The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to be the new civil society partner for AIDS 2016 and AIDS 2018 conferences

On behalf of the International AIDS Conference permanent partners, the International AIDS Society (IAS) would like to welcome the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to be the new civil society partner for the next two International AIDS Conferences: AIDS 2016 and AIDS 2018. MSMGF will replace the existing partner, Sidaction, who has held the position for AIDS 2012 and AIDS 2014. Other civil society partners for AIDS 2016 are 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.

MSMGF’s mission is to advocate for equitable access to effective HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support services for gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), including gay men and MSM living with HIV, while promoting their health and human rights worldwide. In service of the MSMGF’s mission, efforts are directed toward achieving five immediate goals:

  • Expanded coverage of quality HIV-related services for gay men and other MSM.
  • Realized promotion and protection of human rights for gay men and other MSM.
  • Increased investment for effective health- and rights-focused programs for gay men and other MSM.
  • Improved knowledge of MSM and HIV through the promotion of research, broad-based information exchange, and communications.
  • Engaged MSM advocates, linked to each other and to broader MSM networks at global, regional, sub-regional, and national levels.

The MSMGF has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to the International AIDS Conference, especially through the organizing of the MSM pre-conference and other major activities throughout the main conference. They have also served as a major civil society advocacy network that has worked at the global level on behalf of gay men and other MSM worldwide for the past years. MSMGF has also worked in very close collaboration with other key population networks so that the voices of allied communities most impacted by the AIDS epidemic, namely gay men and other MSM; people who use drugs; sex workers; and transgender people, are heard collectively within high-level platforms.

MSMGF will fill a rotating seat on the Conference Coordinating Committees (CCCs) which is occupied by an international civil society organization that is working with HIV as a major activity.

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.
The set of criteria included consideration of the organization’s proven commitment to:

  • the Greater and Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS (GIPA/MIPA);
  • the full realization of human rights, including those related to key populations and PLHIV, in particular to the principle of non-discrimination; gender equity, the empowerment of women and the protection and promotion of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including their sexual and reproductive rights;
  • evidence-based policies, programmes and interventions that support good practices and are not contrary to scientific evidence of effective HIV interventions; including those that are based on cultural/religious beliefs and/or violate basic human rights principles.

The committee also considered the number of years’ experience working on HIV/AIDS issues, the organization’s commitment to encourage and support enhanced community participation in the conference, particularly of those representing and/or working with the most marginalized and vulnerable and the organization’s ability and commitment to represent and promote the International AIDS Conference publicly.
The partners would like to heartily thank Sidaction for their work and commitment during their representation on the AIDS 2012 and AIDS 2014 conference organizing structures.

Contact details
The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF)
436 14th Street Suite 1500, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
+1.510.629.6534
www.mpactglobal.org
contact@mpactglobal.org

About the IAS

The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world’s leading independent association of HIV professionals, with over 16,000 members from more than 176 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. The IAS members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners.

The IAS is custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia, 20-25 July 2014 and lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 19-22 July 2015.
www.iasociety.org | www.aids2014.org | www.ias2015.org