Asia Pacific Community Experiences at AIDS 2014 - VIDEO

AFAO International works closely with partners across Asia and the Pacific with three ongoing projects being undertaken in collaboration with Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM), Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organisations (APCASO) and Papua New Guinea network of transgender people and men of diverse sexualities – Kapul Champions.

As part of this work 50 Asia Pacific community representatives were supported to travel to Melbourne for the AIDS 2014 Conference under an Australian Government Initiative called the Australian Award Fellowships Program.


In addition to actively participating at the AIDS 2014 Conference, the community representatives also undertook a range of capacity building training that contributed to their leadership skills and organisational experience as well as broader network strengthening between leaders and organisations across the region.


The capacity building training undertaken by the community representatives focused on advancing leadership, advocacy, human rights, HIV financing, social research, HIV testing and social media knowledge and skills. This training was delivered with significant input from the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine and other AFAO partners.

During the course of the advocacy and social media training the community representatives explored the value of video production as an effective advocacy tool. With the support of Raphael Elisha’s video production expertise, the community representatives were able to put their skills into practice and produce a short video entitled ‘Asia Pacific Community Experiences at AIDS 2014’.

This video inserted above aims to tell the stories of the Asia Pacific community advocates and AFAO International partners, explore the challenges they face in their work, highlight the importance of community in the global response to HIV and canvass the visions of community for change in the future.