MADISON, WI – Today, U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02), Chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, led a letter with 35 of his colleagues to the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, expressing deep concern regarding the proposal to sunset the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) by the end of 2026, undermining any chance at achieving the global goal of ending AIDS by 2030.
“This decision – announced without prior public notice or clear transition planning – threatens to undermine decades of global progress against HIV and AIDS at precisely the moment when sustained leadership, coordination, and accountability are most needed,” the Members began. “For over 25 years, UNAIDS has served as the world’s coordinating body for HIV and AIDS response: aligning the efforts of eleven UN agencies, national governments, donors, and global clinics to prevent new infections and expand access to care.”
“UNAIDS’ mandate has been indispensable in ensuring that HIV responses are grounded in human rights, guided by data, and inclusive of the communities most affected by the epidemic,” the Members continued. “As countries increasingly assume greater ownership of their HIV programs, UNAIDS remains a vital partner in maintaining a global unified strategy and upholding countries’ commitments to transparency, accountability, and equity.”
“UNAIDS also continues to serve as an essential advocate for key populations, such as LGBTQ+ people, adolescent girls and young women, pregnant women, people who use drugs, sex workers, and other marginalized groups, whose rights and safety are too often under threat,” the Members wrote. “Sudden dismantling of UNAIDS functions would risk creating dangerous gaps in surveillance, coordination, and advocacy – gaps that could lead to increased transmission and death across the globe.”
“We urge you to reconsider the proposed closure of UNAIDS and to follow the transition timeline approved by consensus by the UNAIDS board, which includes the United States. The board-established process ensures that the future transition of programmatic functions and sunsetting of UNAIDS proceeds strategically, with great care, and over a longer course of time, as to not abruptly disrupt current response efforts to the epidemic in countries,” the Members concluded.
A full copy of the letter can be found here.
The list of signers includes: Mark Pocan (WI-02), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Sean Casten (IL-06), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Danny Davis (IL-07), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Jesus Garcia (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Doris Matsui (CA-07), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Mark Takano (CA-39), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)
Endorsing Organizations: AVAC, Council for Global Equality, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Fast-Track Cities Institute, Global Health Council, Health Global Access Project (Health GAP), HIV i-Base, HIV Medicine Association, Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, NASTAD, National Working Positive Coalition, NMAC, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Positive Women’s Network-USA, PrEP4All, Presbyterian Church USA, Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association, Presbyterian HIV Network, Ribbon-A Center of Excellence, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, The AIDS Institute, The Reunion Project, The Well Project, Treatment Action Group, Vivent Health, AIDS Action Baltimore, AIDS Alabama, AIDS Foundation Chicago, APLA Health, Equality California, Equitas Health, HIV+Aging Project – Palm Springs
