GNP+ collaborates with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to fight HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

Since the signing of a formal statement in August 2002, GNP+, IFRC and UNAIDS have made official their close collaboration in the fight against HIV-related stigma and discrimination. The three-way partnership calls for the national societies of the IFRC and the agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to work with GNP+ and national organizations of PLWHA to fight HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

Specifically, the partnership calls for broad and creative collaborative involvement in campaigns like the IFRC's "The Truth About AIDS. Pass it on..." - which we launched with the IFRC on World Red Cross Red Crescent Day, May 8, 2002 - and in the UNAIDS 2002-2003 World AIDS Campaign, "Live and Let Live".

It is important to understand, however, that the joint work of GNP+ and the IFRC, for example, is not limited to fighting stigma and discrimination in the context the aforementioned agreement. The official beginning of the partnership between the two international organizations dates back to the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001.

The experience of how this partnership was built has been documented in a case-study to help promote similar collaborative ventures involving national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in their work on HIV/AIDS at the country level. The case study, initiated by UNAIDS, provides a detailed recount of the process that led to the partnership, elaborating on background and examples.

The study was published in the UNAIDS Best Practices-series. We hope the publication will motivate other organizations seeking to forge innovative partnerships to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

To read more about the partnership between GNP+ and the IFRC, you can now download the case study "A Vital Partnership ".