“Who will protect our young people?”
Noncedo Khumalo grew up in a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, Eswatini—a country landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique. The 24-year-old has overcome her fair share of difficult times to make ends meet. The recent US funding cuts have now put her future in question.
An urgent call to support youth-led organizations
The survey also warns about the abrupt policy changes occurring as a consequence, including the integration of HIV-specific clinics into general health systems, and the surge of restrictive laws targeting organizations working on gender, diversity, and sexual and reproductive health and rights, using the term “foreign agent” to criminalize their work. These changes are causing the collapse of service delivery models and increased barriers to youth-led organizations, further reducing…
Championing the cause of women living with HIV in Cambodia
Em Ra disappears into the house twice, slipping past the shrine of flowers and incense by the front door. First, she brings out an old HIV magazine. She flips to a page of a small child, sitting on the back seat of a bike, looking straight into the camera. Next, she emerges with two framed photographs from a recent university graduation.
Community-led HIV services under threat: global networks and UNAIDS track the impacts of the US funding cuts
Two new key population-led reports, one by Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC) and another by the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), document the consequences of the US President’s Executive Order in January 2025 which froze all US foreign assistance.
How the shift in US funding is threatening both the lives of people affected by HIV and the community groups supporting them
Community organizations have been particularly impacted by the freeze in funding. Community healthcare workers are losing their jobs, clinics are having to be shut down and, as a result, people in need of HIV testing or prevention or who are living with HIV and dependent on daily antiretroviral medicine are unable to access the life-saving HIV services they need.
Zambian football star Racheal Kundananji named UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Education Plus in Zambia
Zambian football star Racheal Kundananji has been appointed as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador to champion the fight to end AIDS as a public health threat in Zambia.
To end AIDS, communities mobilize to engage men and boys
A regional strategy developed in 2022 by UNAIDS, WHO, UN Women and partners –“Male Engagement in HIV Testing, Treatment and Prevention in East and Southern Africa” – outlines four key approaches: Improve access to health for men and boys and decrease vulnerability; prevent HIV among men and boys; diagnose more men and boys living with HIV; and increase the proportion of men and boys accessing and adhering to antiretroviral therapy.
UNAIDS appoints artist Funke Akindele as National Goodwill Ambassador for Nigeria
ABUJA, NIGERIA, 3 December 2024 — The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Funke Akindele, a multiple award-winning actress, movie producer and director, as its new National Goodwill Ambassador (GWA) for Nigeria. This prestigious nomination recognizes Funke Akindele’s outstanding contributions to the fight against HIV and her unwavering commitment to advocacy, raising awareness, and driving efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by…
Global celebrities unite behind UNAIDS’ call for world leaders to “take the rights path to end AIDS”
This World AIDS Day (1 December), sixteen global celebrities, including Hollywood film star Luke Evans and singer-songwriter Sia of the Unstoppable hit song, are uniting behind UNAIDS’ call for world leaders to protect human rights, which they say is vital to ensuring the success of efforts to end AIDS.
Christoforos Mallouris: From personal struggle to collective strength
Christoforos Mallouris' journey from humble beginnings in Cyprus to becoming a prominent global HIV advocate is a powerful story of personal transformation.
