The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is an innovative approach to the United Nations family developed to address the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

From 1986, the World Health Organization (WHO) had the lead responsibility on HIV/AIDS in the United Nation, helping countries to set up much-needed national AIDS programmes. But by the mid-1990’s it became clear that the relentless spread of HIV, and the epidemic’s devastating impact on all aspects of human lives and on social and economic development, were creating an emergency that would require a greatly expanded United Nations effort. Nor could any single United Nations organization provide the coordinated level of assistance needed to address the many factors driving the HIV epidemic, or help countries deal with the impact of HIV/AIDS on households, communities and local economies. Greater coordination would be needed to maximize the impact of UN efforts.

UNAIDS brings together the effort and resources of ten UN system organizations to help the world prevent new HIV infections, care for those already infected, and mitigate the impact of the epidemic. Six original United Nations Cosponsoring Agencies established UNAIDS in 1996. They includ UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO, WHO and World Bank. Four additional Cosponsoring agencies have since joined UNAIDS. UNODC in 1999, ILO in 2001 ,WFP in 2003 and UNHCR in 2004.

Today UNAIDS is served by a Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, with offices in more than 70 countries.