A co-financing agreement was signed between the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Vietnam to co-fund the HIV/AIDS Leadership Programme, which was previously supported exclusively by UNDP.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister of Development Co-operation at the Swedish Embassy Jan-Olov Agrell stressed that the HIV/AIDS problem is a key concern for Sweden and one of the four strategic priorities for SIDA and Sweden in the 2006-2008 period. Sweden is emphasising the importance of fighting HIV/AIDS through mainstreaming and dialogue.

The main objective of the HIV/AIDS Leadership Programme is to strengthen the capacities of Vietnam’s leaders from the Communist Party, the National Assembly, and local Party and people-elected bodies for multi-sectoral collaboration and effective implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. It is expected that by the end of the programme, people living with HIV/AIDS will enjoy protection and that stigma and discrimination will be reduced by involving leaders at all levels and through the work of the Party on public information campaigns for behaviour change.