Human rights march and rally at AIDS 2010

On Tuesday this week, the participants from the International AIDS Conference were asked to join humans rights and AIDS activists, health workers, political leaders and people infected with and affected by HIV to march through the streets of Vienna with Annie Lennox. The march was to highlight how important human rights are in the global response to HIV/AIDS and to reiterate the message of the conference: ‘Rights here, right now’

We were all given t-shirts – with the slogan ‘Human rights and HIV. Now more than ever’  – to wear. The 45 minute march was a sea of orange. The route passed through downtown Vienna. Many of the grand buildings were decorated with the red ribbon.

Everyone had the opportunity to write their personal message or slogan on a placard and display this as they walked. Some of the messages included ‘fund the fund’, ‘love smart, play smart’, ‘treatment because I’m worth it’ and of course ‘rights here, right now’. 

 Annie Lennox is a long time AIDS activist and she passionately promoted her Sing campaign, which aims to bring funds to and awareness of HIV in South Africa. She performed many of her famous songs in between videos of her campaign and sent a clear message about the advancement of human rights in the HIV/AIDS response.

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