Global Overview
Nearly three decades into the AIDS epidemic, the number of new HIV infections has yet to decline. Over 30 million people around the world are living with HIV and AIDS — half of them women. The epidemic has cost more than 25 million lives, and in 2007 over two million people died of AIDS-related causes. The AIDS epidemic has swiftly escalated from a public health challenge into an unparalleled development crisis. AIDS has reversed valuable development gains, and resulted in illness and death among the most productive age group of societies. The long-term human development impact is felt in all sectors of public and private life. Action on a much larger scale is needed to address this rapidly-expanding epidemic, not only to support the hardest-hit nations, but also to curtail the explosive spread in parts of the world where it is now expanding.
HIV/AIDS in the Arab States
According to
UNAIDS, over 30,000 people in the Middle East and North Africa became infected with HIV/AIDS in 2007, raising the total of people living with infection in that region to an estimated 380,000. Available evidence reveals trends of increasing HIV infections, especially among the younger age groups, in several countries in the region. The expected economic costs of the epidemic in the region are projected at 45% of current GDP over the next 25 years in nine Arab countries, unless urgent action is taken immediately to reverse such a scenario.
HARPAS: UNDP’s Regional Programme on HIV/AIDS in the Arab States.
UNDP’s support in the regional-level fight against this epidemic is led by the HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (
HARPAS). Launched to heighten awareness and build commitment to scale up prevention measures to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region, HARPAS works with a broad range of partners including religious leaders, NGOs, parliamentarians, the media, the private sector, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Since its inception in September 2002,
HARPAS has launched a series of high-priority catalytic interventions to enhance the HIV/AIDS response regionally, while building national capacities for active follow-up to scale up the response. Examples of activities include working with parliamentarians to develop and advocate for the promulgation of laws to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, and building capacity of leading journalists to report sensitively and insightfully on HIV/AIDS issues. Moreover, HARPAS pays special attention to building the capacity of people living with HIV/AIDS, involving them in the creation and implementation in all of its workplans.
Country Level Initiatives in Arab States
UNDP is also committed to implementing projects on the national level to respond to the HIV/AIDS challenge in the Arab region. Initiatives to tackle HIV/AIDS at the national level are implemented within the framework of the strategies of Country Offices, and in collaboration with national and international partners including governments, civil society, and other United Nations agencies. To learn more about UNDP HIV/AIDS initiatives at the national level, click on the links below
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