PLWHA in Action on WAD

24 Nov 2006 – 12:43 (modified on 23 Jan 2007 – 11:38)

by mlepeska

Among the organisations is the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (know as GNP +), which is based in the Netherlands and works to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. It bases its work on the Global Advocacy Agenda, which focuses on promoting global access to HIV care and treatment, ending stigma and discrimination, and promoting the greater and more meaningful involvement of PLWHA in decisions that affect their lives and communities

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS is the only international network run by and for HIV positive women.

ICW‘s vision is of a world in which HIV positive women:

· Have respected and meaningful involvement at all political levels, local, national, regional and international, where decisions that affect our lives are being made;

· Have full access to care and treatment, and

· Enjoy full rights, particularly sexual, reproductive, legal, financial, and general health rights,

· Irrespective of our culture, age, religion, sexuality, social or economic status / class and race.

ICW supports HIV positive women worldwide in advocating for our rights – through capacity building, training and linking of HIV positive women; lobbying for positive women’s involvement in HIV/AIDS policy making and planning forums; e-forums for positive women to share experiences and information and support each other; and writing and disseminating publications about our rights.

In the United States, the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) advocates on behalf of all people living with HIV and AIDS, in order to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by it.

ANERELA, is the African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally affected by HIV/AIDS. Its goal is to equip, empower and engage religious leaders who are HI positive to live as agents of change in their faith communities and countries and to advocate for enhanced prevention, care and treatment for all men and women living with the virus.

People living with HIV understand each other’s situation better than anyone and are best placed to counsel and advise one another and to represent their needs in decision- and policy-making forums.

People living with, or affected by, the virus are involved in a wide variety of activity at all levels, from appearing on posters, to telling their own stories publicly and supporting and counselling others with HIV.

World AIDS Day Activities

For World AIDS Day, December 1, networks of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWH) in 12 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are taking action in solidarity together to press their governments to increase their commitment to tackling HIV and AIDS.

The All Ukrainian Network of PLWH along with the Eastern European and Central Asian Union of PLWH Organizations (ECUO) are planning actions in Byelorussia, Poland, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

What will you do? Get Involved

The most important thing, and not just for this 1st of December, is for organisations active in fighting stigma and discrimination, offering voluntary counselling and testing or providing medicine and palliative care, is to work together with individuals and organisations that are representative of the positive community.

To download the Positive People in Action one-pager on World AIDS Day, please see below