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This blog first appeared on the Huffington Post Canada here .

By Maddison Van Balkom and Emily Major-Girard

Events in Lesotho typically begin with a hymn or a song, followed by a prayer. At a recent sexual education workshop for deaf students hosted by Help Lesotho, the first morning’s hymn started with grins from ear to ear and one small difference: the hymn was silent.

The training room — despite being filled by 63 eager students — was dramatically quieter than the usual cheers and singing that accompany the start of a program. The melody of the hymn was beautifully carried through sign language; a deeply moving and somewhat overwhelming … Read more 


 

39th UNAIDS PCB Meeting

Joint Statement by The Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN), the Interagency Coalition on AIDS & Development (ICAD) & ICASO Follow-up to the thematic segment from the 38th PCB meetin g
Thank you Mr. Chair. Dear Secretariat and member states:

The Canadian Positive People Network, a young, independent network of people living with HIV and HIV co-infections, along with the Interagency Coalition on AIDS Development, a Canadian coalition of organizations, individuals and stakeholders from the labour, faith, and HIV and development sectors, and ICASO, a Canadian organization that acts as a global policy voice on HIV issues that impact diverse communities around the world, would like to … Read more 


 

39th UNAIDS PCB Meeting Joint Statement by CPPN, ICAD and ICASO on the Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) Dear Secretariat and member states: This is a joint statement by the Canadian Positive People Network, the Interagency Coalition on AIDS Development, and ICASO. As a people living with HIV network and organizations which focus on intersectoral partnerships and to enhance global policies on HIV issues, we feel that being accountable to the AIDS response and being accountable all the people living with HIV and key populations affected by HIV mean member states must actively fund and help create a coordinated and sustainable global AIDS response. As a person living … Read more 


 

La société civile canadienne félicite le Canada d’avoir uni les dirigeants mondiaux dans la lutte contre trois des maladies les plus dévastatrices au monde MONTRÉAL 17 septembre 2016  –Aujourd’hui, en signe d’engagement à la santé mondiale et au développement, des chefs d’États ont promis de verser 12.9 milliards $ US au Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme, à l’occasion de la Cinquième Conférence de reconstitution des ressources reçue par le premier ministre Justin Trudeau à Montréal, Québec, les 16 et 17 septembre. « Porté par le leadership du Canada, le monde a saisi cette occasion cruciale pour mettre fin au sida, à la TB … Read more 


 

38th UNAIDS PCB Meeting, Geneva Thematic Session on the Role of Communities in Ending AIDS by 2030 Panel 1: Shaping the Debate with Robin Montgomery, ICAD Executive Director Moderator Question to Robin: What have been the strengths and the challenges of working in a broad coalition to advocate on domestic and global AIDS policy, and how can these diverse civil society groups be better supported in their advocacy? Talking Points INTRO: An intriguing question. To help contextualize, I thought it would be interesting to quickly consult also with other coalition-based organizations on their thoughts and So, in my comments today, I am speaking on behalf of the International Council of … Read more 


 

38th UNAIDS PCB Meeting, Geneva NGO Statement: UNAIDS ED Report This statement is made on behalf of Stop Aids Alliance and the Interagency Coalition on Aids and Development (ICAD) We want to highlight two main issues in relation to the HLM, and ask UNAIDS and Member States for their leadership: Whereas the Political Declaration includes strong commitment to the 90-90-90 strategy , access to treatment and financing issues among others, this must be accompanied with a strong commitment to KP, human rights and combination prevention programs in all countries, including MICs, as the only way to ending Aids by 2030. Many donors are withdrawing their financial support to MICs, often … Read more 


 

38th UNAIDS PCB Meeting, Geneva NGO Statement: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights This statement is made on behalf of a loosely formed coalition of the STOP AIDS Alliance, the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD), the South African AIDS Trust, the Canadian Positive People Network, and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+). Thank you, Mr. Chair. We thank the NGO delegation and strongly applaud the articulate, deeply grounding, and affecting NGO report. We call upon UNAIDS and Member States to ensure strong political support for integrated sexual and reproductive health and rights in the HIV response with concrete targets, indicators and dedicated funding at the … Read more 


 

38th UNAIDS PCB Meeting, Geneva NGO Statement: Financing    Thank you, Mr. Chair, On behalf of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) and the STOP AIDS Alliance. As noted yesterday, the “financing” elephant in the room needs to be urgently and critically addressed. While there has been debate on what the precise figures may be, we now know that to get on the five-year Fast Track we must increase investments from $19 billion to at least $26.2 billion (and ideally $30 billion) by the year 2020. Despite this, we know that with competing crises, the politics of scarcity, and … Read more