Under the motto “No time to wait. United to end AIDS”, this publication reflects the collective statement from Civil society organizations, key population networks, and communities living with and affected by HIV across all global regions, outlining priorities for the 2026 United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on HIV/AIDS.
GATE is proud to have contributed to the development of the Civil Society Priorities Statements.
The statement comes at a critical moment for the global HIV response. Despite scientific progress and decades of advocacy, the world has failed to meet the 2025 HIV targets. Millions remain without access to treatment, AIDS-related deaths continue at unacceptable levels, and structural inequalities, criminalization, shrinking civic space, and funding cuts threaten to reverse hard-won gains.
Key Civil Society Priorities
1. Recognize Community Leadership
The statement calls for the recognition of community leadership as essential infrastructure in the HIV response, including meaningful participation, community-led monitoring, and sustained financing for community-led organizations.
Trans and gender diverse people are community leaders! Their expertise and experience must be heard and included in every step of the HIV response.
2. Secure Sustainable Financing
Civil society urges governments and donors to protect and expand HIV financing, fully fund community-led responses, and ensure responsible donor transitions that do not disrupt lifesaving services.
Trans and gender diverse organizations have been severely impacted by funding cuts! Our communities need donors and governments to shift funding models to fully fund community-led organizations.
3. End Criminalization and Discrimination
The statement calls for the decriminalization of people living with HIV, key populations, sex work, and drug use, alongside stronger legal protections against stigma, discrimination, and gender-based violence.
Trans identities are still criminalized in many countries worldwide! We need to end this.
4. Ensure Integrated, People-Centered Services
Communities are demanding integrated HIV services linked with sexual and reproductive health, TB, mental health, hepatitis, gender-based violence support, and non-communicable disease care.
Systematic collection and disaggregation of data by populations, including trans and gender diverse people, is essential to end historic invisibilization of our communities in national surveillance
5. Scale Up HIV Prevention
The statement emphasizes the urgent need to expand combination prevention, comprehensive sexuality education, and equitable access to next-generation prevention tools.
6. Advance Equitable Access to Innovation
Civil society is calling for fair access to medicines, technology transfer, regional manufacturing, and sustained investment in HIV vaccine and cure research.
7. Protect HIV Services in Humanitarian Crises
The statement highlights the importance of integrating HIV services into humanitarian preparedness and ensuring continuity of care for migrants, refugees, and displaced populations.
Trans and gender diverse communities are among the most affected by HIV. It is urgent that we protect services during humanitarian crisis.
8. Reaffirm Multilateralism and Accountability
The statement reaffirms the central role of UNAIDS and calls for stronger accountability mechanisms to ensure governments uphold their HIV commitments.
We need a Political Declaration that reaffirms accountability not only in principle, but also a commitment to strengthen it in practice.
Read the full Civil Society Statement of Priorities for the 2026 United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS.
