Exclusive: UNAIDS will lose more than 50% of staff in restructuring

Facing a major funding crisis, UNAIDS is cutting its workforce by more than half and scaling back its country presence — a shakeup that staff fear could weaken the global HIV response at a critical time. According to a communique from senior leadership, seen by Devex, the number of full-time positions will be cut by more than half, from 608 to around 280, as part of a sweeping restructuring. The program will also reduce its country presence from 75 to 36 countries, with some offices serving multiple countries and others manned by a single person within the U.N. Resident Coordinator’s office. Departments such as external relations and management are also merging, global support offices will be based in Bonn, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Bangkok, and UNAIDS secretariat will have a reduced presence in Geneva, focused on “leadership, governance and resource mobilization while technical experts will move closer to where the need is most,” the program said in a statement to Devex. “The downsizing of the Secretariat has been necessitated due to funding cuts from several long-standing donors in Europe, Asia and the United States,” UNAIDS stated. Alongside the changes, UNAIDS plans to update its teleworking policy, allowing people flexible working arrangements “for a maximum two years” subject to potential extensions. Former staff members will also be prioritized in future recruitments. People living with HIV working for the secretariat appear to be safeguarded from the cuts. The communique stated UNAIDS will keep its policy that “no one working with us at UNAIDS who is openly living with HIV would lose their job.” “We are here to serve people living with HIV, and we are committed to the Great Involvement of People Living with HIV in our workplace,” it added. The changes will happen in phases, starting with a final detailed organization chart expected mid-May. Most staff members are expected to receive information on their positions by the end of the month. Changes to UNAIDS’ Global Centre and country director positions will be implemented in June and July. The restructuring is taking place amid significant cuts to global health funding, including for the HIV and AIDS response. UNAIDS, which is a joint U.N. program composed of 11 U.N. agencies that serve as its cosponsors, was already operating on a reduced budget at the start of the year, but funding cuts from the U.S. government — its biggest contributor — have made its funding situation more precarious. The joint program is facing about a 60% cut in expected funding for 2025. “There are still some unknowns about donor contributions and we must push and remain cautiously hopeful, while at the same time be judicious and prepare for the worst-case scenario,” warned the communique. The UNAIDS staff association said it’s working with management and the staff consultation group to ensure the restructuring will have “minimum pains to staff.” They advocated for several safeguarding measures for staff, including part-time work, teleworking, and ensuring that separated staff members will fill any vacancies in the next two years and be allowed to apply for consultancy opportunities. They are also advocating for safeguarding people living with HIV, LGBTQ+ individuals, and young people. But they fear the cuts will further challenge the program’s capacities, which have already been strained due to a previous restructuring. “We are urging all donors to respond to these measures by enhancing their contributions allowing UNAIDS to finish its mission of ending AIDS by 2030. The recent cuts have already impacted AIDS response in countries and we need a stronger well resourced UNAIDS now ever than before,” the staff association told Devex. Some cosponsors have voiced concern about the potential gaps the changes will have on HIV support to countries, which are already reeling from U.S. funding cuts to their HIV programs. An official from one of UNAIDS’ cosponsoring organizations who agreed to speak anonymously told Devex: “What's really disturbing is that this hasn’t been done in a planned way with cosponsors so that we ensure [continued] support at the country level.” High-level panel recommendations UNAIDS said it is “focused on supporting countries to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 and sustain the response into the future.” It added the program is also “committed to continued transformation leading up to 2030, building upon evidence of the epidemic and changes within the wider UN system.” The current restructuring process, UNAIDS noted, is guided by recommendations from a high-level panel convened last year to assess how the joint program can become more fit for purpose. These efforts are also aligned with the objectives of the UN80 initiative, which aims to reform the United Nations and make it more efficient. A final report from the panel, also seen by Devex, recommends the joint program continue to operate until 2030, but with a smaller UNAIDS secretariat and fewer cosponsors. The focus, it states, is not on winding down the program, but “on directing a smaller budget to indispensable functions to stop the [AIDS] pandemic and prevent rebound.” It adds that some functions should be “handed over” to other entities well-positioned at the national, regional, or global level. It recommends limiting the number of “lead” cosponsors of the program up to six organizations that will have access to UNAIDS’ core funding, noting that “it is no longer sustainable to continue to fund 11 Cosponsors through guaranteed core UNAIDS funding.” But U.N. agencies engaged in the AIDS response and willing to fund their own activities are still encouraged to participate in the program as “affiliated cosponsors.” The panel recommended that changes to cosponsors be agreed upon by the end of 2025. But the official from the UNAIDS cosponsor organization said the recommendations by the panel “don’t go far enough in the current realities, context.” For one, they fear the scenarios presented in the report would only erode the “jointness of the joint program.” “It's going to lead to a competition for resources, because we are all going to go out and mobilise resources for ourselves," the official said.