HRAPF’s Press statement on World AIDS day – 2025
HRAPF’s Press statement on World AIDS day – 2025
PRESS STATEMENT
Kampala, Monday 1st December 2025
Commemoration of World AIDS Day 2025
Today, Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) joins the world in commemorating World AIDS Day 2025.
This year’s theme of “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response” is timely as Uganda and the global community stands at a critical crossroads in the effort to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. An unprecedented funding crisis now threatens to reverse decades of hard-won progress, with HIV prevention efforts facing severe disruption. In particular, community-led initiatives, vital for reaching marginalised groups like Key Populations, have been affected. This comes at a time for KPs in Uganda face intensified persecution under criminal laws.
KP communities in Uganda have always generally relied on community-led clinics and drop-in centres to access essential HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services in safe, judgment-free and discrimination-free environments. Yet these structures have been under siege for more than two years, negatively impacting access to these critical services. Since 2023 when Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act came into force with its criminalisation of the ‘promotion of homosexuality’, KP community drop-in centres, clinics, crisis shelters and safe spaces have struggled to operate under threats of raids, closure and arrest. The recent withdrawal and reduction of funding following shifts in US funding priorities threaten to shut these services down entirely.
Over the past two years, HRAPF has documented increased fear and reduced health seeking behavior among KPs due to criminalisation, and the disruption in access to HIV prevention commodities and technologies has worsened this situation. In addition, KPs continue to face significant barriers in accessing justice, particularly when they experience violence or other human rights violations. The threat of organisational closures under both the AHA 2023 for ‘promotion of homosexuality’ and the NGO Act for doing acts ‘prejudicial to the interests and the dignity of the people of Uganda’ has sharply reduced community outreach initiatives aimed at addressing violence, and access to essential health services.
These realities contradict Uganda’s commitments under the Constitution, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and other international treaties to which Uganda is a party. They also undermine efforts to reduce new HIV infections, an outcome already reflected in recent Ministry of Health statistics showing rising infection and prevalence rates across the country. This year’s World AIDS Day commemoration therefore is a reminder that the fight against HIV is not only a public health challenge but also a human rights imperative.
Yet, despite these challenges, hope remains in the determination, resilience, and innovation of communities committed to ending AIDS. This year’s theme reinforces the need to strengthen healthcare systems, and invest in adequate domestic funding for essential healthcare services to prevent the disruptions caused by overreliance on foreign aid.
This World AIDS Day, HRAPF reaffirms its commitment to providing quality legal support to all persons facing violations related to HIV status and identity, and to advocating for legal and policy reforms that protect the rights of marginalised persons, which is an essential component in reducing vulnerability of KPs to HIV/AIDS.
However, significant steps must still be undertaken by the government of Uganda to avert the current crisis and contribute meaningfully to the global fight against AIDS. We therefore call upon the Government of Uganda to:
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Consider legal reforms that decriminalise identity and expression, including decriminalising sex work and repealing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, in order to curb impunity in violence and rights violations targeting KPs.
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Increase Uganda’s health budget to 15% of the national budget, in line with the Abuja declaration, as a matter of urgency. A portion of this increase must be dedicated to providing essential HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services, with a special focus on KPs, in order to remain on track towards achieving the 95-95-95 targets.
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Strengthen legal protection for KPs who experience violence and other human rights violations, including reprimanding state institutions and officials complicit in these violations, and ensuring effective and timely redress for victims of violence. Reducing the vulnerability of KPs to violence and human rights violations would go a long way towards reducing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
Ending AIDS as a public health threat requires compassion over stigma, inclusion over marginalisation, and evidence over prejudice. Civil society, health workers, justice institutions, and communities must work together to defend the dignity and rights of all persons affected by HIV/AIDS.
HRAPF remains committed to building a society where health services are accessible, rights are protected, and all persons can live free from fear, discrimination, and violence as we continue taking human rights to all!
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF)
HRAPF House, Plot 1 Nsubuga Road, Off Ntinda-Kiwatule Road, Ntinda,
P.O. Box 25603, Kampala – Uganda Tel: +256-414-530683 or +256-312-530683
