The UK Consortium on AIDS is a group of more than 80 UK based organisations which work together to understand and develop effective approaches to the problems created by the HIV epidemic in developing countries. It enables each agency to bring its own experience to be shared and used to help all the members improve their responses to the epidemic, through: information exchange – networking – advocacy – and campaigning.

Download our Annual Report 2008/09 (PDF)

Working Groups
Consortium Working Groups consist of member agencies which meet together to pool their expertise on particular issues to strengthen their programmatic capacities and advocacy work. There are a number of active thematic Working Groups at any one time. Currently there are Working Groups focussed on Children Affected by HIV and AIDS, Faith, Gender, Care and Support, and Prevention. There is also a Positive Workers Group.

Campaigning
The Stop AIDS Campaign - our campaigning arm - brings together the energy, ideas and experience of Consortium members in a collective campaign for scaled up international action to address the global AIDS epidemic. By campaigning together in the UK and working with international partners we have kept HIV high on the International Development agenda and mobilised substantial political commitment and financial resources to respond to the epidemic. See also: Stop AIDS Campaign '2010 Target Group'.

Quarterly Meetings
Our (all member) Quarterly Meetings are an ongoing forum where Consortium members can share information & experience and can dialogue in depth on various issues. Meetings in 2008/2009 have featured: Ivan Lewis MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development. Sue Holden, writer and researcher. Malcolm McNeil, Team Leader, AIDS and Reproductive Health Team, Policy and Research Division, DFID. Rutger Hopster, Senior Policy Adviser, EU Department, DFID. Solomon Mugera, Head of BBC Swahili language services. View our Quarterly Meetings page for details.

AIDSPortal
AIDSPortal is our global initiative aiming to facilitate greater knowledge sharing and networking among organisations involved in the response to HIV and AIDS, with a goal of contributing to a more efficient and effective global response to HIV and AIDS. This involves building the capacity of partner organisations (currently networks operating at the national, regional or global level in Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and Latin America) and by maintaining an information hub (www.aidsportal.org) and acting as an information facilitator in areas where we do not yet have partnerships.

Publications
Recent publications: HIV and Health Systems Strengthening: Opportunities for acheiving Universal Access by 2010 (2008). Stop AIDS Campaign Response to the UK Government's Global AIDS Strategy (2008). What do we really mean by ‘HIV Care and Support’? Progress towards a comprehensive definition (2008). Gender and HIV and AIDS (2008). Working Group on Orphans and Vulnerable Children Briefing on DFID’s Revision of Taking Action (2007). Policy Briefing: Strengthening Health Systems to Achieve Universal Access to HIV & AIDS Services (2007). View the complete list of publications.

Consultations, Special Events & Initiatives
Through consultations, special events and initiatives the Consortium has helped to influence approaches to many important subjects. These have included:

Launch - Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS (JLICA) report Home Truths: Facing the Facts on Children, AIDS, and Poverty (2009). Co-hosted by our Children Affected by HIV and AIDS (CABA) Working Group, UNICEF, SCF.

Advisory Group - The AIDS & Reproductive Health Team at DFID invited the Consortium to set up an Indicators Working Group to assist them in developing indicators for the new government AIDS strategy (2008 - ongoing).

UN Special Sessions - Consortium representatives attended, as members of the official UK Government delegation in 2001, 2006 and 2008, United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions on AIDS. This provided unprecedented access to the national and international processes.

Consultation - Updating Taking Action - the UK government’s strategy for tackling AIDS in the developing world. DFID commissioned the UK Consortium on AIDS to conduct a consultation on updating its Taking Action strategy (2007).

Technical Consultation - Children Affected by HIV and AIDS: Universal Access to Prevention, Treatment and Care (2006). Co-hosted by the Inter-Agency Task Team on Children Affected by HIV and AIDS, the UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development, the UK Government’s Department for International Development, and UNICEF.

Guide & meeting series - Workplace Policies Exchange Series (2005) - a series of meetings which stimulated discussion and the sharing of experiences and good practice between Consortium member organisations, government, international agencies, unions and business. A guide for NGOs managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace (2003). Review of the key issues involved in developing a workplace strategy and at how different NGOs and commercial companies approached these issues. It also provided a guide to the key components of a successful workplace strategy.

Consultation - UK Government Consultation with NGOs and Civil Society (2004). As part of the process of developing this strategy, and at the Department for International Development's request, the Consortium on AIDS and International Development co-ordinated a consultation with NGOs and Civil Society.

Symposium - Sharing of Best Practice in Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2004). organised by UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development Working Group on Orphans and Vulnerable Children and the Department for International Development (DFID).

Seminar & Research Paper Series - Education, Schools & HIV/AIDS. A series of 5 seminars and research papers organised by the Working Group on Education & HIV/AIDS (2003 to 2005).

Consultation - The Consortium managed the global NGO consultation on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. This enabled NGOs to influence the structure of the Fund to strengthen its effectiveness (2002).

Mapping Exercise, Paper & Meetings - China HIV/AIDS Initiative (2002 & 2003). Primary mapping exercise of past, present and proposed HIV & development work in China: Represents past, current and potential support to the national HIV/AIDS/STI/RH response by UK-based international NGO. Working paper: HIV and AIDS in China: The emerging response from UK based International development NGOs. Related special meetings.

Seminar - New Challenges for Business, NGOs and Government: Confronting the AIDS Epidemic (2001)

Seminar - The Silent Emergency: HIV/AIDS in Conflicts and Disasters (1999)

International Seminar - Vulnerability of the Girl Child to HIV/AIDS (1999)

International Seminar - Access to Treatment in Developing Countries (1998)

International Seminar - Refugees, Displaced People and their Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS (1996)

(See the Publications for reports of many of these events.)