UNAIDS: REPORT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GENEVA 000836 SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/GAC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID KHIV UNGA SUBJECT: UNAIDS: REPORT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE PROGRAMME COORDINATING BOARD REF: STATE 97114 ¶1. Summary: The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) met in Extraordinary Session on October 2, 2008, to consider candidates for the position of UNAIDS Executive Director. The U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Mark Dybul, chaired the meeting. While the PCB noted that all four short-listed candidates were highly qualified, the vast majority of PCB participants specifically endorsed the candidacy of Michel Sidibe (Mali). The PCB will transmit its report to the UNAIDS Committee of Co-sponsoring Organizations (CCO),which is tasked with providing recommendations to UN Secretary-General Ban. Secretary-General Ban appoints the Executive Director of UNAIDS and is expected to announce his selection in late October or early November. End Summary. ¶2. The Chair of the UNAIDS Search Committee, Ambassador Marie-Louise Overvad (Denmark),presented the Search Committee's report and short list to the PCB. The short list included two "first tier" candidates, Michel Sidibe (Mali) and Debrework Zewdie (Ethiopia),and two "second tier" candidates, Tim Barnett (New Zealand) and Stefano Bertozzi (Italian/American). PCB participants reviewed the desired competencies that had been agreed at the 22nd PCB meeting in April 2008, and highlighted several competencies of particular importance. Many PCB participants stressed the strong qualifications of the two top tier candidates and their interest in seeing a highly qualified candidate from a developing country selected for this post. ¶3. In a discussion of individual candidates, several delegations commented upon the suitability of Mr. Barnett and Mr. Bertozzi, but no delegation specifically endorsed either of these applicants. The vast majority of PCB participants endorsed Michel Sidibe, highlighting his vision, experience in working at both the global and the country level, skill in forging partnerships, commitment to working with civil society groups including people living with HIV/AIDS, and confidence in his ability to continue and build upon UNAIDS's track record of success. PCB participants endorsing Mr. Sidibe included: Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Grenada (on behalf of CARICOM),El Salvador (on behalf of El Salvador, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela), Finland, India, Iran, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Monaco (on behalf of Monaco, Germany, France, and Liechtenstein), GENEVA 00000836 002 OF 002 Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Zambia, and all five official NGO delegations. Only Ethiopia specifically endorsed the candidacy of Dr. Zewdie, noting the value of bringing "fresh energy and gender balance" to UNAIDS. Some delegations, including Australia, the Netherlands and Ireland (on behalf of Ireland, Italy, UK and San Marino),indicated their support for both Mr. Sidibe and Dr. Zewdie. In keeping with PCB practice, no official votes or straw polls were held. The PCB discussion is summarized in the meeting report, which can be found on the UNAIDS website: http://www.unaids.org. ¶4. The PCB transmitted its report to the UNAIDS CCO and requested the CCO to take this report into account when developing recommendations for consideration by UN Secretary-General Ban. The CCO met October 6-7 in Geneva and will meet again on October 23 in New York to finalize its recommendations. Secretary-General Ban is expected to announce his selection shortly after receiving the CCO's recommendations. ¶5. The PCB will review procedural issues and "lessons learned" from this search process at its 23rd regular session in December 2008. The Chair of the Search Committee noted the Search Committee received relatively few highly qualified applicants and expressed regret that the PCB had decided not to hire an independent search firm. On the margins of the meeting, several delegations indicated a desire for increased transparency in future selection processes, particularly with regard to distribution of the Search Committee report. TICHENOR