STORIES OF HOPE

On Mandela Day, 18 July 2021, we began a journey to co‑create inspiring Stories of Hope with the global HIV community. We started as a group of People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) with a migrant background, coming together to articulate our experiences, confront HIV stigma, and share how our talents help us open up, grow, and become the HIV community icons many of us are today.

The pain, loss, and grief of the HIV epidemic is shared by many more than those of us living with HIV. Orphans facing discrimination, family members navigating strained relationships, caregivers supporting people living with HIV, activists fighting for PrEP access, … All carry part of this struggle. Since 2023, Stories of Hope also celebrates the contributions of our allies by including their stories on our platform. Their voices strengthen our movement against HIV stigma, discrimination, and the inequities in HIV action that persist today.

SHARE TALENT

Stories of Hope is a movement of people. Each one is a Hero of Hope, drawing strength from lived experience around HIV and AIDS. Every hero shares their talent by showing the skills they’ve built, the lessons they’ve learned, the creativity they carry, and the leadership they bring to their community.

BREAK STIGMA

Every story of overcoming and fighting HIV stigma is worth sharing. These stories strengthen our global HIV community, bring us closer to ending stigma and inequities in HIV action, and encourage people living with HIV to reach out to support networks and improve their access to health services.

Click on an image below to meet our talents living with HIV and allies in our fight to end HIV stigma:

We continue to reach out to new HIV icons and work together to capture and share inspiring stories in our fight for equity in HIV action and against HIV stigma. We welcome collaboration with local support and activist groups to share experiences and explore opportunities for equitable HIV action that challenges stigma and discrimination.