The 2026 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS: An essential accountability mechanism for the global HIV response

On 24 April 2026, United Nations Member States voted to adopt the 2026 ​

HLM Modalities Resolution (A/Res/80/256)

​​ committing the United Nations to hold the next High-Level Meeting (HLM) on HIV/AIDS on 22–23 June 2026.

This meeting—held every five years since 2001 at the UN Secretariat in New York—reinforces the role of the UN as the primary political mechanism for accountability and commitment in the global HIV response.

The current HLM Modalities Resolution sets the following scope and objectives for the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS:

“Review progress on the 2025 targets and other commitments made in the 2021 Political Declaration, including successes, best practices, lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, including with regard to partnership and cooperation, and recommendations to guide and monitor the HIV/AIDS response beyond 2025, including new concrete commitments to accelerate action to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as well as to promote the renewed commitment and engagement of leaders, countries, communities and partners to accelerate and implement a comprehensive universal and integrated response to HIV/AIDS.”

This meeting will review progress against HIV since the 

 and produce a new UN Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. UN Member States will negotiate the text of the 2026 Political Declaration and consider its adoption.

The new UN Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS will establish the direction of the global HIV response for the next five years; it serves as the only global accountability mechanism for all UN Member States’ efforts on HIV/AIDS.

The 2026 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS is mandated to feature new global targets for 2030; ideally, it will mirror those in the 

 and reflect other recommendations from the 2026 UN Secretary General’s report on progress in implementing the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS that will be released at the end of May. 

UN Member States’ support for the new Political Declaration will reflect their renewed commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and establish a framework for sustaining the response for years to come.

2026 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

The struggle for drug policies that are accountable, evidence-based and rights-affirming stands at a crossroads. Despite important wins worldwide, many governments are once again retreating into punishment and repression. While painful, this backlash does not weaken our resolve — it sharpens it. 

We must organise differently, resist strategically, and deepen community engagement to galvanise action.

Support. Don’t Punish 2026 Global Day of Action

, centred around 26 June, is a powerful moment of transnational solidarity. The day brings together communities, movements, and allies to accelerate our commitment towards responses that prioritise care, dignity and justice.

Since 2013, the campaign has grown from a small mobilisation into a decentralised and grassroots-centred movement spanning hundreds of cities worldwide. Each action, whether a march, community dialogue, artistic intervention or direct policy engagement, reflects local priorities. Yet, together, they form a collective demand for change that is impossible to ignore.

This year, we ask you to prepare not for a symbolic day, but a moment of practical and political organising

. To amplify community leadership, confront stigma and criminalisation, and defend rights and democracy at a time when they are increasingly threatened.

, to map actions around the world and provide as much financial and practical support as possible. With resources under strain, thoughtful and strategic preparation will be essential.

You can also strengthen this work by donating to the campaign’s

. All contributions go directly to support grassroots organising in the Global South, where funding is most limited and the harms of repression most severe.

Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action 2026

The 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty will take place in Paris from 30 June to 2 July 2026. The free event will bring together more than 1,000 participants from around the world for three days of debates, cultural actions, youth activities, networking opportunities and key advocacy moments.

The Congress aims to gather the global abolitionist movement, encourage concrete commitments towards ending capital punishment, strengthen cooperation between political leaders and civil society, and raise awareness of the realities of the death penalty. It will also focus on combating discrimination, preventing the resurgence of capital punishment and protecting fundamental rights.

The programme includes plenaries, roundtables, workshops, side events, an Agora of abolition with civil society organisations, and a dedicated youth space. Key themes include the role of the judiciary, the situation in East Asia, youth leadership in the movement, protection of abolitionists, and the continued use of the death penalty in the context of drug control.

9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

The 58th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) will take place from 

 in Geneva, Switzerland. The PCB is UNAIDS’ governing body, bringing together Member States, UN Cosponsors, civil society and observers to review progress, discuss strategic priorities and agree decisions shaping the global HIV response. The meeting will be held primarily in person at the WHO Executive Board Room, with limited online access for participants and observers unable to attend. Plenary sessions are scheduled between 09:00 and 18:00 CEST, with simultaneous interpretation in English and French.

, will be dedicated to the thematic segment: 

“Beyond 2025: Countering health inequities through sustaining the HIV response, human rights and harm reduction for people who use drugs.”

 The thematic segment provides a full-day space for in-depth discussion on a specific programmatic area within the AIDS response, and is being developed through a PCB Working Group to ensure ownership across constituencies.

The draft agenda is organised around three core areas: structural and social inequalities affecting access to HIV services; human rights, legal reform and decriminalisation as enablers of better HIV outcomes; and sustainable financing for harm reduction, including domestic investment, integration into primary health care and protection of community-led responses. Discussions are expected to address the intersecting realities faced by women, young people, LGBTQI communities, people in prison, and people affected by humanitarian crises or displacement.

The process has drawn significant interest, with case studies submitted from across regions. These will inform the background note and accompanying conference room paper, helping to ground the discussion in practical examples of community leadership, integration and rights-based HIV responses.

58th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board

Scientific progress over the 40-plus years of the HIV response has transformed HIV into a manageable condition if you have access to treatment. By the end of 2024, the number of AIDS-related deaths had dropped by 54% and new HIV acquisitions by 40% since 2010. HIV treatment is now so effective that the virus can be undetectable and, therefore, untransmittable. We have highly successful long-acting HIV prevention options, including the injectables, lenacapavir and cabotegravir, with a long-acting oral prevention technology on the horizon.

Despite these gains, UNAIDS data suggests stagnant progress in recent years: 1.3 million people acquired HIV and 630,000 people died of AIDS-related causes in 2023 and again in 2024. There continue to be huge gaps in HIV prevention and treatment: 9.2 million people living with HIV were not getting life-saving medicines in 2024. This is because old barriers to HIV services persist. Among them are stigma and discrimination, criminalization and structural inequalities between populations and countries.

In early 2025, the suspension of US foreign aid, including PEPFAR, triggered a funding crisis that threatens to widen those gaps. This underscores the urgent need for countries to strengthen domestic financing, improve efficiencies and prioritize sustainability.

We have to work together to prevent the current crisis from rolling back progress.

Join the International Aids Society at the 26th annual AIDS conference in Rio de Janeiro and virtually from July 26-31, 2026, for vital conversations to rethink, rebuild and rise.

AIDS 2026 - 26th International AIDS Conference

International Overdose Awareness Day is marked every year on 31 August, bringing together communities around the world to remember the lives lost to overdose and support those grieving. The day also creates space to challenge stigma, share stories and affirm that overdose deaths are preventable.

In 2026, individuals and organisations are invited to take part by hosting or attending events, lighting landmarks purple, holding vigils, sharing tributes, organising educational activities and meeting with decision-makers. These actions aim to raise awareness and build support for evidence-based overdose prevention strategies.

The campaign is guided by the belief that overdose can and must be prevented, and that responses should be rooted in compassion, health, human rights and community-wide action rather than criminalisation.

International Overdose Awareness Day 2026

“Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age.”

The Fifteenth Crime Congress will be held from 25 to 30 April 2026 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under the overall theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, in line with the General Assembly resolution 

High-level segment (Heads of State, Ministers, etc.)

Single declaration, later reviewed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Regional preparatory meetings starting in 2025

Emphasis on participation of least developed countries, civil society, academia, and NGOs

Encourages early preparation by Member States and creation of national preparatory committees

15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

 Clarion Congress Hotel Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

If you’re working to improve the health or rights of people who use drugs, INHSU 2026 is a must-attend event. A vibrant space where research, practice, policy, and lived experience come together on equal footing.

Over 300+ sessions will take place across tracks on Epidemiology and Public Health Research, Clinical Research, Social Science and Policy Research, and Models of Care and Programs.

Sessions will cover harm reduction innovations, HIV, HCV, HBV, TB and other infections, other drug-related harms, drug policy, and more.

Prague is a powerful and timely setting for INHSU 2026, providing the backdrop to reflect on both achievements and barriers that continue to affect people who use drugs globally.

14th International Conference on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU 2026)

The reconvened 69th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is expected to take place on 3-4 December 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

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