The UN in Vietnam plays a key role in providing high-level advocacy to strengthen the national HIV response. Its work, implemented primarily by UNAIDS and WHO, supports targeted prevention interventions for MARPs and treatment, care and support for PLHIV. In COP 12, the UN Resident Coordinator, which serves as the secretariat for all UN agencies in Vietnam, will continue to strengthen the coordination of donors and the government of Vietnam (GVN) across the HIV sector at all levels. UN activities also will provide key strategic information interventions to strengthen the evaluation capacity of GVN and increase the involvement of key populations to understand the epidemic. Geographic coverage will be at the national level. Hiring vehicles to support program implementation and monitoring is required from time to time. Vehicles for staff transportation will ensure timely, effective and quality delivery of project activities implemented in collaboration with government and other local partners.

In COP 12, a key focus of the UN will be to further facilitate capacity-building efforts for data analysis, and to promote evidence-informed resource allocation through provision of technical assistance (TA) at the national and regional level (through the Regional Institutes). Key COP 12 activities will include: -Support WHO in hiring a mid-level health information systems (HIS) technical advisor. The advisor will provide technical support in the application of qualitative and quantitative methods in the conduct of eHealth and HIS architecture, information and communications technology (ICT) project management, and analytic studies related to the use of health information for decision-making. The advisor will increase the health informatics capacity of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control (VAAC) in planning, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating eHealth and HIS solutions, management and sharing; integrating evidence into the management processes; and in promoting the application of appropriate health information technologies; -Support the finalization of the new National HIV Strategy 2011-2020, and support the VAAC and the National SI/M&E TWG in the implementation of the National M&E plan and its program of action under the new national strategy. -Continue work with the VAAC to develop a set of geographic prioritization criteria to classify different geographic areas according to the type or severity of the HIV epidemic, to prioritize provincial-level resource allocations. -Improve routine HIV surveillance by providing trainings and expert TA to develop a new sentinel surveillance protocol that relies on more rigorous methods and includes training materials. -Provide technical support to country efforts to improve the routine M&E system by addressing the link of HTC to case reporting and data collection systems unifying paper/pencil and digital reporting. UN will also support the field test and expand the PMTCT monitoring system that includes measures of impact, cross-cutting with the MTCT program by supporting better retention of exposed infants.

In COP 12, the UN Resident Coordinator will continue to leverage comparative advantages in policy advocacy and partnership building among government, civil society, international partners and other stakeholders. It will cement existing strong relationships and build new relationships with new leaders at central and provincial levels, focusing in particular on strengthening commitment and capacity for a sustainable HIV response (through the use of proven harm-reduction practices; the involvement of key affected populations; and mainstreaming HIV into socioeconomic development planning) and increased domestic resources for the response. Priorities include: 1) Ensure that new leaders at all levels have knowledge of HIV and the response in Vietnam; 2) Continue support to the National Committee on AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control to build its capacity to advocate for a sustainable response and national funding; and 3) Support targeted provinces to increase coordination and the sustainability of provincial responses, and provide best practice examples for other provinces. COP 12 OHSS activities also will strengthen the capacity within the Ministry of Health (MOH) to: 1) Provide technical support to facilitate the establishment of Health Partnership Group (HPG) TWGs in key areas of the sector (health information, HRH, health financing, environmental health management, etc.); 2) Promote high-level policy dialogue in health among all relevant stakeholders through quarterly HPG meetings, HPG core group activities and TWGs; 3) Facilitate the review of the implementation of aid-effectiveness principles in Vietnams health sector, including through the Statement of Intent, and ensuring the participation of provincial stakeholders, as well as disease programs; and 4) Promote the use of the Joint Annual Health Review (JAHR) as a basis for stronger and more effective policy dialogue among all stakeholders in health, including through a stronger linkage between JAHR and the planning process, as well as greater involvement of Ministry of Health (MOH) departments and disease programs in the process.

In COP 12, the UN Resident Coordinator will provide technical assistance(TA) to the government of Vietnam (GVN) at national and provincial levels on the following issues: -Policy advocacy and TA to develop a comprehensive package of HIV services for sex workers (SWs); -Support meetings of the national sex work and HIV working group through the semiannual convening of a core group of Provincial AIDS Committee (PAC) representatives and peer educators from 5 provinces; -TA to rollout of a comprehensive package of HIV services for MSM (national guidelines) to 5 provinces; and -Support quarterly meetings of the national MSM working group and 7 provincial MSM working groups. Additionally, the UNRC will build the capacity of leaders of MSM and SW networks in the areas of advocacy, leadership and governance.

In COP 12, UNRC will provide technical assistance (TA) to the Provincial AIDS Committees (PACs) on estimations, projections, and the collection and disposal of needles and syringes (N/S). Several steps covered in this activity include: -Assist the government of Vietnam (GVN) to review, revise and finalize the national guidelines on N/S programs. -Support the rollout of the guidelines. Especially, provide close TA to PACs on conducting N/S estimations and projections; and managing N/S distribution, collection and disposal of N/S in their provinces. COP 12 activities also will support advocacy on comprehensive harm-reduction with local authorities and police in conjunction with the USAID Health Policy Initiative project. This activity focuses on: -Improving police officers understanding and attitudes toward -prevention to the extent that they are more inclined to adopt more liberal and constructive approaches in their day-to-day dealings with MARPS, including IDUs, sex workers (SWs) and MSM. -Intensifying advocacy to improve coordination between public health and public security as a means to ensure more effective HIV prevention.