We stand together

Communities are essential to the sustainability of the HIV response and the broader global health efforts, and they remain steadfast committed to their mission: ensuring that all people living with and affected by HIV are treated with dignity and respect. 

However, for more than 40 years, communities have faced adversity—stigma, discrimination, criminalisation, funding cuts, and political backlash—despite their primary role ensuring that health services reach all in need, including the most vulnerable populations.

For this reason, on this year’s Zero Discrimination Day, UNAIDS calls on countries, donors and partners to fulfill their commitments to support communities as they work to build sustainable HIV responses by ensuring:

• Community-led organisations are able to deliver life-saving services and advocate without discrimination or harassment
• Community-led organisations can legally be registered in the country they are working in and can receive sustainable funding
• Communities are supported in providing health services to vulnerable and marginalised groups
• Communities are supported and funded in work to monitor respect for human rights including ending criminalization of key populations, stigma and discrimination and gender inequalities.
• Government health services include community representatives within their structures as partners in the development, implementation and monitoring of health programmes to ensure they are accessible and acceptable to people living with HIV and key populations.

Communities of people living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV are on the frontlines of progress in the HIV response. Communities both provide and connect people with person-centred health services, build trust, innovate, monitor implementation of policies and services, and hold providers accountable for human rights violations.

There is clear evidence of community-led impact on sustainability of the HIV response. Nonetheless, community-led responses are too often unrecognized, under-resourced and in some places even under attack.

Crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalized communities are obstructing communities from providing HIV prevention and treatment services.

Underfunding of community-led initiatives is leaving them struggling to continue operating and holding them back from expansion. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organizations can add even greater impetus to end AIDS.

To meet 2030 HIV targets, sustained investment in community-led responses is crucial.

The current crisis caused by the shift in US funding has resulted in deep anxiety and pain for many as the future of life-saving HIV medicines, services, and programmes—including community-led prevention, treatment, care, and support—is under threat.

This is a crucial moment to commend the commitment of the 41 countries and numerous partners who have united under the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination. With the critical engagement and leadership of community partners, this initiative has been instrumental in accelerating the removal of systemic human rights barriers and inequalities, paving the way for a more just and inclusive HIV response.

As we focus on the sustainability of the AIDS response now and into the future, this moment demands that we reaffirm our commitment to community autonomy, justice, dignity, and health equity.