The Beijing Red Ribbon Forum on Rights and AIDS

1. Why establish this kind of Forum?

Experience from China and overseas has proven that HIV and rights are areas with very close linkages, closely connected to questions of social development. Only through the implementation of a people-centred approach, and by ensuring the protection of people’s rights, can strategies and measures in the AIDS response be operationalised, the scope of the AIDS response be expanded, and the lives of those living with or affected by HIV improved.

Questions relating to HIV and rights have already become important issues in the search by the international community for effective strategies to respond to HIV. Rights-based methods have been created and developed to strengthen the response to HIV and to halt the spread of the epidemic.

China, like many other countries, is still in a phase of active exploration and development in this field. Therefore, after full discussions between stakeholders including relevant government departments, civil society organisations operating in the fields of law and public health, professional and academic institutions,civil society and UNAIDS, consensus was reached to establish a platform which would carry out exploratory research on HIV and rights, providing impetus to the development of China’s AIDS response. This dialogue platform is named the “China Red Ribbon Beijing Forum.” The Forum will be formally established at itsinaugural meeting in July 2010.

2. What are the Forum’s aims?

1. To promote active participation of relevant government departments, relevant civil society organisations and other stakeholders in equal, open, in-depth discussions on topics related to HIV and rights, leading to the formulation of recommendations on policies and action plans.

2. To discuss and investigate effective HIV response strategies which bring together people-centred principles and rights protection principles. To actively provide workable, constructive recommendations to relevant government departments which can be rolled out and applied, and promote the effective implementation of these recommendations in the AIDS response.

3. How to participate in the Forum

The China Red Ribbon Beijing Forum will actively and broadly mobilize and invite relevant stakeholders including government departments, civil society organisations (including grassroots groups), academic institutions, legal sector institutions, persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and their community representatives to participate in Forum activities.

Representatives from these stakeholder groups will participate in Forum meetings, and contribute to its outputs. The Forum’s Interim Steering Committee and the Secretariat will act as the forum’s core coordinating and managing bodies.

4. What will be the structure of the Forum?

The China Red Ribbon Beijing Forum Interim Steering Committee will be the governing organ of the Forum, and will be responsible for selecting and confirming topics for Forum meetings, chairing meetings, and guiding the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat. Members of the Interim Steering Committee come from government departments, civil society organisations, the legal sector and academia, and also include representatives of relevant populations including women, PLHIV and men who have sex with men (MSM). The active participation by government departments,populations affected by HIV and high-risk populations, or organisations and representatives which can represent these populations is encouraged, ensuring that the Forum remains representative and that a broad range of views and perspectives are included. Female members should account for one third of the committee members. The State Council Working Committee on AIDS and UNAIDS will serveas the Forum’s supporting institutions.

Nominated members of the Forum Interim Steering Committee will include the following persons:

Chair: Mr. Wang Longde, President of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and former Vice Minister of Health of the People’s Republic of China

Deputy Chair: Mr. Qi Xiaoqiu, Vice-President of the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control

Committee Members (in alphabetical order, by surname):

Dr. Cai Dingjian, Chair of Constitutional and Political ResearchCenter, ChineseUniversity of Politics and Law

Mr. Thomas Cai, Director, AIDS CareChina

Dr. Hao Yang, Deputy Director-General, Bureau of Disease Control, Ministry of Health

Ms. He Tiantian, Secretary-General of Chinese Women’s Network Against AIDS

Mr. Li Chaolin, President of the Chinese Foundation for AIDS Prevention and Control

Prof. Qiu Renzong, ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences

Ms. Shen Xuan,Ministry of Public Security, Security Office, Department 1 (Deputy Director of Department)

Mr. Tong Ge, President, China MSM Forum

Ms. Wang Kerong, Head Nurse, BeijingDitanHospital and Director, Beijing Red Ribbon Home Office

Mr. Wu Ge, Chair, Constitutional and Rights Committee, All-China Lawyers’ Association

Ms. Wu Xuehua, Deputy Counsellor，Rights Division, All-China Women’s Federation

Dr. Wu Zunyou, Director, NationalCenter for STD/AIDS Control and Prevention

The Forum will be supported by a Secretariat, hosted by the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention andControl, which will be responsible for implementing the decisions of the Forum and carrying out day-to-day work.

Who can I contact for more information?

For more information on the China Red Ribbon Beijing Forum, please contact the Forum Secretariat – the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control.

Contact persons: Zhuang Tao; Xiao Yujie

Contact telephone numbers:(+86 10) 83153187 / 63034521

E-mail address: