Birgit Poniatowski
Executive Director, International AIDS Society
Birgit Poniatowski

For the goal of equality of opportunity for all gender identities to become a reality, we must promote such equality externally through the work our organizations do; internally through our organizational cultures, structures and processes; and personally by modeling appreciation of diversity in our day-to-day behaviour and decisions.

I support the IGC Panel Parity Pledge.

I support the IGC gender-based violence pledge.

Personal Commitments

The IAS has contracted an external consultancy firm to perform an assessment of the current state of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the IAS. The aim of the consultancy is to help us define our futured desired state and how to address the gaps between the current and desired future state. The consultancy will run until March 2024 and the IAS will then look into implementation of recommendations depending on the outcomes of the review.
For the 2024 International Women’s Day, the IAS Youth Hub will host a virtual “Ask the experts” session on gendered perspectives in the HIV response. The partners invited to speak will represent key populations from diverse geographical locations across generations. The session will dive into the intersections of HIV and gender, aiming to discuss specific challenges related to women in all their diversities who are living with and affected by HIV. Participants will engage with experts in the field to encourage a gender-sensitive HIV response. The event will be open to the wider IAS network of over 15,000 people and a recording will be available on YouTube and IAS+.