Mission, vision and values

VCT day at Sikwaazwa Village, activities include: drama, dance and a condom demonstration. © 2004 Gideon Mendel for International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Our mission

The mission of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance is to support communities to reduce the spread of HIV and to meet the challenges of AIDS. We are working to prevent HIV infection; improve access to HIV treatment, care and support; and lessen the impact of HIV and AIDS worldwide, particularly among the most vulnerable and marginalised.

Our vision

The vision of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance is of a world in which people do not die of AIDS. For us, this means a world where communities have brought HIV under control by preventing its transmission, and enjoy better health through access to comprehensive HIV prevention, care, support and treatment services.

Our values and core commitments

As we work to reduce the spread of HIV and meet the challenges it presents, our actions will always be guided by the following values:

  • The lives of all human beings are of equal value. A person’s vulnerability to HIV is increased by unequal power relations arising from economic poverty and social marginalisation. Gender, religion, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, drug use and sex work are all potential factors shaping unequal power relations, human rights abuses, and vulnerability.
  • Everyone has the right to access the HIV information and services they need. People have the right to full and accurate information as well as to comprehensive HIV prevention programmes. People have the right to access HIV care and treatment, and appropriate health and social services. This includes HIV treatment and palliative care for those with AIDS-defining illnesses, and substitution treatment for those who are drug-dependent.

To uphold these values, and fulfil our mission, we commit to:

  • Enable communities, including the most vulnerable and marginalised people within them, to play a central role in the global response to the epidemic. We believe the most successful responses to HIV are built on local leadership, commitment and responsibility, and are supported by knowledge, learning and resources drawn from local and external sources. Communities need knowledge and resources to respond effectively to HIV and other health and development needs and to claim their human rights.
  • Ensure that vulnerable and marginalised people, and the communities they come from, are meaningfully involved in all aspects of the Alliance’s response. This particularly includes those living with HIV and others likely to affect, or be affected by, the spread of HIV (such as people who sell or buy sex, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, orphans and other vulnerable children).
  • Stay accountable to the people we support, and to those who support our work. We will always act in a way that is open and transparent.
  • Challenge stigma and discrimination at individual, community and institutional levels. HIV-related stigma and discrimination undermine efforts to respond to the HIV epidemic, creating barriers to prevention, care, treatment and support services, and increasing vulnerability, violence and risk-taking.
  • Implement programmes that are gender sensitive, taking into account the roles of women and men. Our programmes will also aim to address power imbalances between women and men and recognise the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights in addressing the root causes of gender discrimination, power imbalance and vulnerability to HIV.
  • Support comprehensive and integrated responses to the epidemic that strengthen health systems, integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights and work to build and sustain key institutions.
  • Hear and respect the voices of children and young people, particularly those most vulnerable to HIV. Children and young people must be supported to participate in decision-making and programming that affects their lives, so they can access and shape child-friendly HIV prevention, care, support and treatment services.
  • Ensure that programming and policy efforts are driven by evidence of what works. This includes actively learning from experiences, adapting programmes to suit different needs and contexts, and influencing national and global HIV policy accordingly.
  • Ensure that programmatic and technical support are of high quality and delivered by well-trained and professional support providers with appropriate skills, a capacity-building approach and a sympathetic understanding of those they seek to support.