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Our community health and HIV organizations seize the opportunity of the launch of the 25th AIDS conference taking place in Munich  to alert stakeholders in the international community to the multiple crises our communities are experiencing, endangering our security and our right to health. From human rights and climate change to armed conflict, these crises directly affect our lives and those of our loved ones.

In many parts of the world, we observe with desolation the failure to prevent war and armed conflicts. They are the worst scenarios for tackling HIV, raising concerns about the true risk of an uncontrolled epidemic in several regions of the world. These conflicts cause preventable deaths and diseases, particularly infectious ones, in contexts where the implementation of health policies becomes almost impossible, or is even impeded. In recent months, various armed conflicts have been marked by the destruction of health infrastructures, killing many civilians and effectively preventing access to healthcare for all. Rebuilding these infrastructures will take years, at the same time as funding the war effort is taking resources that could be allocated to healthcare. The use of famine as a weapon of war has led to the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded, according to the UN. In these contexts of war, we are horrified to observe the trampling of the right to health, particularly that of civilian populations.

The year 2024 sees more than half the world's population engaged in elections, marked by the rise of reactionary movements across the globe. By attacking the rights of women and sexual and gender minorities in particular, these movements are compromising rights already won or yet to be won, and fuelling growing tensions even in multilateral forums. In many contexts, and sometimes without the need to take power, these groups threaten the rights of our communities and compromise our security and physical integrity.

Our communities are also distressed to see that not enough is being done to prevent climate change. We have learned the hard way that climate crises, while threatening us all, also favor the emergence of new diseases and increase the risk of pandemics. We also know that these crises threaten the security of our communities and contribute to the emergence and fuelling of armed conflicts. Every day, we engage in efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics, but it is crucial to take ambitious international action to tackle climate change.

Despite these challenges, our communities and frontline organizations continue to play a central role in ensuring continuity of care wherever possible. It is essential to ensure that civil society and community representatives play a full role in discussions and decision-making bodies that concern them, at all levels. Initiatives that seek to exclude them must be systematically and firmly opposed. The uncompromising defense of human rights in any context is a moral necessity and a concrete obstacle to the emergence of armed conflicts and the endangerment of civilians.

Finally at a time of heightened political tensions, multilateral funding agencies are irreplaceable in guaranteeing sustainable access to healthcare. But instead of being massively supported, they are nowaday strongly questioned. We call on the international community to demonstrate firm support to multilateral organizations, particularly through financial mobilization. In a context of replenishing the resources of many global health organizations, they are particularly called upon to do so.

We call on the international community to take immediate action to guarantee a peaceful future that respects the right to health for all.