussouma ;

La grande famille OUEDRAOGO à Kaya et Louda ;

La veuve Madame OUEDRAOGO Sana Marie Léonie et ses sœurs aux USA ;

Les enfants : Julien, Lydie, Gwladys et Stanislas Jacob ;
Les Petits et arrières petits-enfants ;

La famille OUEDRAOGO à Bilbaloguo, Les familles alliées KANO à Kaya ; KONSEIBO à Kongoussi ; KIENTEGA à Nanoro et ZOUNDI à Ouagadougou,

Vous réitèrent leurs remercîments et leur profonde gratitude pour les nombreuses marques d'amitié, de compassion et de soutiens multiformes lors de l'hospitalisation, du rappel à Dieu et de l'inhumation le 15/11/2025 de leur fil ; père ; grand-père et arrière-grand-père.
OUEDRAOGO Gouri Jean-Paul comptable à la retraite de la SONABEL.

Leurs remerciements vont :
• A la CCB Saint Albert de SOMGANDE ;
• Aux voisins de somgandé ;
• A son excellence Naaba Sigri Dima de Boussouma,
• Aux différentes délégations :
 De la SONABEL,
 De Taparko mining ,
 De l'association des retraités de l'ex assemblée nationale,
 De la chorale Saint Dominique Savio de Dapoya,
 De la Gendarmerie Nationale,
 De Kongoussi,
 De Kaya,
 De l'association des Burkinabès de New jersey (USA).

Les familles se réservent de citer des noms de peur d'en oublier.

Que DIEU vous le rende au centuple.

Die Abteilung Energie, Verkehr, Umwelt des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin) sucht zur Mitarbeit im Forschungsprojekt Wärme-ZIEL zum 1. Februar 2026 eine studentische Hilfskraft (w/m/div) für 10 Wochenstunden.

Das Forschungsprojekt Wärme-ZIEL ist am 1. November 2025 gestartet und begleitet die Umsetzung der kommunalen Wärmewende im Raum Lüneburg mit Praxispartner*innen aus den Kommunen und der Energiewirtschaft.

En Croatie, le fond de l'air est de plus en plus brun, mais des milliers de personnes, « unies contre le fascisme » ont défilé dimanche à Zagreb, Rijeka, Zadar et Pula. D'importants moyens policiers avaient été mis en œuvre pour encadrer les manifestations et quelques incidents ont été signalés.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Croatie, Politique, Croatie droitisation, Extrême-droite Balkans

En Croatie, le fond de l'air est de plus en plus brun, mais des milliers de personnes, « unies contre le fascisme » ont défilé dimanche à Zagreb, Rijeka, Zadar et Pula. D'importants moyens policiers avaient été mis en œuvre pour encadrer les manifestations et quelques incidents ont été signalés.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Croatie, Politique, Croatie droitisation, Extrême-droite Balkans

Open-pit mine Archives. Credit: Africa Renewal, United Nations

By Zipporah Musau
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 1 2025 (IPS)

Although Africa holds more than 30 per cent of the world’s critical green minerals—including cobalt, lithium, manganese, and rare earth elements vital for building batteries, wind turbines and solar panels— this has not translated into prosperity for the continent.

At the Africa Climate Summit 2025 held in Addis Ababa in September 2025, leaders and experts explored ways Africa can benefit more from its resources.

Under the theme “Accelerating renewable energy, nature-based solutions, e-mobility, and scaling up climate finance,” the Summit sought ways to build a resilient and prosperous future for Africa. The important question, however, was whether Africa would continue exporting its raw materials for others to reap the profit or seize this moment and drive the agenda of its transformation.

Speaking at the Summit, the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Claver Gatete, called for a united African front in order to leverage these resources strategically.

“We cannot afford to repeat the exploitative patterns of the past,” he said. “Africa must industrialise using its own resources, creating jobs and sustainable growth of our people.”

The current net-zero clean energy race has triggered surging global demand for minerals used in batteries, solar panels and wind turbines, of which Africa is a key supplier.

Mr. Gatete emphasised the need for African governments to invest in local processing, value addition, and stronger regional cooperation, and avoid exporting raw minerals.

Risks and opportunities

The Summit highlighted both opportunities and risks. On one hand, critical minerals could generate billions in revenue, accelerate clean industrialisation and help Africa achieve the SDGs.

On the other hand, unchecked extraction will not benefit Africans and would worsen inequality and environmental degradation.

Mr. Gatete called for building continental capacity to process, refine, and manufacture components like batteries within Africa. He cited the ECA—Afreximbank Battery and Electric Vehicle (BEV) value chain initiative, launched in the DRC and Zambia, to build special economic zones (SEZ) for producing electric vehicle battery precursor and components as a concrete example of this shift “from resource extraction to technological innovation and prioritisation of local value addition.”

To expand this further, participants emphasised the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to develop integrated regional value chains, reduce external dependence, and unlock economies of scale. In the same breath, they called for continental unity to avoid fragmented national policies that could weaken Africa’s bargaining power.

To address this, ECA proposed the formation of African Critical Minerals Alliance—to harmonise regulations, negotiate better trade deals and promote intra-African collaborations.

“Unity is our strength,” Mr. Gatete reminded participants. “By working together, African countries can ensure that green minerals become a foundation for prosperity, not another lost opportunity.”

Africa’s financing gap for climate action was also discussed at the Summit, with leaders renewing their calls for increased international climate finance, debt relief and technology transfer. They also underscore the importance of the private sector investment aimed at strengthening regional value chains, building local processing capacity and expanding critical infrastructure.

The Africa Climate Summit 2025 ended with the adoption of the Addis Ababa Declaration, a renewed commitment to place sustainability, equity, and local development at the heart of mineral exploitation. The message was clear—Africa holds the key to the global green transition. The challenge now is how to turn that potential into lasting, inclusive prosperity for its people.

Source: Africa Renewal, United Nations

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

“Pakistan’s opposition to dam building on the Kunar River and its tributaries is due to political rather than technical reasons.”

Questions are being raised whether the Tejas light combat aircraft, like the MiG-21 before it, is an unreliable “flying coffin” or widow maker.”

CHRONIQUE. Une note de l'Insee indique que les effectifs de la fonction publique continuent d'augmenter. Vous avez dit << economies >> ?

More than 1,350,000 barrels of Russian oil have already been imported by North Korea in the first 10 months of 2025 alone, according to information gathered by Intelligence Online. In 2024, Russia itself acknowledged through reports in its state-run media [...]

United States – DIA loses drug trafficking expertIntelligence veteran Barry Zulauf, a narcotrafficking and organised crime specialist, has left the [...]

The administrative court at Orleans outside Paris has recognised the link between the severe somatic and psychological disorders suffered by [...]

The Nigerian defence manufacturer Proforce, which supplies MRAP armoured vehicles to the Nigerian armed forces, as reported by our sister [...]