Cairo, 1 December 2016 - To mark the World AIDS Day on December 1st, IOM contributed to The United Nations Joint Team on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) launch event of the National AIDS Advocacy Campaign in Egypt.

The launch event took place on December 1st in Bibliotheca Alexandrina under the auspices of H.E. Prof. Dr. Ahmed Emad El din, Minister of Health and Population and included key civil society actors, representatives of youth led organizations and academia.

“IOM advocates for mainstreaming migrants in HIV related activities in Egypt in cooperation with partners, ensuring that an equitable, human rights and gender-based multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS is mainstreamed, operationalized and sustained in terms of planning and budgeting,” said Dr Heidi Goubran, National Programme Officer at IOM’s Migrant Health Unit.

The National AIDS Campaign aims to raise awareness about HIV, enhance prevention efforts and move the various sectors to address the stigma and discrimination that surround people living with HIV in Egypt. The campaign covers 15 governorates in Egypt and aims at promoting engagement with civil society and other stakeholders to spread awareness about HIV and relevant services available in Egypt. The campaign will also encourage young people to carry out testing of HIV as a major step towards prevention and treatment; and will strengthen the role of society and media in educating young people about the risks of the virus and means of prevention through promoting healthier behaviors.

“Egypt can end AIDS before 2030, if we put our hands together, and secure a dignified life for those living with HIV and scale up prevention towards an HIV free generation,” said Mr. Al Mustafa Benlamlih, UN resident Coordinator.

IOM’s contributions are part of IOM’s larger efforts to strengthen the capacity of community health workers among different migrant communities to raise awareness of migrants and increase the success rate for HIV case finding and treatment.

For more information, please contact Heidi Goubran at IOM Egypt, Email: iomegypt@iom.int, Tel. +20 2273 65140/1/2.