Human rights at the heart of pandemic response strategies
L’Initiative works to remove obstacles to health and human rights by placing inclusion, equality, and social justice at the core of its actions. Its actions primarily target the most vulnerable populations: sex workers, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people who use drugs, and those exposed to gender-based violence. To ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of its support, L’Initiative addresses social, legal, and cultural barriers to accessing care. It actively promotes community participation and systematically integrates gender and sexual and reproductive rights perspectives into all of its projects.
Promoting Health Rights: A Key Milestone in the Fight Against Gender Inequality
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable when it comes to health issues. They face widespread stigma and violence. L’Initiative works to promote sexual and reproductive rights, particularly in connection with HIV/AIDS and comorbidities, and also supports the integration of mental health into care pathways. Between 2020 and 2024, L’Initiative invested €146 million in combating gender inequalities.
PluriElles: Improving Women’s Access to Health in Rural Madagascar
In Madagascar, health indicators show a worrying increase in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and cervical cancer. The PluriElles project aims to strengthen the local delivery of sexual and reproductive health services and support the fight against pandemics in two rural regions. To this end, 25 midwives have been deployed to community birthing centers. At the same time, the project supports referral facilities and community mobilization efforts.
Improving Maternal and Child Health for Vulnerable Women in Ghana
In Ghana, access to mental health care remains very limited, especially for women and girls, who also face numerous barriers to maternal and child health services. Implemented by the organization BasicNeeds, this project aims to strengthen community health systems to better integrate people-centered services–including HIV, tuberculosis, and sexual and reproductive health–with a focus on the most vulnerable women and adolescent girls.
Protecting Everyone’s Fundamental Rights
In the face of social crises and discrimination that hinder access to care and worsen the spread of pandemics, L’Initiative supports targeted approaches for the most marginalized populations. In Côte d’Ivoire, the REVU-Trans project provided 71 transgender individuals with legal assistance, shelter, and healthcare, while over 4,700 sex workers were reached through the POUVOIR project.
Against HIV, PrEP Protects the Most Vulnerable
For people particularly exposed to HIV, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a proven preventive measure. This treatment almost entirely eliminates the risk of infection. The PrEP Femmes project promotes the rollout of PrEP to sex workers in Morocco and Mali, transgender women, and partners of people who inject drugs in Mauritius. Dr. Lahoucine Ouarsas explains the stakes of the project.
L’Initiative & UNAIDS: A Strategic Partnership Against HIV-Related Stigma
A pillar of the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026, the fight against all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination is essential to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Since February 2024, L’Initiative and UNAIDS have been united in a strategic partnership. Through this collaboration, L’Initiative contributes to addressing the inequalities observed in the response to the epidemic in six West and Central African countries.
Training Health Actors and Boosting Their Visibility
L’Initiative firmly believes in the role of communities in the fight against pandemics. It supports projects that build their capacities, promote their organization, and enable the emergence of advocacy rooted in local realities. Informed, organized, and mobilized communities are essential for the development of fairer public policies.
La Fabrique des dialogues: Professionalizing Advocacy to Strengthen the HIV Response
La Fabrique des dialogues is an innovative project led by a consortium of three associations and supported for three years by L’Initiative. Launched in Dakar, Senegal, in November 2024, the program aims to professionalize advocacy and strengthen the capacities of local actors. The goal: to sustainably influence health and human rights public policies through training, technical support, and the creation of a community of practice.
Supporting Young Professionals in the HIV Response Through the IAS Mentorship Program
The International AIDS Society (IAS), the largest network of professionals engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS, is launching the fifth edition of its mentorship program. This initiative aims to train the next generation of HIV professionals by transferring knowledge and strengthening the skills and visibility of young researchers and professionals as key change-makers in the HIV response. L’Initiative has committed €212,448 via the Accélérateur for the 2024–2025 period.
