AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will hold a press conference on the ongoing #MeToo crisis within the UN system, with participation by UNAIDS staffer Martina Brostrom at the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Amsterdam on Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at AHF’s Exhibition Booth #307
AMSTERDAM (23 July 2018)—AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) continues to call for UNAIDS reforms and leadership change following Executive Director Michel Sidibé’s mishandling of sexual abuse allegations involving his former deputy director.
AHF also remains skeptical regarding the accuracy of the recently released UNAIDS statistics, which claim that 21.7 million people are now accessing antiretroviral treatment around the world, despite declining global AIDS funding and persistently high rates of new infections and AIDS-related mortality.
WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE – ‘UNAIDS Must Be Held Accountable!’
WHEN: Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: RAI Convention Center, Amsterdam – AHF Exhibition Hall Booth #307 at the International AIDS Conference (IAC)
WHO:
- Martina Brostrom, Senior UNAIDS Staffer
- Terri Ford, AHF Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy
- Penninah Iutung, AHF Africa Bureau Chief
- Zoya Shabarova, AHF Europe Bureau Chief
Martina Brostrom and AHF leadership will again address the detrimental impact of Mr. Sidibé’s refusal to step down on the credibility of UNAIDS, as well as highlight the dangers in purporting inflated treatment numbers that inaccurately portray the global state of HIV/AIDS.
“UNAIDS and the entire UN system are in need of immediate reforms to address sexual harassment policies and practices so that they can begin to restore the public’s trust in their vital work,” said Terri Ford, AHF Chief of Global Advocacy and Policy. “Additionally, the global treatment numbers UNAIDS is reporting must be looked at more closely. AHF is providing treatment to nearly 1 million people in over 40 countries, with funding declining around the world, we as implementers simply don’t see how it’s possible that 21 million people are accessing lifesaving medicine with all the challenges that still exist on the ground.”
The press conference at the IAC in Amsterdam comes on the heels of other similar actions and advocacy events that have been conducted over recent months to underscore the need to urgently address the sexual harassment crisis within the UN system in India, South Africa, the UK, US, Mexico and Switzerland. The UNAIDS scandal has received significant media coverage from CNN, The Guardian, The Independent, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail and others. AHF has also petitioned UNAIDS donor countries, the US, UK and the Netherlands to call for reform amidst the inaction of current UN leadership.
AHF PRESS CONTACTS:
- USA & AMSTERDAM:
- Ged Kenslea (in Amsterdam for the press conference), Senior Director of Communications for AHF, mobile +1 (323) 791-5526, email [email protected]
- Denys Nazarov (in Amsterdam for the press conference), Director of Global Policy & Communication for AHF, mobile +1(323) 533-9842, email [email protected]
- AMSTERDAM:
- Kim Visser, PR manager, mobile +31 6 15476172, email [email protected]
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 950,000 individuals in 41 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
