outside UNAIDS, addressing the HIV

Clearly, the UNAIDS family is only one of many partners in this endeavour. Significant
initiatives are well under way outside UNAIDS, addressing the HIV-related needs of men who
have sex with men and transgender people, including some aimed at providing technical and
financial support for country and community action. Multilateral, bilateral and private donors
are increasingly focusing on supporting HIV-related programmes for men who have sex with
men and transgender people. One of the most significant, in financial terms—the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund)—has announced a new emphasis on
gender, including attention to sexual minorities, in its funding guidelines for Round 8 onwards14.
Other relevant initiatives include the development and strengthening of the Global Forum on
Men Who Have Sex with Men, and some strong regional networks, including the Asia Pacific
Coalition on Male Sexual Health and the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities network. Work at
the country level has also increased, with men who have sex with men and transgender people
appearing in more national AIDS plans, and the development and provision of HIV-related
services by governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Initiatives focusing on gender and
sexuality (such as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission’s work on HIV
programme access and same-gender sexuality in Africa15) have also addressed HIV-related issues.
HIV prevention services have been provided by civil society organizations, such as the STOP
SIDA programme (which has been run by the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina for over 20
years), and Voices Against 377—a network of organizations working to repeal the anti-homosexual
behaviour law in India—has been successful in getting the national AIDS programme there to
support their position, on the grounds that the law impeded HIV-related work with men who
have sex with men and transgender people. Diplomatic initiatives addressing the criminalization
of consensual adult homosexuality are also under way in a number of countries. For example,
the British Government has developed a strategy and guidelines for its missions to address
homosexuality and transgender issues, including legal reform, and on 18 December 2008, 66
nations supported a joint statement urging all nations to “promote and protect human rights of