STOPAIDS organised a meeting for UK civil society & communities on Monday 6th September for Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima’s visit to the UK. Winnie’s visit came at a key time for the HIV response, with the recent adoption of UNAIDS’ Global AIDS Strategy and the UN Political Declaration on HIV & AIDS and brought together UK civil society stakeholders working in both the domestic and international HIV response.
The meeting kicked off Winnie’s visit to the UK and provided valuable context and feedback for Winnie to take to subsequent meetings with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Minister Wendy Morton, Secretary of State for Health & Social Care Sajid Javid MP, UK parliamentarians (including Shadow Development Minister Preet Gill MP) and other UK stakeholders.
Held at Pop Brixton and featuring presentations and discussions on key topics such as the UK Government domestic and international leadership in the HIV response, ending inequalities and advancing the rights of inadequately served populations and HIV and COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and vaccine access, we also discussed ways of working with UNAIDS and & building connections across our respective groups.
This was the first in person meeting for many STOPAIDS members and partners since the onset of the pandemic and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to hear from Winnie and connect with each other.