World Aids Day 2015 - Getting to zero; end Aids by 2030 was marked with demonstrations, workshops and great music at Icasa in Harare.
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| The Condomise Stage at the Global Village |
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| UNAIDS Director at the e'Pap Stand |
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| Pepfar Ambassador Burke engages with the HIV affected to hear their stories |
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| A flashmob of HIV+ women celebrating their womanhood |
From the UNAIDS Press Statement
On the eve of World AIDS Day 2015, the Executive Director of
UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, stressed the need to reach people most affected by HIV
as he spoke at the opening of the Community Village at the 18th International
Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA).
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| Condom Fashion! |
Mr Sidibé joined hundreds of civil society members, people
living with and affected by HIV and other participants at the official opening
of the Community Village, where he also underlined the importance of engaging
key populations in global, national and local responses to HIV.
“Key populations are helping us to break the conspiracy of
silence,” said Mr Sidibe. “I commend your courage and leadership for building
an inclusive and effective response to HIV.”
The Community Village provides a space for grassroots and
community-based organizations to present innovative, local responses to the
AIDS epidemic and to share information on programmes that are working best
among their communities.
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| Health workers from Senegal to South Africa engage and share. |
“Being here is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with
African key populations—sex workers, men who have sex with men, women who have
sex with women, trans-diverse persons, people who use drugs, people with
disabilities and people living with HIV—in order to end AIDS,” said Regional
Coordinator and Executive Director of the African Sex Workers Alliance,
Daughtie Ogutu.
The knowledge shared in the Community Village is critical as
the most marginalised in society continue to face the greatest challenges in
accessing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. This is due in
large part to persistent stigma and discrimination and other human rights
violations, which are drastically increasing the vulnerability of key
populations to HIV.
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| Icasa is the forum for rights for all |
“Coming from a network of women living with HIV, this is a
safe space to learn and share with fellow communities,” said Lilian Mworeko,
Executive Director, International Community of Women Living with HIV East
Africa. “It gives a voice to some of the issues and concerns we have and helps
us find solutions.”
Ahead of the conference, UNAIDS joined representatives of
key populations including people who inject drugs, gay men and other men who
have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and people with disabilities
who came together at a pre-conference meeting to discuss common challenges and
approaches to advancing health and protection for their communities. The
participants explored innovative programmes and solutions led by key
populations to increase access to HIV services, monitor human rights violations,
eliminate discrimination in health-care and other settings and create the
leadership required for inclusive AIDS responses in Africa.
The 18th ICASA conference comes at a critical time in the
response to HIV in Africa, as UNAIDS urges countries to Fast-Track their
efforts over the next five years, focusing on the locations and populations
most affected by HIV to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
ICASA 2015 AND WORLD DISABILITY DAY
The conference has also coincided with this auspicious day and disabled people from across Africa unite to end discrimination, share their right to sexuality and safe practices.
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