The International Network of People who Use Drugs, INPUD, is resolute in our support of the HIV2020 Conference in Mexico City.
Despite recommendations of global community-led networks, the International AIDS Society (IAS) have chosen the United States as the site for its next International AIDS Conference in 2020. We will not be participating in this 2020 International AIDS Conference being organised in San Francisco and Oakland. We are proud to stand in solidarity with GNP+, ICW, NSWP, MPACT, ITPC, and with Mexican HIV activists and networks of people who use drugs, who are working hard to plan a community centred, alternative gathering to be held between the 5th and 7th July 2020.
The IAS decision to hold the AIDS Conference in the United States shows a disregard for their own organisational values, which include an explicit focus on human rights and inclusivity, whilst encouraging meaningful engagement of people living with HIV and key populations. Moreover, it highlights a concerning willingness to ignore community voices and further marginalise and exclude already marginalised and discriminated against populations.
Since the last US presidential election, minority and marginalised communities and key populations have experienced increasingly discriminatory political rhetoric, hate speech, violence and a rolling back of freedoms and rights. Travel restrictions affecting people who use drugs, sex workers, and people with a criminal record present a significant barrier for many people who use drugs to participate in the conference in the US. Those restrictions also now apply to people from predominantly Muslim countries and some countries in Central America. These restrictions allow the United States to legally restrict visas for people who use drugs,sex workers and those with two or more convictions. This means that many people who use drugs, as well as other criminalised and marginalised populations, will be essentially barred from attending and participating in AIDS 2020 in San Francisco and Oakland.
Read our full statement here, and follow links to endorse and subscribe to updates about HIV2020.