International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW), a registered UK charity, is an international network run for and by HIV positive women.
ICW was formed by a group of HIV positive women from many different countries attending the 8th International Conference on AIDS held in Amsterdam in July 1992. HIV positive women shared stories and strategies for coping and devised action plans for the future. An important achievement at this first ICW pre-conference was drawing up the "Twelve Statements". These statements relate to the issues and needs facing all women living with HIV worldwide and form the basis of the organisation's philosophy. During this meeting, the women agreed that they did not want to lose this momentum and ICW was created.
Purpose
ICW is an international network run for and by HIV positive women that promotes and advocates for changes that improve the lives of HIV positive women and gives them a voice.
Funding
ICW is financially supported by many organisations, trusts and foundations. The major ones include DANIDA, NOVIB and UNAIDS. Project-specific grants have recently been provided by Comic Relief and the UK Government through the Department for International Development.