The support to HIV/AIDS policy development and capacity building programs demonstrates a growing UN and Government of Iraq commitment to achieve the MDGs and universal access to health and social services as envisioned in the Constitution, NDS (2007-2010) and the ICI.

The project is structured around three Key Services Delivery Areas (SDAs): (i) Support to Policy Development and Planning, (ii) Generation of Strategic Information, (iii) Capacity Development and Training.

Through these three SDAs with their respective outputs and inputs, the project aims to enhance the national HIV/AIDS response through proper policy development, information generation and capacity building. The key interventions of the project include support to the development of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS, Health Sector Response on HIV/AIDS and M & E Plan. The capacity building related interventions are targeting national program officers and NGOs for training in areas of program management, mainstreaming, youth programming, gender, leadership and integration of HIV/AIDS services within the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Programs and the humanitarian response.

Considering the current status of the epidemic, the project has prioritized working with most at risk and vulnerable populations such as prisoners and Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs) as key pillar of the project that is linked to the establishment of strong HIV surveillance system and program development tailored to the type of the epidemic and HIV vulnerability context in Iraq.

During the preparatory phase and following the endorsement , the Joint UN Team on AIDS and the National AIDS program will intensify resources mobilization from both GOI and donors to ensure sustainability and scale up of the interventions including application to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS , Tuberculosis  and Malaria.