Since it started in 1986, the Consortium has raised issues and initiated discussion around aspects of HIV that had previously not been addressed. Through seminars, meetings and papers, it has helped to influence approaches to many important subjects. These have recently included:

> Orphans and Vulnerable Children
> Managing HIV/AIDS in the Workplace
> Education, Schools & HIV/AIDS
> China and HIV
> Vulnerability of the girl child to HIV
> HIV in Refugee and Emergency situations
> The role of business in HIV
> The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria

Very little exists on policies for managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace focused directly on NGOs. International Development NGOs are significant employers of people living with HIV/AIDS, especially through their country offices in areas of high disease prevalence. The Consortium recognises this is a significant omission and commissioned the production of a Guide to NGOs Managing HIV/AIDS in the Workplace.

"There is a growing need to share technical expertise between the fields of health and education (and broader afield) - areas of work usually treated as distinct spheres of responsibility. Moreover, to date, there have been few fora for sharing and building upon the research which has been undertaken on education and HIV/AIDS." (Excerpt from Working Group on HIV/AIDS & Education, Terms of Reference). The Working Group on HIV/AIDS & Education was formed to address these issues.

The Consortium has sought to clarify the details of the emerging response of U.K. agencies to the HIV/AIDS situation in China. We felt that this was also an opportunity to take a more strategic and broadly co-ordinated approach to the UK based INGO response to the HIV epidemic in China particularly around the sharing of lessons learned and advocacy.

The Consortium attended the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS as a member of the official UK Government delegation. This provided unprecedented access to the national and international processes.

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.

The Consortium has also raised awareness of the infringements of human rights of people with HIV, through actions over entry restrictions in the US, China and other places. In particular the Consortium played a vital role in bringing accurate information about the implications of US entry restrictions to international attention.

In association with the Canadian High Commission in the UK, we held a meeting with Heads of Mission from some of the worst HIV affected developing countries who attended to discuss their mutual concerns and experiences and ways of strengthening our collective response.

The Consortium is host to the Stop AIDS Campaign. This is a national campaign calling for the UK government to not only increase its financial commitment to fight HIV but to use its influence to encourage other governments to do the same.

We hold many meetings in addition to the regular Quarterly Meetings or our various Working Group meetings.

Over the past few years our quarterly meetings alone have addressed such issues as… the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; UNAIDS project 'Scenarios for the Future', TB & Malaria: Differences and Commonalities; Global Health Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Perspectives on the NGO Consultation; Access to Treatment: Where We Have Been & Where We Are Now; Conflict and HIV/AIDS; United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS: exploring themes and issues; Current Breastfeeding Issues; The Impact of Stigma and Discrimination on HIV/AIDS and Development Programming; Safe Motherhood, HIV and prevention of transmission from mother to child; Structural Adjustment and Issues of Access to Treatment; New Prevention Technologies: what are the choices and what is the role of NGOs? Even this partial list of subjects should serve to illustrate the diversity of our interests.

(Download our Annual Report 2002, Word file, 25.5KB)