Kenya has been elected Chair of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS for 2024 during the 53rd UNAIDS programme Coordinating Board held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Kenya was represented at the summit by Ruth Laibon Masha, the Chief Executive Officer at the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) formerly the National AIDS Control Council of Kenya.
Heath CS Susan Nachumicha said in a statement on Friday the decision puts Kenya in the driver's seat concerning important decision-making roles at local and international levels due to its capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS.
"As we embrace the responsibility to drive this impactful change, we will intensify prevention efforts, expand access to treatment, activate awareness and sensitisation campaigns as well as champion inclusivity as we focus on building a future where HIV/AIDs is not a threat to our communities," she said.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The programme brings together the efforts and resources of 11 UN system organizations to unite the world against AIDS.
The participating organizations include the World Health Organisation (WHO); the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); World Bank, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) among others.
As chair of the Joint Programme, Kenya is obligated to preside over meetings, facilitate balanced representation of views in debates and act as a neutral moderator of the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB).
The PCB, which comprises 22 member states, acts as the governing body on all programmatic issues concerning policy, strategy, finance, monitoring and evaluation of UNAIDS.
The UNAIDS Strategy aims to advance global progress in achieving country-set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and to halt and reverse the spread of HIV.
UNAIDS achieves its mission by among other ways speaking out in solidarity with the people most affected by HIV in defense of human dignity, human rights and gender equality.
Nakhumicha said social and structural barriers continue to increase the vulnerability of HIV infections amongst populations, particularly affecting adolescent girls and young women.
"We must, therefore, put deliberate prevention efforts by improving our understanding of factors that are a cause and driver of AIDS in our communities for us to achieve the collective goal to end AIDS by 2030," she said.
