July 17, 2026
UNAIDS at the the African Union Extraordinary Session of the Assembly, Accra, Ghana
African Heads of State and Government will gather in Accra, Ghana, on 21 and 22 July for an Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly focused on ending AIDS by 2030, preventing maternal deaths, tackling communicable and non-communicable diseases and strengthening health systems across the continent.
The summit aims to secure a Declaration committing Member States to implement the African Union Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond: Sustaining the AIDS Response, Ensuring Systems Strengthening and Health Security for the Development of Africa, while mobilizing political, programmatic and financial action across priority health challenges.
The Summit follows the recent adoption of the 2026 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS by the UN General Assembly. Together with the African Union Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond and the Global AIDS Strategy 2026-2031, these frameworks provide the strategic direction to guide Africa’s efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat.
UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, will represent the United Nations Secretary General at the Summit and will deliver remarks during the opening session.
UNAIDS Priority Areas
At the summit, UNAIDS will champion a number of priorities for Africa’s HIV response including:
- Accelerating the implementation of the 2026 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS while protecting the hard-won gains of the HIV response.
- Increasing sustainable, domestic financing and strengthening health systems to secure Africa's HIVresponse to 2030 and beyond.
- Protecting adolescent girls and young women and delivering people-centered HIV services that leave no one behind
- Expanding equitable access to HIV innovations, including long-acting prevention technologies inorder to accelerate progress towards ending AIDS.
- Advancing Africa's health sovereignty by strengthening regional manufacturing capacity and resilient health systems.
Outcomes: The summit is expected to deliver renewed political commitment at the highest level to sustain the AIDS response, strengthen health systems and accelerate progress towards ending AIDS by 2030 as part of Africa’s broader health and development agenda.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Contact:
Sophie Barton-Knott, UNAIDS
bartonknotts@unaids.org
Phone: +41 79 514 6896
Contact:
UNAIDS
communications@unaids.org
Source: UNAIDS
“Reproduced with permission - UNAIDS”
UNAIDS
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