Kenyans are among those set to be affected as the UNAIDS plans to send home about 300 staff following funding cuts.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) announced plans to dismiss the more than half of its staff, citing rising operational costs.
The plan is part of a broader restructuring strategy prompted by drastic reductions in support from longtime donors in the US, Asia, and Europe, according to the Associated Press.
Employees were told, during an internal town hall on Tuesday, that UNAIDS planned to reduce its staff by between 280 and 300, from the current 600-man strong workforce, the AP reported.
And as the plans to reduce the agency’s global workforce continue to take shape, the agency is also considering relocating its offices to Nairobi.
However, even with the movement of their operations to Nairobi, the war on HIV/AIDS might be impacted negatively by the funding cuts, with the agency expressing fears that this could also force it to reduce its secretariat and cut down on some of its activities.
UNAIDS said, “The overall global AIDS response is facing a severe shock, and many of the gains made in the past few decades are at risk of being reversed.”
The agency explained that the restructuring follows recommendations from an independent panel, which advised downsizing its Geneva secretariat while focusing on its most essential functions.
Drastic US cuts in assistance under the current Donald Trump administration, part of wider cuts for global health, strike perhaps the biggest blow ever to the world’s efforts to combat HIV.
UNAIDS had previously warned that unless support to its HIV efforts is restored soon, more than 6 million additional people could die in the next four years, and an additional 2,000 people per day could become infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
The agency was created in 1996, largely to address shortcomings in global HIV policy by another UN health agency, the World Health Organisation, which continues to partially fund UNAIDS.
The US, under the second Trump administration, has sharply reduced or paused international funding and support for many UN-related organisations.
Despite the cuts, UNAIDS affirmed it would maintain its presence in 36 countries, with Nairobi emerging as a key location in its revised operational strategy.
UNAIDS could soon join the list of other UN agencies with a strong presence in Nairobi, which include the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat—both of which have their global headquarters in the city—alongside agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), all operating from the UN Gigiri Complex.
