Post submitted by former HRC Global Senior Manager Taylor N.T. Brown

Each Dec. 1, advocates around the world come together to recognize World AIDS Day. The annual commemoration is a vital opportunity to remember those who have come before us, show solidarity with communities and elevate the stories of advocates working around the world to end HIV & AIDS.

This year, the Joint United Nations (U.N.) Programme on HIV & AIDS is organizing around the theme, “Communities make the difference.” HRC understands the value of empowered community advocates around the world and through our work amplifies the innovative approaches many use to fight HIV & AIDS.

This spring, HRC Global hosted advocates from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, many of whom are working to end HIV & AIDS and the dangerous stigma around it, at our 2019 Global Innovative Advocacy Summit. Through their words and actions, these activists inspire us to continue working to end HIV & AIDS once and for all.

“These global advocates are leading the way in their communities to support people living with HIV & AIDS. Their efforts show that LGBTQ communities have and continue to make a difference in this fight,” said HRC Global Director Jay Gilliam.

Our HRC Global Innovators are making a tangible difference -- not just in their home communities, but also around the world. They have gone to the U.N. to advocate for the protection of human rights for people living with HIV & AIDS. And in their own communities, they are bringing together peers and community members to push for the inclusion of transgender people in developing national guidance on combatting HIV.

Collectively, they have lifted up LGBTQ people and others living with HIV through Pride celebrations, innovative tools to accessing services, messages of hope and determination and providing support for women vulnerable to HIV.

Working together, we can end HIV.

Visit hrc.org/HIV for more information on HRC Foundation’s work to end HIV and share this video.

For more information about HRC’s work around the world, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter and visit hrc.org/Global.