29 November 2011
Call for Equality and Empowerment to mark World AIDS Day
This year, as the Indian response to HIV/AIDS marks a quarter century, the spotlight is on marginalised groups most
impacted by the epidemic. On the eve of World AIDS Day, the Pehchān programme will call for continued and expanded
efforts to protect and support men who have sex with men (MSM), transgenders and hijras in India. In a major event at
the New Delhi YMCA, Pehchān will mark the progress that has been made in addressing HIV in these populations and
highlight the need for sustained investment and support.
More than 200 people including television personalities, activists, policy makers, and people living with HIV will
participate, sharing their experiences and showing their support for the cause.
The theme for World AIDS Day 2011 is Getting to Zero: Zero New HIV Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS-related
Deaths. Reflecting this global goal, the event will present speeches, cultural performances by community members and the
launch of a new set of Pehchān advocacy posters. The evening will also include the staging of a short dramatic piece
that describes a mother’s discovery of her son’s homosexuality.
Initiated in 2010, Pehchān is implemented by India HIV/AIDS Alliance and a consortium of partners including Humsafar
Trust, Maan AIDS Foundation, SAATHII, Sangama, and SIAAP. Working through robust partnerships with the National AIDS
Control Organisation (NACO) and the State AIDS Control Societies (SACS), the programme is building the capacity of 200
community-based organisations to provide HIV prevention programming for more than 4,50,000 MSM, transgenders and hijras
in 17 Indian states. Funded by the Global Fund, Pehchān is their largest single-country grant to date focused on the HIV
response for vulnerable and underserved sexual minorities.
James Robertson, India HIV/AIDS Alliance Country Director, said, "Pehchān’s World AIDS Day event is an opportunity for
us to unite and renew our commitment to stopping new HIV infections. MSM, transgender and hijra communities are
disproportionately affected by the epidemic and yet are still often neglected. While India has put high-risk groups at
the heart of its national HIV prevention strategy, the Pehchān programme is ensuring that communities have the capacity
to take up this charge."
The prominent gay rights activist Ashok Row Kavi continued, "NACO has supported the development of Pehchān to strengthen
government efforts to prevent HIV and protect health in MSM, transgender and hijra communities. We hope that this shared
and collective effort that will spread to other government sectors and to society at large in India and beyond."
Sonal Mehta, Director of Policy and Programmes at India HIV/AIDS Alliance, concluded, "In spite of the reading down of
Section 377 in 2009, MSM, transgenders or hijras remain stigmatized and outside the mainstream. Even as Pehchān empowers
these groups, intolerance and discrimination against them continues and must end. While headway has been made, the
journey to equality is not over."
ENDS