General Assembly: High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS: Thematic panel discussion 3 - Informal meeting of the plenary, 80th session

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I call to order the third thematic panel discussion of the 2026 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS on the theme 'Community Leadership: Driving an Inclusive and Sustainable HIV Response'. Let me take this opportunity to warmly welcome all of you. I'm honored to serve as your co-chair together with His Excellency Bertrand Sinal, Minister of Health of Haiti. Monsieur le Ministre, vous avez la parole.

You have the floor, Minister. Thank you. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished ministers, representatives of government, and UN agencies, civil society, and communities. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor for me to be taking the floor at this roundtable dedicated to community leadership, which is a key element of any effective, equitable, and sustainable response to the health challenges of our era. In many countries, especially in fragile situations or those affected by humanitarian crises, communities are often the first to respond in emergencies when health systems face major constraints, when populations are displaced. For example, in Haiti, When security limits access to essential services, it is very often community actors that maintain the link between the most vulnerable people and these services. For Haiti, this reality is not a theory. It's what we live every day. Our country is facing a combination of vulnerability factors: political instability, armed violence, population displacement, as well as food insecurity and extreme poverty, as well as the risks— climate risks and natural disasters. In addition, we are also facing stigmatization and discrimination. Which continue to affect certain segments of the population, including those living with HIV and other vulnerable groups. In this context, community organizations and community health agents, associations of people living with HIV, Groups of women and youth, as well as local leaders, play an indispensable role. They are often the first to identify needs, to spread vital information, to direct people toward healthcare services, and to protect the rights of everyone to live with health and dignity. And that is why strengthening Investing in strengthening community health systems is not an option, it is a strategic imperative. The community system, when it is robust, helps to reach people living in the most remote and marginalized conditions. It strengthens the resilience of health systems to crises. It fosters confidence and trust between communities and institutions. It lastly contributes to reducing inequalities which still prevent all people from having access to services they need. However, communities cannot bear this entire burden alone. Their commitments must be appreciated and supported by by lasting investments, by inclusive policies, and by robust partnerships. This leads us to another key aspect— that is, global solidarity. In a world marked by many crises that are interconnected, we have the collective responsibility to ensure that no community is left behind. International solidarity is not limited to financial support. It is the tangible expression of our commitment to human dignity, equity, and social justice. Thanks to this solidarity, millions of lives have been saved. Thanks to the solidarity, communities that who would otherwise have been left behind were able to regain hope, access to healthcare, and were able to make their voices heard in decision-making that concerns them. Today, at a time when we are continuing our efforts to end AIDS and bolster global health security, we ought to reaffirm our belief that communities are not simply beneficiaries of our interventions. They are partners on an equal footing. They are agents of change and pillars of collective resilience. I hope that our exchanges today will allow us to identify tangible solutions to further strengthen community leadership. To protect progress made and to build more inclusive health systems that are more resilient and closer to the population. Thank you for your attention, and I wish you every success in your work. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Minister, for addressing these important points. The global community has been fighting HIV/AIDS as a global health threat for over 40 years. In those 40 years, the communities of people living with, at risk of, and affected by HIV/AIDS have been instrumental in driving and shaping this fight. Since the early days of the epidemic, communities have advocated fiercely for the need to drive scientific innovation, for investments in quality information, care, and services, and to fight stigma and discrimination. We can say with absolute certainty that the results we have been able to achieve so far would not have been possible without the commitment, perseverance, and leadership of communities, including key populations. Despite clear evidence of success. Community-led approaches in the HIV response are under increased pressure. The growing anti-rights movement, shrinking civic space, and decreases in financing all undermine community leadership and therefore our shared goal of ending AIDS by 2030. So what can governments like ours do better to secure an inclusive and sustainable HIV response? In which communities lead. Firstly, we must recognize communities as full partners in our national AIDS responses and meaningfully engage them in shaping policies and interventions. Secondly, we need to make sure that flexible and predictable funding is available. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, we have a long history of supporting civil society organizations directly and we are determined to continue to do so. Through new commitments, we will invest even more in local civil society organizations in Southern Africa to increase access to HIV prevention and care and to secure sexual and reproductive health and rights for women, girls, and key populations. Lastly, we must commit to shape a supportive civic space by reviewing and reforming restrictive legal and policy frameworks. We should also actively combat stigma and discrimination and include communities in policy dialogues, including multilateral forums like the high-level meeting. I look forward to hearing this panel's valuable insights on how to further strengthen community leadership to improve HIV outcomes, human rights, and social inclusion. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, everyone, and welcome to this thematic panel on Community Leadership at the Center: Driving an Inclusive and Sustainable HIV Response. I'm a Belizean transgender woman living with HIV, and for me, it's really important to have this discussion. Communities are the center of the HIV response. And having these discussions during the high-level meeting shows the commitment of all member states to continue engaging communities in the HIV response, keeping us at the center, and ensuring that our national responses are evidence-based and informed by the needs of the people who we serve. Thank you. I really want to thank on behalf of all people living with HIV for all your time, your efforts, and your commitments to really ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We need you now more than ever. And having said that, we have an amazing panel with us today. We shall first hear presentations by the panelists, and thereafter the floor will be open for comments, observations, and questions. I first give the floor to Dr. Dr. George Kippels. His Excellency Dr. George Kippels is the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Minister of Health of Germany, a long-serving member of the Bundestag. With decades of experience in health policy, global health cooperation, and development committees, he has been a consistent advocate for strengthening health systems and international partnerships. He brings deep legislative expertise and a strong commitment to advancing Germany's role in global health. And we just came from an amazing interaction around the leadership of communities hosted by the German government and the Netherlands. So Dr. Kiepels, I want to start with the first question: Why is it important to have meaningful participation of civil society engagement in shaping global health architecture? And how do multilateralism and international partnerships drive effective health policymaking and collaboration to fortify health systems? Over to you.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Germany applauds the Chair for choosing this important topic for the panel. We are meeting in difficult times. Hard-won gains in health and human rights are under pressure. Ending the HIV epidemic cannot be taken for granted. More than ever, we need a global collective effort. For Germany, community leadership is a cornerstone for a successful HIV response. Nearly 30 years of experience have proved that. Communities drive prevention and communication. They facilitate access to care free of stigma and discrimination. And they help to sustain political will. Germany strongly supports community-led responses, both nationally and internationally. At national level, communities are at the center of the HIV strategy. This is reflected in our annual support of €6.5 million for the work of the German AIDS Foundation, an umbrella organization of around 115 organizations and institutions in Germany. The value of these community-led structures extends, extends beyond HIV/AIDS. During the mpox outbreak in 2022, these organizations played a central role in Germany in reaching key populations quickly and effectively because established and trusted structures were already in place. From the German point of view, it's also essential to ensure that civil society is part of governance of UNAIDS, the Global Fund, and other key global partners. With regards to the current process, Germany supports a responsible transition of UNAIDS that preserves its core mandate, including a meaningful role of civil society as well as community engagement. For Germany, the message is clear: communities and civil society are indispensable to reach our goal. They must remain at the heart of our global HIV response. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Dr. Kiepels, for reminding us of the important role of civil society and communities in governance mechanisms. What we see in UNAIDS is that centrality role that doesn't happen in other UN entities, where civil society has a role in the governance body. We need to preserve that meaningful engagement and role of communities in other health platforms. Thank you very much. We will now proceed to our second panelist, Mr. Jeremy Tan. He is the Youth Lead Regional Coordinator, to provide some opening panelist remarks also.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Member States, distinguished delegates, and colleagues. Let me start by saying thank you for giving these spaces to young people and also the community to be a part of this discussion. As someone who works alongside with young key population across the Asia-Pacific, I have seen firsthand how youth-led response change the life of young people. Youth-led organization and community-led organization are often the first place where young people receive information without judgment, where we are connected to services, and where we first learn that our right and our health go hand in hand. However, today I am worried that while we are celebrating the success that we made, we might have overlooked the reality that faced by the young people, the key population and other priority populations. So I want to ask a question: if we are serious about youth leadership and community leadership, and if we say it is essential, why is it still treated as optional priority? Let's look at the number. Less than 3% of the global HIV response flows directly to the community-led organizations, and out of that amount, less than 1% of it goes to organizations led by young key populations. Yes, you heard that correctly, less than 1%. That number itself exposes us that our words and our actions are far away from the direction of building a people-centered and sustainable HIV response. So, you know, some of us here might refute me and say that, but we have made remarkable progress in science, in technology and medicine. Isn't that enough? And the response is no. As mentioned during yesterday's panel session, innovation itself is not enough. It needs the environment that facilitates it. In reality, young people are already facing the direct consequences of it without having our reality reflected. This is shown in the UNAIDS In Danger report, where we see an increasing of HIV cases in 38 countries, and young people are bearing the heaviest burden. This means that we risk losing a generation to a preventable epidemic. So what should we do? What we need to do is to reach young people where they are, in online, in community, and in conversation. To end, I am sure that if we continue on this trajectory, the prevention crisis we are seeing across the globe, especially among young people in Asia and the Pacific, will be unmanageable. We need to ensure the continuation of youth-led services, expansion of comprehensive sexuality education, and also harm reduction education, and the removal of age-related barriers to access information and services. Yesterday, my sister Liliana from Tanzania said it perfectly during the side event, that we must move beyond the business as usual. Instead, fund young people as equal partners, not just beneficiaries. We need a stronger peer-driven investment and intervention across the prevention, the treatment cascade, and the care system, but also meaningful engagement in data generation, governance, accountability, and advocacy. Let me remind everyone in this room and who are listening online that we cannot achieve the 95-95-95 target without advancing the 30-80-60 community-led response target, as well as the 10-10-10 societal enabler target. With that, I thank you.

Well done.

Jeremy, thank you very much.

Jeremy, thank you very much for reminding us of the need to continue engaging youth to do better, for challenging us that we can do better, that what we have done, while it's good, it is not enough. We're amidst a lot of changes, and perhaps these reforms that we are having in our system is an opportunity to meet those challenges. Thank you for bringing the voices of young people into this space. We're going to move to our third panelist, Dr. Dianne Keita, who is the Executive Director of UNFPA and a United Nations Under-Secretary-General, bringing over 3 decades of leadership in international development and public service. Formerly Guinea's Minister of Cooperation and African Integration, she has held senior UNFPA roles and served as UN Resident Coordinator in multiple countries. The question I would like to pose to you is: Based on evidence collected by the joint program, what are the effects of criminalizing key populations, shrinking civic space, and regression in human rights on the HIV response? How do overlapping crises such as funding cuts and humanitarian emergencies compound each other, and what does this mean for communities living with, at risk of, and vulnerable to HIV. Who is being left behind? Over to you, Estiane.

Thank you so much, Erika. Distinguished co-chair of this big panel, Monsieur le Ministre de la Santé d'Haïti, Mr. Acker, Deputy Director of Social Development of the Netherlands, Excellencies, distinguished co-panelists, thank you so much for inviting UNFPA to this important The progress we have made on HIV is remarkable. Since 1996, the global HIV response has saved nearly 27 million lives and treatment now reaches 78% of people living with HIV. This success was built by frontline civil society and human rights activists. It is one of the strongest examples of global solidarity, and this is the place to thank UNAIDS' amazing collaboration and coordination, as well as the co-sponsors. But today, that progress is at risk. You all heard right now Jeremy, right now. We can't let young people and all gender-diverse groups down. We can't let them down. This is so critical. And all of us as co-sponsors in our leadership role, we have our job cut out for us. The historic 23% drop in global development aid last year is putting essential HIV prevention in danger. Between '24 and '25, testing in high-burden regions fell by 20%. In some settings, funding for basic prevention tools like condoms has dropped by over 90%, and uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis dropped by 38%. And let's say the truth, some words today, as sexuality education, cannot even be pronounced in some conditions. Let me say it bluntly there. So these funding cuts are making humanitarian crisis even worse. For a displaced person or a survivor of violence, a budget cut is just a line item. It can mean losing access to life-saving care altogether. You heard honorable minister from Haiti. At the same time, we see civic space shrinking and more punitive laws are targeting the very people most affected by HIV. This regression has fatal consequences. Fear of prosecution drives people away from testing and care. History tells us that disease spreads where human rights are suppressed. Please, let's be very careful with that. It's about people's lives. We cannot end AIDS while criminalization and stigma force people into hiding. All of us, human rights stop when someone else's rights starts. We must remove the legal and social barriers that prevent people from seeking care and invest in programs that reach most— those most at risk. Excellencies, distinguished member states, to end AIDS, we must put communities in the driver's seat. Communities reach people that that health systems often cannot, including K-population, adolescent girls, young women, young men, and every population. They make services trusted, accessible, and free from stigma. I repeat, free from stigma. The involvement of people living with HIV remains critical. Community leadership must be fully supported, properly funded, and protected by law. UNFPA has seen this power firsthand. Through our support to the Youth Peer Education Network, Y-PEER, we have helped translate a grassroots response into powerful global network across 50 countries. We work on the ground supporting youth-led solutions, ensuring that young people have the tools to dismantle discriminatory gender and social norms. For decades, civil society has driven the HIV response. And when resources reach peer educators and community organizations, the results are so clear. They are not only— they not only deliver services, they strengthen people's ability to protect their own health and claim their rights. As we enter a new era of long-acting HIV prevention, the power of community to drive and sustain demand is absolutely essential. UNFPA stands firmly with frontline communities. We will continue to work alongside you to deliver integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health services, guided by our— the motto, "Nothing about us without us." Let us leave here committed to funding community infrastructure, protecting human rights, and anchoring the fight against HIV in health, equity, and bodily autonomy for all. I thank you.

Thank you very much for highlighting the important role of the co-sponsors and for reminding us that while we are having these conversations, it is about people's lives. It is about those persons who have been forced into hiding because of criminalization, and that there is nothing we can do without communities. Thank you very much. And with that, we will come to our fourth panelist. Miss Catherine Nyambura is a Pan-African feminist and global health advocate from Kenya, serving as Director of Programs at the Athena Network. With an academic background in biomedical research and public policy and experience in advocacy and program management, she brings over a decade of leadership across sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, gender equality, and adolescent and youth engagement. Kate, how can gender-responsive integrated services led and adequately monitored by women and girls make a significant difference in bringing existing access gaps and improving the health and well-being of women and girls in all their diversity.

Thank you, Moderator. Distinguished delegates and excellencies, when we talk about integrated services for women and girls, it's not just about efficiency, it's about dignity, survival, and justice. Throughout the history of the HIV response, communities, especially women and girls, have been at the center and the forefront of designing and shaping the architecture of the response. Women living with HIV, adolescent girls, young women, communities have been the first ones to identify the gaps, been the strongest voices of accountability, and the first to respond and articulate the intersection between HIV and other issues. Additionally, and specifically, women and girls don't experience HIV as one issue, SRHR as a different one, and gender-based violence as separate, and discrimination as a fourth. They experience all of this simultaneously, overlapping, compounding in a single body on a single day. A young woman living with HIV who is also experiencing intimate partner violence, who faces stigma every time she enters a clinic, she does not need us to address one of these realities at a time. She needs us to see the whole of her life and respond to it. This is a foundation case for integration. Therefore, integration must be tailored to ensure services reach women and girls in their diversity— adolescent girls, women with disabilities, key populations, women in humanitarian settings and conflict settings, women in rural areas and remote areas. We have decades of evidence, and the evidence is clear. When women and girls lead, design, monitor, and hold accountable the services meant to serve them, those services perform better, coverage improves, trust increases, and quality is sustained. Community infrastructure, including that led by women and girls, is not optional or complementary. It is core and essential to the global HIV response. From our experience and our work, we have learned that girl-led peer networks are more effective at changing norms than top-down messaging. Women and girls have been leading community work, sharing community scorecards, as scorecards which have surfaced the gaps that official data systems really miss. It's not about tokenism, so there is need for us to urgently defend the shrinking spaces for community engagement, making sure women and girls and communities have the spaces, the resources, and the legitimacy to engage., including in shaping and defining integration. From our experience working across Eastern and Southern Africa implementing the What Girls Want program, this is what we have learned. Inclusive design is key from the start. True integration requires designing with marginalized women and girls in mind, not retrofitting as an afterthought. Protecting the right of women and girls to organize and lead 30+ years after Beijing is still critical and important. Mental health must be, as we heard yesterday on the first panel, is not— is a copilot and not an afterthought. Healthcare worker inclusion is a game changer, including that of women and girls in the healthcare systems. It's not about a technism, as I've mentioned earlier. It's about transforming structural power. Women and girls in their diversity must sit at decision-making tables, hold budgets, have the resources, and have the legal and institutional frameworks that protect their rights to organize, advocate, and lead without fear of retaliation. And where those frameworks do not exist, our work is to redesign them and make sure that we continue to deliver for women and girls as those affected, impacted, and at risk of HIV. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Kate. We have heard from our panelists: nothing for us without us, communities at the center, communities in leadership, youth leadership, spaces and resources for women and girls. We need the resources to define and to shape what integration means. Women and girls, a seat at decision-making tables, and I would say we need an upgrade than just a seat. We need to lead the tables and remain central to the HIV response. Thank you to every— to all our panelists. I will now open the floor for comments and statements. I would like to remind delegations that there is no established list of speakers for this meeting. Delegations wishing to speak are requested to press the microphone button. To ensure that we hear as many speakers as possible, delegations are requested to limit their statements to 2 minutes when speaking in their national capacity and 3 minutes when speaking on behalf of group of states. Once again, time limits will be strictly enforced through an automatic microphone cutoff. A timer will be projected on the screen. Delegations may also submit their full-length written statements through email to e-statements@un.org which will be posted under e-statements of the United Nations Journal. I thank you for your cooperation. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Colombia, followed by Malawi.

Muchas gracias. Thank you very much, and my thanks to all of the panelists for their presentations. The history of HIV response shows that the community of persons living with the virus in society and civil society has not just been beneficial, it has also been— played a leading role in the progress achieved in many countries, driving forward changes in planning, implementation, and the evaluation of public health policies, and addressing stigma, discrimination, and even criminalization. For Colombia, strengthening community leadership is an essential condition for building a sustainable response in a context of reduced external financing. Therefore, we are moving towards a model of national ownership in the HIV response through the institutionalization of community organizations. Given their proximity to key population groups, these organizations can identify barriers and build trust in addition to the capacities of the formal system and also improve social contracting systems for the provision of community services. In addition, they have played a crucial role in expanding access to prevention, diagnosis, and care treatment, and the provision of medicines. Equally, it is important that these organizations engage in monitoring. They help strengthen transparency and accountability. They ensure the protection of human rights, gender equality, and nondiscrimination. Therefore, my country hopes that the commitment of states to sustainable financing to support putting communities at the heart of, of this work in the new political declaration will be a question not only of expanding participation, but also of accelerating progress and achieving the goal of putting an end to HIV/AIDS as a threat to public health in 2030. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. The floor is now for esteemed representative of Malawi, followed by Belize.

Co-chairs, distinguished delegates. In Malawi, community leadership and inclusiveness in the HIV response has been one of the significant drivers of progress of the HIV epidemic control. Communities have moved beyond being beneficiaries of services to becoming leaders, advocates, researchers, service delivery monitors, and decision makers in reshaping the response. Malawi also recognizes and has embraced the community and civil society organizations as indispensable partners in service provision, accountability, advocacy, and innovation. Community-led monitoring championed by CSOs generates real-time evidence on the quality of healthcare delivery and ensures that policymakers and service deliver— providers are duty-bound and accountable to the communities they serve. At community level, support groups for people living with HIV have created structures that continue to strengthen the HIV response. These groups have become platforms for empowerment, knowledge sharing, psychosocial support and treatment literacy. Communities and CSOs also play a critical role in improving service delivery through community-led monitoring, thereby strengthening accountability and contributing to improvements in quality, accessibility, and responsiveness of the HIV response. Finally, community leadership is also advancing human rights and gender equality. Community structures have empowered women, young people, and other vulnerable populations to understand and claim their rights, challenge discrimination, and advocate for equitable access to healthcare. I thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to Honorable Dolores Baranda Ramos, distinguished representative of Belize, followed by the NCD Alliance.

Madam Chair, as a sister Belizean, I greet and commend you. Communities continue to be at the heart of the global HIV/AIDS response since the beginning of the epidemic. In Belize, key population groups and people with HIV representatives have an equal seat in our national response. Cognizant of the critical and important role that communities play in the national response to HIV and AIDS, the National AIDS Commission in Belize, with support from UNAIDS, has provided capacity development to several civil society organizations on community-led monitoring, which will allow them to collect and analyze quantitative as well as qualitative data on service delivery. This monitoring empowers clients to drive evidence-based advocacy, improve accountability, and push for equitable care. The AIDS Commission, with the support from the government of Belize, is currently implementing social contracting with civil society organizations in the provision of services to children and their families. Which are affected by and living with HIV, and also our key and special population groups. This supports the Ministry of Health and Wellness in reaching our hard-to-reach populations, and we intend to continue our striving and our efforts. Madam Chair, as a sister Belizean, once more I greet and commend you, and I thank this Forum. Thank you very much.

Now, don't make me cry, Minister. We move over to— I give the floor to NCD Alliance, followed by Mali.

Thank you, Chair. Today, people living with HIV are living longer and healthier lives, Yet many are also living with non-communicable diseases, mental health conditions, and other comorbidities. Health care for people living with HIV can no longer be built around a single disease, nor do communities want it to. Health systems must, must address the full range of health needs people experience throughout their lives. We welcome the recognition of NCDs, mental health, multimorbidity, and integrated service delivery in the political declaration. At a time of evolving global health architecture and increasing financial constraints, integration is not only a health imperative but a practical necessity. Integrated approaches can improve health outcomes, strengthen health systems, and make more effective use of limited resources. The future of the HIV response depends on integrated, people-centered systems that address HIV, NCDs, and mental health together. At the same time, we regret that the current text does not reaffirm the measurable integrated care commitment agreed by member states in the 2021 political declaration. In 2021, member states committed to ensuring that 90% of people living with, at risk of, and affected by HIV received integrated services that address HIV, NCDs, mental health, and broader health and well-being needs, resulting in a— in a an accountability gap around commitments to integrated care. NCDA stands ready to work with all partners to advance integrated HIV, NCD, and mental health services and support health systems that meet the full range of people's health needs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mali, followed by Spain.

Thank you, Madam Chair. For Mali, community leadership is an essential part of the response to AIDS. The role of communities is recognized, and that is reflected in our national strategic plan to combat AIDS. This delegation of responsibility is a pillar of partnership, the fertile partnership between the state and civil society, as well as patient networks. In my country, for example, the state finances civil society organizations so that they can provide services through community clinics for prevention and care for persons living with HIV, as well as their families. And patient networks. The state purchases services for persons that use injectable drugs and provides care to people living with HIV. Being both actors and beneficiaries of services is an effective way to combat stigmatization and discrimination. The co-response together with the state demonstrates the commitment of the state along with civil society organizations to ensure that there is complementarity and a contract for services to be provided for society. And these contracts are financed through the state budget. The state budget pays for these services, and this demonstrates the deep commitment and attention of the government towards civil society. We believe that it is important to continue these investments in order to build community responses that are robust, accountable, and resilient. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Spain, followed by the World Health Organization.

Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. On the subject of the response to the current crisis in HIV, I'd like to— we tend to emphasize cuts to to external financing, but of equal importance is the significant reduction in the space for civil society and the lack of prioritization in investing in community services. All of this could roll back years of progress in the response to HIV, and that is strengthening communities. A strong community network that is healthy and solvent is the best protection to backsliding in primary, secondary, and tertiary care in response to HIV. Therefore, it's necessary to look to the past and recognize the unique and revolutionary role of the community of persons affected in every area of HIV response, including, of course, the political sphere. But above all, it is essential to look to the future to see how are we going to make sure that this is not lost and can be strengthened. We would highlight the role of the community in the present, and we must also say that in addition to all of this primary, secondary, and tertiary care role, it's also been involved in community action, civic awareness, and research. And it also plays a legitimate and key role in We would stress the role and the coordinating role of UNAIDS, which is something that we've applied in our country in the National Commission, which is a coordinating body for the response in Spain, with active participation from the Council of Clinical Advisers of NGOs. Looking to the future requires bravery and commitment, political and financial commitment. This needs to adapt in order to face new challenges and threats in the United Nations response to HIV/AIDS and centering the community, that must continue. In addition to specific structures, we need to make sure that the voice work and capacities and the direct impact of communities is maintained and strengthened. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the World Health Organization, followed by Eurasian Harm Reduction Association.

Chair, Excellencies, colleagues. The World Health Organization places meaningful engagement with communities and civil society at the center of its work and remains firmly committed to advancing community leadership, equity, and human rights as essential foundations of an effective, inclusive, and sustainable HIV response. Community leadership has been at the heart of the extraordinary progress achieved in the HIV response. Alongside advances, communities have shaped policies, delivered services, advanced human rights, challenged stigma and discrimination, and ensured accountability to those most affected. This is especially important as countries advance more integrated approaches to HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections. WHO was pleased to support the Global Network of People Living with HIV, GNP+, and partners in developing the minimum requirements for integrated HIV services. This initiative underscores a fundamental principle: integration is not simply about combining services. It must be people-centered, stigma-free, protect human rights, and be responsive to the needs of people living with HIV in affected communities. As countries implement the outcomes of the high-level meeting, community leadership must remain at the center of efforts, especially to ensure a sustainable response in today's in a challenging landscape of financial constraints and health system transitions. By strengthening primary healthcare while preserving the principles of human rights, equity, and community engagement that have defined the HIV response, countries can build more resilient, sustainable health systems for the future. WHO stands ready to work with communities, governments, and partners to translate the commitments of the high-level meeting into action. Thank you.

Thank you very much to the World Health Organization. I now give the floor to the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, followed by the United Kingdom.

I hope it's working. I'm representing 200 organizations united in Eurasian Harm Reduction Association and broadly our joint Rise and Decriminalize movement. I speak on behalf of communities from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the only region where the HIV epidemic is still growing. Our region is unfortunately known for the lack of governmentally funded access to evidence-based response among criminalized and stigmatized communities, such as harm reduction, and in, in the largest countries of the region. The region is also facing a war comparable to the— in scale to the World War 2, causing deaths, loss of, loss of health and homes, human rights violations, and displacement of millions of Ukrainians. Across our region, people are criminalized and put in prison for drug use, sex work, sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV transmission, or even living with HIV, or illegal migration. These laws drive people away from HIV prevention, testing, treatment, harm reduction, and care. Women who use drugs or living with HIV often have no access to protection, care, or shelters when facing gender-based violence. The same region is experiencing unprecedented shrinking space and attacks on community-led organizations. We are facing an expansion of so-called anti-drug propaganda laws, anti-homo propaganda laws, foreign agent law, and undesirable organization designation. These measures are dismantling organizations that provide life-saving services, monitor programs, and hold governments accountable. In this region, communities are leading HIV response on the local and national level. I have an honor of speaking on behalf of strong, capable, and united communities. Our central message is simple: we cannot end AIDS while criminalizing the people affected and organizations that support them. Community-led services monitoring and advocacy might be recognized as integral components of national health system.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the United Kingdom, followed by Global Black Gay Men Connect.

Thank you, Chair. The UK welcomes this important discussion. Ending AIDS as a public health threat means we must recognize that HIV response has always been driven by communities. Their leadership is fundamental to the response. Today, nearly 41 million people are living with HIV, and for millions, access to treatment has transformed what was once a fatal diagnosis into a condition that allows people to live long, healthy lives. We have seen what works. Community-led approaches have expanded access to prevention and treatment, reduced stigma, and helped reach those too often left behind. But structural barriers, including stigma, discrimination, and restrictive laws, continue to restrict rights and limit access to HIV services, particularly for those at greatest risk. We must protect and defend the rights of those most at risk of HIV and empower communities to lead, not just to deliver services but to shape policies, influence decision-making, and hold systems to account. So investing in community leadership is essential and the foundation of— on which the HIV response is built. If we act on that principle through funding, policy, and partnership, we can accelerate progress, reach those most in need, and deliver more inclusive, effective, and sustainable responses. The UK remains committed to directing our funding to organizations that place communities at their heart, work to remove barriers to access, support those most affected by HIV, and support inclusive and effective programs. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the United Kingdom and now give the floor to Global Black Gay Men Connect followed by National Trans Coalition.

Hi, good afternoon. My name is Michael Ikodaro with Global Black Gay Men Connect. Thanks, Madam Chair and team, for this wonderful panel conversation. I represent a group of black gay men and gay men organizations around the world, and I come to the UN as an important stakeholder in this space. As you know, HIV has been a barrier in our community, not because of who we are, but because of the structural issues that affect the communities that we live in and where we work in and how we engage. And I think it's not because of the sex that we have, it's because of the criminalization that affects and impacts who we are. In countries around the world, including in Senegal, in Ghana, in Equatorial Guinea, in South Africa, across the world, even though there are no laws on the book, gay men are criminalized and are killed across the world. So, as this is an important space that we are in, where this might be the last high-level meeting that we may ever have, it's really, really important for us to draw the curtains back to say, right now, gay men are still being criminalized while being the most at risk for HIV infection around the world. We still don't have a solution for criminalization, but we are calling for all members in this room to stand with us and say, enough is enough. We must stop criminalizing gay men. We must ensure that if we ever have to move this forward, move this high-level declaration forward, we must ensure that decriminalization of gay men across the world, because we will never end HIV unless we end decriminalization.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to National Trans Coalition, followed by the distinguished representative of Thailand.

Thank you, Chair. I'm speaking today as a representative of the National Trans Coalition, a grassroots transgender-led organization in Armenia and a member of GATE. I started my journey in the HIV response as an outreach worker, working directly with communities most affected by HIV. Over the years, through community-led monitoring, research, advocacy, and participation in national decision-making processes, I have learned one important, important lesson: communities do not simply receive HIV services, we improve them, monitor them, and often fight to make them accessible in the first place. This is not only my story, it is the story of transgender communities across the region. While community leadership is recognized as essential to ending AIDS, the HIV response among transgender people in Armenia and beyond has not yet fully realized this principle. Too often, decisions are still made about our communities rather than with our communities. Yet, It is community organizations that identify barriers, build trust, generate evidence, and reach people who are otherwise left behind. Today, together with GATE and community partners, we are preparing a shadow report for the UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. Through an analysis of the HIV cascade among transgender people and the review of state commitments, we aim to highlight both progress and the gaps that remain. This work reflects a simple truth. Communities are not only service recipients, we're producers of evidence, accountability, and solutions. As we look forward to 2030, community leadership must mean more than consultation. It requires sustainable funding, meaningful participation, and shared decision-making power. The question is no longer whether communities can lead, we already do. The question is whether governments and donors are willing to provide trust and space necessary for communities to continue leading the response to HIV. Thank you.

Thank you very much, National Trans Coalition. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Thailand, followed by Global Action for Trans Equality.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thailand firmly believes that communities are not simply beneficiaries of the HIV response, but also leaders, innovators, advocates, an essential partner in achieving sustainable health outcome. Thailand experience have demonstrated that community engagement is more effective when community are fully integrated into the health system, while meaningful community leadership leads to more responsive, equitable, and people-centered health services. For decades, Thailand extensive network of volunteer health workers to promote health supports with the— and strengthen community tasks and outlets. Civil society and NGOs have played a central role in HIV/AIDS response in our country. Importantly, community representatives are also active participants in health governance and policymaking, including to representation of the National Health Security Board and National AIDS Committee. Thailand has also established sustainable domestic financing mechanism. To support community-led response to National Health Security Office and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, to support health promotion, prevention, lead reduction, and community outreach. In this regard, the 2026 Political Declaration truly affirmed the central role of community in the HIV response, strengthening sustainable financing for community-led response, and ensure that meaningful participation of of affected community in policy development, implementation, monitoring, and accountability in all levels. Community must be empowered, adequately resourced, and support as equal partner in ending AIDS by 2030. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Thailand, and I now give the floor to Global Action for Trans Equality, followed by United for Global Mental Health.

Thank you, Chair. I speak on behalf of GATE, Global Action for Trans Equality, an international organization advancing the human rights and health of trans and gender-diverse communities worldwide. Community leadership is not abstract. We have the evidence. Every meaningful advance in the HIV response, from prevention and treatment to integration with gender-affirming care and harm reduction services and the U=U movement, have been driven by communities most affected, demanding to be seen, heard, and resourced. Trans and gender-diverse communities are no exception. Our communities have been here since the beginning, organizing, demanding, leading, and providing services where states would not. Our communities buried our dead and still showed up, still thrived. And yes, we are still waiting to be funded accordingly. The data is clear. Trans women face up to 20 times the risk, the HIV risk of the general population. Trans men, 7 times. However, trans and gender diverse people remain undercounted and collapsed within broader categories in HIV programming as key populations only, or erroneously as men who have sex with men. This is erasure. Trans-led organizations remain chronically underfunded, excluded from national HIV strategies, and absent from the data system that should count them. We cannot end AIDS by 2030 when systematically— while systematically excluding the communities most affected by it. So this high-level meeting must produce a political declaration that goes beyond affirming language. We call on all member states to meaningfully, fully fund community-led organizations, remove all punitive legal barriers that drive key populations away from services, and ensure trans-disaggregated data informs every national response. Communities are not beneficiaries of the HIV response, we are its architects. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to United for Global Mental Health, followed by RedLac Trans.

Thank you very much. Evidence clearly shows that the prevention and treatment of mental ill health reduces HIV infection rates and supports the overall health of those affected by HIV. Mental health conditions are both drivers and consequences of HIV, increasing vulnerability and undermining outcomes across the prevention and care continuum. They reduce testing and treatment uptake, weaken adherence to antiretrovirals, therapy and lower viral suppression. Without addressing mental health, global HIV targets will not be met. But what do we mean by integrating mental health into HIV responses? We mean embedding evidence-based mental health interventions across the full HIV services— service continuum: prevention, testing, treatment, and long-term care within HIV programs and primary healthcare in facility and community-based settings. Allocating dedicated resources to support integrated HIV and mental health services, expanding training and supervision, including community and peer-led approaches to deliver person-centered care, including mental health indicators in HIV monitoring frameworks to track progress and outcomes, and, and addressing the intersecting stigma and discrimination to ensure inclusive, rights-based, and gender-responsive services. The bottom line is, is that if we want to end HIV/AIDS, then we must capitalize on the opportunities that mental health presents as the cross-cutting health issue yet to be fully realized. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to RedLacTrans, followed by ICW.

Thank you very much, Madam Moderator. In Latin America, there is a backsliding taking place due to poverty and social exclusion and anti-rights, anti-agenda governments in our region. The lack of— the absence of programs and taking rights away means that the trans population has to live in poverty and with a lack of comprehensive healthcare for trans persons. I always say that without human rights, there can be no prevention, care, or universal treatment. It is necessary to strengthen this agenda in Latin America and to have a new narrative so that we can understand the needs of trans people after COVID and what is being done currently by anti-rights governments. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS for trans women is 35%. Life expectancy of a trans woman in Latin America is 35 years. That is due to hate crimes against trans women and also because of HIV. It is necessary to strengthen these agendas to make sure that governments in Latin America respect Advisory Opinion 24/17, which is the right to gender identity for trans persons to access healthcare services without stigma or discrimination. In Latin America, we continue to die in the worst circumstances if you're a person with HIV, the subject of tuberculosis, pneumonia. In Latin America, among the trans population, effectively means a death sentence. I wish to say to all of you that We are not dangerous, we are in danger. Thank you.

Thank you very much to RedLacTrans. I now give the word to ICW, followed by the distinguished representative of Brazil. Hola.

Good morning. To put an end to AIDS, first of all, We need a cure that gets the virus out of our body. That would not just be the end of AIDS with long-term injectable medicines. What we need above all is a cure. To be able to end AIDS, we need states that respect human rights, the human rights of all persons, of women, trans people, homosexuals, sex workers, drug users, and indigenous peoples. We cannot end AIDS with stigma, discrimination, and criminalization. When a state tries to take away our identities, there is only one response left. We demand respect for the sovereignty over our bodies and also sovereignty over our territories and our lands. Women living with HIV have been told that we cannot have children because we would have sick children who will die. We have been told how to give birth and then what we should do afterwards. But our bodies are our own. They do not belong to the state. They do not belong to the health ministry. Industries. 40 years— it took us 40 years to get to this point. Today, we are not going to give up, but we do need public policies, financing, and the United Nations, UNAIDS, and other organizations. To be able to end AIDS, we need the maintenance of civic spaces such as UNAIDS. We cannot end AIDS without UNAIDS, and we, people living with HIV, need to be at the heart of the response. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much for those remarks from ICW. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Brazil, followed by Haiti.

Thank you, Moderator. The Brazilian response to HIV and AIDS was built upon a strong role of civil society, social movements, and affected communities. Since the beginning of the epidemic, community organizations have contributed to the formulation of public policies, the defense of human rights, and expansion of access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. We are proud to have included civil society representatives in our official delegation since 2001, a tradition maintained in this high-level meeting. In Brazil, the Unified Health System is a constitutional right anchored by the National Health Council and our national health conferences, which guarantee social participation as a structuring principle and a permanent governance mechanism. Through health councils and conferences, civil society workers and marginalized communities co-decide with government representatives on policies, budgets, and priorities of public health policies. In this way, the National Health Council represents one of the main experiences of institutionalized social participation in health. The government of President Lula da Silva stands ready to share its experience on building its health system in an inclusive and democratic manner and invites ministers of health, civil society organizations, and international partners to join us in weaving social participation into the fabric of global health governance. Brazil also led the negotiation of the first resolution on social participation approved in history by the World Health Assembly in 2024, an instrument that offers important guidelines to guide social participation in the world. In the HIV and AIDS agenda, these mechanisms strengthen the health system's response security and—

Thank you very much to the distinguished representative of Brazil. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Haiti, followed by Ireland.

I'm speaking today as a member of the Haitian civil society. I'd like to remind you that despite the security crisis crises, as well as the economic and humanitarian crisis of the country, the CSOs are still at the front line of the response to HIV. They continue to support people living with HIV to promote their rights and to ensure access to health services for the most vulnerable. Through community surveillance, we have been able to document the challenges that services are facing. The data that we have collected in communities are an essential tool for improving the quality of services and for strengthening the accountability of health systems. However, despite the efforts of the Haitian state, we remain troubled by the reduction in financing for community interventions.— as well as the shrinking of HIV prevention programs for key populations, which remain highly exposed to infection risk and are often the most affected by limitations on access to services. We also are concerned by the consequences of the security crisis on care continuity and access to essential services. It's crucial for communities to be fully recognized as strategic partners and not as simple beneficiaries of programs. Today, we commend the efforts that have been made by the Haitian government when it comes to co-financing programs to fight HIV. However, we call for increased commitment from the state in the long term to establish a national fund dedicated to combating HIV. Civil society in Haiti also advocates advocates for permanent financing for community initiatives as well as meaningful participation.

My camera was cut off for the speaker.

Thank you very much to the distinguished representative of Haiti. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ireland, followed by APCOM. Correction, Ireland has withdrawn the petition. I hand over the floor to Cambodia, followed by APCOM.

Cambodian 95/95 success proved that community drive result.

However, international funding are declining.

We must transition from simply pricing community networks to structurally supporting them through national funding.

The thematic panel highlighted the critical window of action.

We must front-load domestic investment now to avoid the devastating health and financial crisis tomorrow. As Cambodia prepares for economic graduation, we will lose the LDC's TRIPS flexibility, which drives up future costs of life-saving medicine. To absorb this shock, we must urgently implement the non-state actor contracting by using domestic resource. Funding non-state actor today optimize the localized prevention, lower long-term treatment demand, and hardware peer-led network directly into the national system.

It is not a burden, it is the best option to prevent burden. I thank you.

Thank you very much to the distinguished representative of Cambodia, and I give the floor to APCOM.

Happy Pride Month, everyone. I work with APCOM, I'm based in Bangkok, Thailand. APCOM is a regional organization working with communities on health rights and well-being in over 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Prevention options, including both oral and injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP, are central to HIV prevention in the region. Community-led organizations play an equal and vital role in advocating for and delivering these prevention services, ensuring they reach the most affected populations. Despite PrEP's proven efficacy, its uptake across the region remains suboptimal, underscoring the need for targeted, coordinated efforts to address barriers to access, awareness, and adherence. The data shows that HIV infections in the region declined only by 17% since 2010. That's well behind the global target. In this context, APECOM is committed to advancing the health and rights of men who have sex with men and gay men, and also of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics, by strengthening prevention programming and addressing stigma and inequalities. Through our annual community summit last year, Preparing Asia 2025: Making Prevention Choice a Reality, APCOM convened nearly 100 community leaders, governments, and partners to develop a roadmap to scale up PrEP, both oral and injectable, at the country level. This meeting was a follow-up from our seminal and groundbreaking community-led summit in 20— in 2015. That was 10 years ago. Investment in community-led prevention programs is underfunded. Coverage of oral prevention needs to be scaled up., and that's what we're calling for all member states to do so. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Representative of APTCOM. I now give the word to Medical Impact.

Distinguished Chairs, Excellencies, colleagues. 45 years ago, the first reported cases of AIDS, we gather at the moment, of uncertainty and opportunity. The world did not reach the 2025 targets. Funding is declining, conflicts are increasing, and discussions are underway about the future parts of global health architecture. Yet despite all of this, I remain optimistic, because if the history of HIV has taught us anything, it is that some of humanity's greatest public achievements emerge during moments when success seems unlikely. The HIV response transformed science, it transformed public health, but perhaps most importantly, it transformed the relationship between institutions and communities. For the first time on a global scale, people affected by a disease were not only consulted, they became leaders, they became advocates. They became implementers. They became part of the response itself. That, that lesson remains just as relevant today, whether we are discussing HIV, tuberculosis, pandemic preparedness, mental health, or future health emergencies. Communities remain our greatest source of resilience. As we move towards 2030 and beyond, institutions may evolve, mandates may change, and funding mechanisms may adapt. But the principle that communities belong at the center of global health must remain unchanged. In global health, we often celebrate new medicines, new diagnostics, and new technologies as innovations. Yet one of the greatest innovations of the HIV response was recognizing communities not as beneficiaries, but as partners in shaping solutions, because communities are not simply another stakeholder. It is— it's—

Thank you very much for the remarks. We have heard the last intervention from the floor, and we're going to come back quickly to our panelists. Unfortunately, we do have less time, so I'm going to ask my fellow panelists to be a little bit succinct and to try to give closing remarks in 1 minute. Or less. Let's start with you, Jeremy.

Sure, thanks, Erika. Two things stood out the most in terms of all the sharing. I think one is in terms of the progress, our collective role as community, and also the government, and also the indispensable role of community throughout the decades in the HIV response. But also, there is quite a fair bit discussion in terms of not losing the gain in terms of on comorbidity, mental health, SRHR, and etc. But among all the gains, again, we need to remind ourselves on the community— the investment we have made on community leadership and community system. We have been reaping the benefit of having them as the frontliner, as a peer educator, as a leader, as the advocate, and in local community and also the national response. If I may end quickly, but in order to keep that momentum, we need to stop criminalizing and silencing the very community at the center of this

Thank you very much, Jeremy.

Kate?

My takeaway is that community leadership and integrated services are a social and gender justice imperative and a reaffirmation of our human rights. It's an opportunity for us to bridge access gaps because they are rooted in lived realities, designed by people who know those realities best. We don't need more empowerment, We need platforms for leadership and opportunities to lead and co-lead together. And finally is we have succeeded so far because we have continued to recognize and centralize the transformative role of communities at the center of the response.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Kate. Dr. Dian?

The message today is very clear. Communities are important. They need to shape the agenda. But members did as important for the support they give. So let us protect the human right and the dignity for every person everywhere, because public health means taking care of everyone, and human right means leaving no one behind. So let's strengthen integrated health system that bring together HIV, sexual reproductive health, gender-based violence services, and primary healthcare so that no one is forced to choose between essential services. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Dr. Kippels?

I thank you for this fruitful discussion and for the opportunity to present the German position. For Germany, community leadership is a key priority in our HIV response. We have seen that empowering civil society and communities and ensuring their meaningful meaningful participation is key to reach sustainable and effective solutions. Looking ahead, I hope that we as member states will renew our collective commitments and strengthen our cooperation to achieve our shared goal to end HIV/AIDS. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now, I was given the huge task to close and provide a summary, and I would do a disservice if I even attempt, because so much rich discussions and input has been given. But instead, I want to share with you how a transgender woman who used to work in the streets of Tlalpan in Mexico City, engaging in sex work to survive, is sitting here today at the United Nations moderating a table. Because that will give you an insight of what community leadership and supporting communities looks like. I was diagnosed HIV positive in 1995. I volunteered in a hospice where everything we can do is provide a dignified death at that time. I started treatment in the year 2000 with whatever was available. Any donation we received from the U.S., from Europe, we took. When I moved back to Belize, to the country where I was born, we started organizing the National Network of Persons Living with HIV. And there was a UNAIDS office back in Belize, and Miss Melissa Sobers used to take us on her truck, on a pickup truck, picking us all up around so that we can meet and we can organize. And I started to get involved in the HIV response, not only in the country and in the region, I barely had anything. My mother paid for the snacks for the meetings. I used to go to an internet café to be able to communicate, and one day, Miss Dolores Calderón surprised me, the minister who sits in this room, by giving me a laptop so I can work from home. That regional work, that helped me to get where I am today. It opened the doors. Through a grant in the region from the Global Fund, I did my viral load test for the first time, and I found out that I was resistant to the treatment I was taking. Then I was able to take the correct medication, exactly what I needed. It is because of that grant. I have sit in the PCB as delegate for Latin America as delegate for Europe. I am taking part in the working group on the further transition of UNAIDS. I am moderating this panel today. I am the executive director of a global trans organization. And none of that would have not been possible if all of you in this room would have not committed to the past political declarations that had has put communities at the center. So my call for you today is continue with that commitment. Thank you very much. We thank you. We thank you for your active participation during the third thematic panel discussion. The thematic panel discussion 3 is now concluded. As announced in the program, the 91st Plenary Meeting will be held in the General Assembly Hall following the adjournment of this meeting. This meeting is adjourned.