UNODC serves as the lead Cosponsor of UNAIDS for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support among people who use drugs and people in prisons and other closed settings. It works to ensure that national and global HIV responses align with international standards and commitments set by the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board.
Leveraging its mandate and expertise, UNODC works to eliminate stigma and discrimination and scale up evidence-based harm reduction interventions by providing technical assistance, capacity-building and advocacy to ministries of health, justice, interior and law enforcement and to prison authorities, drug control agencies and civil society, including networks of people who use drugs and civil society organizations working in prison settings. UNODC focuses on high-priority countries, including those in humanitarian settings.
UNODC promotes community-led service delivery models, and balanced, health-centred approaches that align drug policy, public health and criminal justice objectives. It supports high-burden and high-vulnerability settings in strengthening policies and service models to expand access to essential HIV services, including needle-syringe programmes, opioid agonist therapy, overdose prevention and management, and treatment and recovery-oriented services, with attention to women, young people and people who use stimulant drugs.
In prisons and other closed settings, UNODC strengthens healthcare systems, integrates HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis services into national public health frameworks, and supports alternatives to incarceration for minor, non-violent drug-related offences, consistent with international standards.
Through multisectoral partnerships, it promotes continuity of care between custodial and community settings, advances community-led service delivery models and works to address stigma and discrimination that hinder access to services. The UNODC Strategy (2021–2025) aligns with the Global AIDS Strategy and is complemented by the comprehensive package of HIV prevention, treatment and care services (WHO, UNODC and the Secretariat), the UN Standards Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the Technical brief on HIV prevention, treatment and care in prisons and other closed settings.
