Project profile — International AIDS Society: Support for AIDS Conference 2022 in Montreal

The International AIDS Society (IAS) will be hosting the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) in Montreal, Canada, from July 28 to August 1st, 2022. The conference provides an opportunity for Canada to showcase its leadership work on SRHR and HIV/AIDS domestically and globally with an audience of Canadian and international researchers, policy-makers and advocates. Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) funding for the Conference will support conference running costs and will also provide scholarships for developing country participants to attend, including people living with HIV/AIDS, marginalized population representatives, LGBTQI groups and migrants. Canada has hosted the AIDS Conference previously in 1989 (Montreal), 1996 (Vancouver) and 2006 (Toronto) and the Department has historically funded International AIDS Conferences held both in Canada and in other countries, valuing the biennial event as an important networking, advocacy and financing platform for advancing progress to end the pandemic.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) HIV prevention, treatment and care policies and programs are based on the latest scientific evidence and incorporate innovations in service delivery; and (2) evidence-based actions and investments by all stakeholders, across geographic and sectoral boundaries, fill knowledge gaps and create a sustainable and inclusive response to HIV. The conference is also expected to raise public awareness of HIV or AIDS through the conference's communication efforts and subsequent media coverage. To achieve these results, the IAS will work with researchers, clinicians, program specialists and advocates to deliver sessions and activities in line with AMC's priorities in sexual and reproductive health, infectious disease prevention and control, and gender equality. The ultimate outcome of this initiative is to contribute to a reinvigorated, human rights-based and evidence-informed response to HIV and AIDS.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (August 2022) include: (1) Global Affairs Canada's contribution helped support programme delivery for plenary, symposia, and high-level sessions for the 13,000 HIV professionals, scientists, policymakers, and members of civil society who took part in the 24th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2022) between 29 July 2022 and 2 August 2022; and (2) support from GAC provided 74 scholarships to delegates from low and lower-middle-income countries.