The Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF) has been elected as a new civil society partner for the next two International AIDS Conferences in 2016 and 2018.
Ironically, the news comes just weeks after Uganda enacted a law to prosecute men who have sex with men.
Other civil society partners for AIDS 2016 include the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+), International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW), the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and Positive Women’s Network, South Africa.
Equitable access
MSMGF’s mission is to advocate for equitable access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services for gay men and other men who have sex with men, including those living with HIV. It also promotes their human rights worldwide.
The organisation works in close collaboration with other key population networks so that the voices of allied communities most impacted by the AIDS epidemic, namely men who have sex with men; people who use drugs; sex workers; and transgender people, are heard collectively within high-level platforms.
The International AIDS Society, supporters of the conference, said: “MSMGF has served as a major civil society advocacy network that has worked at the global level on behalf of gay men worldwide.
“MSMGF will fill a rotating seat on the Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) which is occupied by an international civil society organization that is working with HIV as a major activity.”
Civil society representation
The call for organizations interested in holding this position was distributed widely with thirteen applications being received. The selection committee, made up of representatives of all the international permanent partners of the International AIDS Conference, as well as a number of additional civil society organizations, gave consideration to the reach, issue-based, and constituency representation within the civil society members of the CCC.
AIDS Accountability International senior researcher Dr Gemma Oberth says getting the health needs of key populations on the agenda is still a challenge in Southern Africa.
However, there are promising signs in the Civil Society Priorities Charters which are being developed as a weapon towards Global Fund new funding model.
“It is encouraging to see Swazi civil society prioritizing access to services for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender], which is fairly high on their list. It is also a good sign that Zambian civil society understands key populations to be a cross-cutting issue, prioritizing LGBT individuals as target populations under their priorities for condom promotion as well as treatment, care and support,” says Dr. Oberth.
Read more about HIV and the key players
Image: A male couple who are members of the MSM rights organisation PEMA in Mombassa, Kenya
© Nell Freeman for the International HIV/AIDS Alliance
