As a UNAIDS Cosponsor, UN Women supports the governance of the HIV response by:
- ensuring that national HIV policies, strategies and budgets are informed by sex- and age-disaggregated data and gender analysis;
- scaling up effective approaches for tackling the root causes of inequality, including through mainstreaming HIV in efforts to end violence against women and promote women’s economic empowerment; and
- supporting the leadership of women and girls in all their diversity, particularly women living with HIV, to meaningfully engage in decision-making at all levels in HIV responses.
The UN Women Strategic Plan (2022–2025) sets out how UN Women will leverage its triple mandate––encompassing normative support, UN System coordination and operational activities––to mobilize sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of HIV, and to support achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including SDGs 3 and 5.
In 2022-2023, UN Women achieved the following results pursuant to its mandate:
- Supported the setting of global norms and standards on gender equality and HIV. UN Women provided policy support to the Southern African Development Community to adopt and roll out a gender-responsive oversight model which entails a regional framework and programme of action to monitor implementation of the 2016 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 60/2 resolution.
- Advanced gender-responsive HIV policies and institutions to meet the 10-10-10 targets. UN Women supported gender assessments of the HIV responses in countries resulting in the identification of persisting inequalities, which in turn informed the integration of efforts to address gender inequality issues in national HIV strategies and plans, budgetary allocations and development of gender-responsive indicators to track progress.
- Provided support for repealing discriminatory HIV-related laws and practices. As a co-convener of the Global Partnership for action to eliminate all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, UN Women created spaces for and mobilized women living with HIV to identify and reduce gender-based stigma and discrimination and repeal discriminatory laws and practices in Indonesia, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Uganda and Viet Nam.
- Supported efforts to transform unequal gender norms to prevent violence against women and accelerate progress towards 95-95-95 targets. UN Women scaled up evidence-based interventions to transform unequal gender norms in 21 countries to prevent violence against women and prevent HIV acquisition.
- Amplified women’s voice and leadership in the HIV response. UN Women’s work to increase advocacy skills and opportunities, expand access to decision-making spaces and improve uptake of HIV treatment and care services and livelihood support directly benefitted 30 000 women living with HIV across 34 countries.
