The focus of this issue is on global advances in conducting monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Only by implementing comprehensive and sustainable M&E systems will we know how much progress we are making, as nations and as a global community, in combating this pandemic. The chapters primarily focus on developing nations and are presented largely from the perspective of evaluators working for donors, international agencies, and national governments. Although it is clear that a comprehensive M&E system must eventually include both monitoring and evaluation, the initial aim has been to establish a foundation derived largely from surveys and monitoring information. To date, much of the focus in M&E has come from the global level because new global funding initiatives been launched and required rapid scale-up and the development of technical guidance, international standards, and indicators for monitoring progress and determining success. At the regional and country levels, the challenge has been to implement national M&E plans and systems within a context of overall low M&E capacity and a range of M&E needs.

This issue explores the potential role of Appreciative Inquiry, a process that searches for what is best in people and organizations, in evaluation. Contributors examine Appreciative Inquiry's approach and impact on the use of evaluation processes and findings, the contextual factors or conditions that make its use in evaluation appropriate, and the challenges of using it. Chapters also provide an overview of Appreciative Inquiry and how it fits within the landscape of evaluation practice, four case studies, and commentary and critique of specific points in this issue, as well as broader consideration of the possibilities that Appreciative Inquiry offers to evaluation practice. By offering evaluators an approach and method for discovering and building on the positive aspects of a program, Appreciative Inquiry is an valuable resource for evaluators. This issue is an indispensable guide to that resource.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to national AIDS programmes and partners on the use of indicators to measure and report on the country response. The 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, adopted at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2016, mandated UNAIDS to support countries in reporting on the commitments in the Political Declaration. The Political Declaration on Ending AIDS built on three previous political declarations: the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS.

According to UNAIDS, more than 36 million people are living with the virus worldwide, and more than 21 million have died since 1980. HIV/AIDS has grown beyond a public health problem to become a humanitarian and developmental crisis. This report: (1) examines UNAIDS' progress, especially at the country level, toward increasing the coordination and commitment of the U.N. global community; (2) assesses UNAIDS' progress in providing technical support info. and in developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to measure results; and (3) identifies factors that may have affected UNAIDS' progress. Also provides info. on the status of the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa.

"Knowing your epidemic" is essential for everyone involved in the response to HIV. Extensively illustrated with graphs and charts, this biennial report presents concise but comprehensive summaries of major issues in the global AIDS response. Annexes provide HIV estimates and data 2001 and 2007, and also country progress indicators.