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NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board

Call for Nominations of NGO Delegates 2010-2011
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean
DEADLINE: 31 AUGUST 2009

Background
UNAIDS was the first United Nations programme to have formal civil society representation on its governing body. It is guided by the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) with representatives from 22 governments, the UNAIDS Cosponsors, and an NGO Delegation of 5 delegates and 5 alternate delegates.
The NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB has vacancies for two-year terms beginning 1 January 2010 and ending 31 December 2011, for the following positions:
This represents a unique opportunity for committed activists and HIV/AIDS advocates to make a difference to HIV/AIDS policy implementation in their regions.
The position of NGO Delegates to the UNAIDS PCB is important to the effective inclusion of community voices in the key global forum for HIV/AIDS policy. NGO Delegates represent the perspectives of civil society, including people living with HIV, within UNAIDS policies and programming.

1. Europe Main Delegate
2. Europe Alternate Delegate
3. Latin America and the Caribbean Alternate Delegate
4. African Alternate Delegate
5. Asia Alternate Delegate

What is expected?

NGO Delegates to the UNAIDS PCB are expected to:
-          Actively seek input from their respective community on key issues related to UNAIDS policies and programs.
-          Advocate with members states (governments) and cosponsoring organizations (the United Nations organizations that make up the UNAIDS ‘family') for meaningful improvements in the implementation and evaluation of AIDS policies and programmes.

What skills and experience do you need?

Qualifications of the applying NGO:
Though applications to serve on the Delegation are submitted by individuals representing NGOs, it is the NGO itself that holds the seat on the PCB. In order to qualify to hold the seat on the PCB, the applying NGO must:
1. Be actively and principally involved with HIV work in the country and/or region for which the applicant is applying;
2. Maintain a comprehensive understanding of the health, political, and social consequences and needs of the AIDS pandemic, particularly as it relates to the region;
3. Be strongly connected to and actively liaise with national and regional CS networks; and
4. Have extensive experience in national, regional, and/or international policy-making and advocacy.
Qualifications of the applying Delegate:
In order to qualify to represent its NGO on the PCB, an applicant for the position of Delegate must:
1. Be living and working in a country within the region for which they are applying to represent;
2. Have the ability to communicate effectively in written and spoken English;
3. Have a minimum three years experience in HIV in their region;
4. Have experience in national, regional, and/or international fora.
5. Have an ability to collaborate well with a diverse group of people from different cultures around the world;
6. Have effective skills for writing reports and presentations, as well as for public speaking; and
7. Be computer-literate, have easy and regular access to the Internet and email.

What does it mean to be a PCB NGO Delegate?

Commitments of the applying NGO
It is required that the NGO must state in its letter of recommendation for the applying Delegate that the NGO:
1. Authorizes the applying Delegate to represent the NGO as its Delegate on the PCB;
2. Commits to the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation Mission, Principles and Code of Conduct;
3. Will support their Delegate for the term of his/her office so that he/she will be able to fulfill the Commitments of the applying Delegate (below) by confirming that the applicant:
·         Will have adequate office space;
·         Will be freed up from his/her regular duties to be able to dedicate up to 10 hours per work week;
·         Will be additionally freed up from his/her regular duties in order to travel to attend the formal PCB meetings (including pre-meetings and debriefing meetings) and the NGO orientation meetings (about two weeks per year total);
·         Will have adequate access to office equipment and supplies; and
·         Will have organizational and administrative support.
4. Will ensure the quality and comprehensiveness of the applying Delegate's participation on the PCB; and
5. Will ensure that, if the Delegate is unable to complete his/her term of office, an equally qualified replacement, if available, will be offered by the NGO to finish the term of office.
Commitments of the applying Delegate
In order to participate as an NGO Delegate to the PCB, it is required that the applying Delegate must commit to:
1. The UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation Mission, Principles and Code of Conduct;
2. Spending up to 10 hours per week performing the duties of a Delegate;
3. Broadly and in collaboration with the Communication Facility (CF) of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB, consulting with, seeking input from, learning about the relevant issues of, and reporting to their national and regional CS;
4. Attending and actively participating in key meetings including but not limited to:
·         Semi-annual (two per year) meetings (5 to 6 days each) in Geneva, Switzerland usually in the second quarter and in either a heavily-impacted country or in Geneva, in early to mid December. These meetings include NGO Delegation pre-meetings (2 days), PCB meeting (2 to 3 days), and NGO Delegation debriefing meeting (1 day);
·         Delegation Orientation (2 to3 days) usually either in January/February at beginning of term of office or connected to the December meeting the month before the beginning of term of office;
5. Attending, actively participating in, and either participating with or representing (and reporting back to) the Delegation at other meetings and consultations (usually 1 to 3 per year) as necessary and when possible. Some examples are: high-level meetings of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York, USA; PCB consultations on developing policies; Global Task Team (GTT) etc.;
6. Actively participating in Delegation conference calls (every two weeks), usually held at 14:00 Geneva time and lasting for 1 hour;
7. Maintaining timely communications with the Delegation and other PCB bodies via email;
8. Reading, absorbing and being prepared to engage in the issues of all relevant PCB documents in a timely manner;
9. Actively participating and strategizing with the Delegation in the reviewing and planning processes of the PCB and UNAIDS;
10. Actively participating in and chairing a fair share of ad hoc Working Groups (WG) or Steering Committees (SC) as needed. Some examples are: NGO Report WG; Nominations WG; project consultancy hiring SC; etc.;
11. Working in collaboration with the Secretariat.
12. Participating in the work of the Communication Facility of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB:
Communications Facility (CF) is a mechanism of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB created to strengthen the capacity of the NGO delegation to bring forward a unified and consolidated message from their constituencies to the UNAIDS PCB.
In 2008-2009 the CF of the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation is hosted by the World AIDS Campaign (WAC).

How to submit nominations:

Closing Date:        31 August 2009, 18:00 Geneva time

Include:- A complete application form
     - 1-page statement of the nominating organization (Details in the application form)
     - 1-page statement of the nominated candidate (Details in the application form)
     - 1-page letter of reference from a relevant organization other than your own
     - 1-page letter of reference from a regional network/NGO outside country of residence

You are encouraged to send the statements and letters requested above in one Word document. 
Email to: pcb.ngo@gmail.com

Incomplete applications or those submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
The selection of applicants will be made by the current UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegates and representatives of broader civil society. Short-listed applicants will be invited to telephone interviews between 25 September and 8 October, and final candidates will be formally approved at the PCB meeting on 8-10 December 2009.

We look forward to receiving your thoughtfully considered nominations!
Please feel free to disseminate this Call for Nominations widely, to various networks in your regions and countries.

Thank you for your interest and help.

Yours sincerely,
NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board