Publications

In 2017, key populations (KP) and their sexual partners accounted for approximately 40% of new HIV infections globally (UNAIDS, 2018). A range of policy and legal barriers and harmful social dynamics increase the HIV vulnerability of KP and undermine their access to HIV and other services. The criminalization of sex between men, sex work, drug use and HIV transmission, as well as high rates of incarceration, homophobia, trans phobia, violence and social marginalization, all serve to influence risk practices and undermine access to services. People from key populations often migrate to cities in search of safer and more secure communities (UNAIDS, UN Habitat 2015). Women in key populations face specific challenges and barriers, including gender-based violence (GBV) and poorly tailored services. These factors further intensify their vulnerability to HIV.

This guidance note builds on UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018–2021 which recognizes UNDP as an integrator to support “greater collaboration across sectors and partners to deliver impacts at scale and to utilize limited resources efficiently.” The guidance note also build on UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2016–2021 which stresses the need for “innovative approaches that harness synergies across the goals […] particularly given the need to make the most efficient and effective use of available development resources."

The 2016 Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Antimicrobial Resistance represented a landmark in the world’s commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance, calling for greater urgency and action in response to its many challenges. In the political declaration, Member States requested the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene an ad hoc interagency coordination group (IACG) co-chaired by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the Director-General of WHO to provide practical guidance for approaches needed to ensure sustained, effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance. It also requested the Secretary-General to submit a report for consideration by Member States by the seventy-third session of the General Assembly in 2019 on the implementation of the political declaration and on further developments and recommendations emanating from the IACG, including on options to improve coordination, considering the 2015 Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. This report presents the IACG’s response to the request from Member States in the 2016 political declaration and makes recommendations for urgent action for consideration by the Secretary-General, Member States and other stakeholders in the global response to antimicrobial resistance.

WHO estimates that 71 million people worldwide were chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 2017. Globally, 23% of new HCV infections and one in three HCV deaths are attributable to injecting drug use (PWID). HCV is also a major concern for people detained in prisons and other closed settings – available data demonstrate that one in four detainees are HCV positive. This policy brief highlights the current landscape of country hepatitis policies for harm reduction and HCV testing and treatment in PWID and people in prisons. It aims to capture how governments are translating the WHO Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis, 2016-2021 into national plans, and provides a summary of the enablers and barriers to HCV testing and treatment in these populations.

The world drug problem has multiple public health dimensions encompassing vulnerability to drug use disorders and dependence, treatment and care of people with drug use disorders, reducing harm associated with drug misuse, and access to controlled medicines for medical pain relief. In partnership with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which is recognized as the leading UN entity for countering the world drug problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) has a pivotal and unique role in addressing the public health and human rights dimensions of global issues related to drugs.

Reproductive rights and choices have become a reality for more women than ever. But we cannot be complacent: rights are still out of reach for too many women. Our challenge is to finish the unfinished business of guaranteeing rights and choices for all. Read our latest State of the World Population report 2019, published in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of UNFPA's founding and the 25th anniversary of the revolutionary Programme of Action forged at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. 

Malaysia has a matured and concentrated HIV epidemic with prevalence rates remain above 5% among key populations (KP) including person who inject drugs (PWID), female sex worker (FSW), transgender people (TG) and men having sex with men (MSM). Since the first case of HIV infection in the country was reported in 1986, a combination of efforts mainly focused on KP were implemented to reduce HIV infections nationwide.

In 2017, key populations (KP) and their sexual partners accounted for approximately 40% of new HIV infections globally (UNAIDS, 2018). A range of policy and legal barriers and harmful social dynamics increase the HIV vulnerability of KP and undermine their access to HIV and other services. The criminalization of sex between men, sex work, drug use and HIV transmission, as well as high rates of incarceration, homophobia, trans phobia, violence and social marginalization, all serve to influence risk practices and undermine access to services. People from key populations often migrate to cities in search of safer and more secure communities (UNAIDS, UN Habitat 2015). Women in key populations face specific challenges and barriers, including gender-based violence (GBV) and poorly tailored services. These factors further intensify their vulnerability to HIV.

The aim of this guide is to familiarize civil society to the Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem (UNGASS 2016) and highlight the potential for civil society participation in the implementation of the operational recommendations and their respective Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The guide uses examples from UNODC’s work and from NGOs around the world to demonstrate how they support the implementation of these international commitments related to drugs – in order to make the UNGASS Outcome Document and the SDGs easily understandable for civil society organizations on the ground, and to demonstrate the linkages between them.

Drug markets are evolving at unprecedented speed. The range of substances and combinations available to users has never been wider, and the amounts produced have never been greater. Cultivation and manufacturing of heroin and cocaine have reached record highs, synthetic drugs continue to expand, and the market for new psychoactive substances (NPS) remains widely diversified with a growing interplay with traditional drug markets. The non-medical use of regulated prescription drugs (either diverted from licit channels or illicitly manufactured) is becoming a major threat: in addition to the ongoing opioid epidemic in North America, there are signs of an opioid epidemic due to the non-medical use of tramadol in North and sub Saharan Africa, as well as in the Middle East. Drug-related deaths are on the rise. At the same time, access to controlled drugs for medical purposes remains a dramatic problem in most lowand middle-income countries.