Solidarité Sida
A key contributor to prevention, Solidarité Sida is also an event organiser and partner for community-led organisations all over the world as a multi-faceted non-profit which strives for originality in its culture and guiding principles.
In 1992 AIDS killed millions of people all over the world. Luc Barruet, who was a student at the time, and his friend, Eric Elzière, set themselves a crazy challenge: raising 1.5 million Euro to help sick people without resorting to a call for donations… Solidarité Sida was born!
LITTLE OR NO APPEALS TO GENEROSITY
Solidarité Sida does not rely on donations or subsidies. In order to finance its activities the association has chosen to raise funds through cultural initiatives or events that it organises and produces. More than 6 million young people have already taken part in a Solidarité Sida event.
YOUNG PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE ACTION
The organisation’s history is a powerful demonstration of how deeply young people’s attachment to the values of mutual support and sharing runs. Thanks to its initiatives, Solidarité Sida has given young people room to take action as citizens and responded to their concerns in the areas of health and sexuality.
DOING “WITH” AND NOT “INSTEAD OF”
In order to assist the most vulnerable people, Solidarité Sida has chosen to build partnerships with community-led non-profit associations established in core populations throughout the world. These ties are grounded in trust and mutual respect. The non-profit has made strengthening civil society a priority.
KEY FIGURES
SOLIDARITÉ SIDA
prevention and patient assistance programmes supported
countries of intervention
enthusiastically engaged volunteers
Close up
Youth prevention made in Solidarité Sida
In order to generate curiosity amongst young people and make them more receptive to prevention messages, Solidarité Sida has opted for developing a playful and original approach. Its leitmotif is turning prevention into an event. Some of the association’s flagship actions include “les Après-Midi du Zapping” and the exhibit Sex in the City. The former welcomes thousands of high-school students into theatre halls every year for a 3-hour “show” and frank discussion around sexual health without taboos. The latter has a presence at the Solidays festival and takes visitors on a journey through desire and pleasure before covering risks and means of protection suitable for each individual.
Emergency assistance, responding to the needs of those in the most precarious situations
In France, sex workers, undocumented migrants, drug users and the homeless are often excluded from common law provisions and unprotected by the law in addition to being in situations of immense uncertainty. In order to allow them to focus on treatment, the “emergency assistance” committee of Solidarité Sida allocates weekly aid to them in the form of service vouchers. Thanks to the network of hospitality assistance, the association has developed over the years, these vulnerable people living with HIV can eat a decent meal and have a roof over their heads for the night.
Initiatives to reduce inequalities in access to care
From Niamey to Moscow via Tunis, Solidarité Sida supports nearly 50 non-profit organisations every year through its International Call for Projects. Teams of paid staff and volunteers drawn from within the communities they serve facilitate access to information, testing, ART treatment and offer psychosocial support to people living with HIV in countries where the health systems are often either poor or failing. Among the initiatives that have been supported are a mobile clinic for testing and care for isolated rural populations in Nigeria, a house for young people to speak freely about sexuality in Togo and even group therapy and discussion sessions about prevention for single mothers in Morocco.