Press: “The Path to End AIDS.” LET COMMUNITIES LEAD – WORLD AIDS DAY 2023

“The Path to End AIDS.”

LET COMMUNITIES LEAD – WORLD AIDS DAY 2023

 

The world can end AIDS if communities lead the way. Organizations of communities living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV are on the front lines of the HIV response. Communities connect people to person-centered public health services, build trust, innovate, monitor the implementation of policies and services, and hold providers accountable.

But communities are constrained in their leadership.

Lack of funding, policy and regulatory obstacles, capacity constraints, and repression against civil society and the human rights of marginalized communities are hampering progress in HIV prevention and treatment services around the world.

If these barriers are removed, community-led organizations can give even greater impetus to the global HIV response, driving progress towards ending AIDS.

 

This World AIDS Day, says the Estonian Network of PLHIV, which annually organizes World AIDS Day events across the country, is more than just a celebration of community achievements; It is a call to action to empower and support communities in their leadership roles.

World AIDS Day 2023 will highlight the need to unleash the full potential of community leadership and end AIDS:

Community leadership should be mainstreamed in all HIV plans and programmes, as well as in their formulation, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. “Nothing about us without us.”

Community leadership roles must be fully and reliably funded to ensure the necessary expansion, and properly supported and rewarded. “Not ending AIDS is more costly than ending it.”

 

Barriers to community leadership need to be removed. Advancing the global response to HIV requires an enabling regulatory environment that facilitates the role of communities in the provision of HIV services, provides space for civil society, and protects the human rights of all, including marginalized communities. “Remove laws that harm, create laws that empower.”

 

Communities celebrate World AIDS Day, and around the world shape events and tailor detailed appeals to their specific needs.

Through photos and videos shared on social media, people will be able to witness a kaleidoscope of events, be inspired by determination and hope, and hear community calls to action.

 

The images are also similar and resonate with important changes, including the goal of emphasizing the leadership role of communities: the perspective has changed from looking at people from above to looking at them from the bottom up, and much more.

Because change is not about the moment, but about the movement, the message of “Let Communities Lead” will not just happen overnight.

“The end of AIDS is possible, it is within our power.”