Ten exceptional community-based organizations have won the 2016 Red Ribbon Award for their inspiring work towards ending or reducing the impact of the AIDS epidemic.
They were presented with the prize in a special session at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa.
The 2016 winning organizations are from Burundi, Mexico, Belize, Kenya, Nigeria, Iran (Tehran Positive Club), Nepal, Chile and New Zealand. Almost 1,000 nominations were received from more than 120 countries, for the Award, which is hosted by UNAIDS in partnership with AIDS 2016, the Global Network of People Living with HIV, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations and Irish Aid. A global panel of civil society representatives selected the finalists from a shortlist determined by regional panels.
Each of the winning organizations will receive a $10,000 grant and have been invited to participate in AIDS 2016, where they organize the Community Dialogue Space in the Global Village.
The Red Ribbon Award was first presented in 2006 and since then has been awarded every two years at the International AIDS Conference. This year there were five award categories: Good Health and Wellbeing; Reduced Inequalities; Gender Equality; Just, Peaceful and Inclusive Societies; and Global Partnerships.
Tehran Positive Club (Iran) provides positive prevention and psychosocial support with the aim of empowering and developing the capacities of people living with HIV (PLHIV) for the management and improvement of life skills as well as reduction of stigma and discrimination in Iran.
For 10 years now, Tehran Positive Club has been delivering services to people living with HIV, persons affected by HIV, and people in the community as well as the prisoners by providing equality to prisoners who are at risk of HIV, especially those with a history of injecting drug use.