Progress in the AIDS movement has always relied heavily on the courage of leaders.

While science offers us the understanding, tools and technology to prevent and treat HIV, it is leaders who demand the rights of people to access information, prevention, and treatment. Whether they are from grassroots organizations, the business sector, government or media, leaders have struck down laws that discriminate against people living with HIV, secured funds to treat thousands of people, and mobilized citizens to demand government action on AIDS.

Yet despite these victories, little is known about how to facilitate new leadership on AIDS, enable leaders to publicly tackle issues like homophobia or gender norms, or ensure sustained institutional leadership on AIDS.

The aids2031 Leadership Working Group examines the future of AIDS leadership by bringing together different leaders from around the globe to debate and strategize around key questions relating to the sustainability of leadership. Led by Zackie Achmat of the Treatment Action Campaign and As Sy of UNAIDS, the group will tackle several key questions, including:

• What have been key determinants in leadership on AIDS?
• Will AIDS activism develop more widely, especially in developing countries?
• How can we sustain political commitment on AIDS in a world where emerging global issues may push AIDS off the map?

The Leadership Working Group will deliver their findings and recommendations at the end of 2009 as part of the larger aids2031 report, An Agenda for the Future. The Leadership Working Group has also commissioned a series of papers around the following themes; the role of networks in AIDS activism, AIDS policy leadership at the national level, and AIDS policy leadership on the global level.

Focus on Young Leaders

aids2031 believes that building young leadership is crucial to sustaining a long-term response. Young people aged 15 to 24 account for over 40 percent of all new HIV infections, and must be prepared to lead the world’s response to AIDS.

Yet young people are often not consulted in national-level health policy and programs, and there is a growing gap between what academics and policy-makers consider to be the “reality” of young people’s lives, and the actual experiences of young people growing up in a quickly globalized economy. Despite these challenges, a new generation of young activists, artists, civil society organizers and elected officials are tackling the AIDS pandemic in innovative and brave ways.

aids2031 seeks to recognize and foster these young leaders in the AIDS response. In March 2008, aids2031 brought 40 leaders under 40 from around the world for a Young Leaders Summit to discuss how to spark new leadership around AIDS. Read the meeting report here.

aids2031 recently held a 2nd Young Leaders Summit in June 2009 in Oslo, Norway. See videos, photos, and blogs from the Summit here.