The overarching goals of ICAD's Public Engagement Program are to:

• Scale up Canada's leadership to address and reverse the HIV/AIDS pandemic
• Mobilize and build engagement capacity among members and partners
• Engage members, the public, media and decision-makers on HIV/AIDS, human rights and development

Objectives:

ICAD's public engagement objectives are grouped under the following three broad themes:

• Universal Access which includes supporting  sustainable, effective and transparent  funding to civil society in Canada and internationally;
• Prevention which includes support for research and development of new HIV prevention technologies such as microbicides and vaccines; and ensuring that Canadian funding and policies address the social conditions necessary for prevention including the promotion of human rights, gender equality and social justice;
• Health Systems Support which includes strengthening  publicly funded health systems in developing countries to support HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and care

In order to meet these objectives, the ICAD Board has adopted a number of strategies including:

• Grounding ICAD's public engagement work in solid, evidence-based, policy and public engagement research:
• Undertaking public engagement work in coalition with leading national and international HIV/AIDS grassroots organizations;
• Rooting ICAD's work in the experience of people living with HIV and AIDS in the global South and North;
• Building members' capacity by providing them with tools to effectively communicate with the public, media and decision-makers;
• Effectively communicating ICAD's policy and research to members, partners, decision-makers and media;
• Monitoring and building momentum in the lead up to 2010 universal access, health systems, and MDG benchmarks.