The Global Health Council is the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to saving lives by improving health throughout the world.

The Council works to ensure that all who strive for improvement and equity in global health have the information and resources they need to succeed.
Global Health Council Receives Ford Foundation Grant
to Strengthen and Expand
the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial
The Global Health Council has received a two-year grant in the amount of $400,000 from the
Ford Foundation to support the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and create an ongoing advocacy initiative within the program called the Candlelight Advocacy Network.

The grant will allow the Council to work more closely with the Candlelight coordinators year-round through new leadership opportunities and collaboration in the planning of the program. While maintaining the spirit of the Candlelight as an international date of remembrance, the Council will develop the Candlelight Advocacy Network, which will unite coordinators around a common agenda and calendar to conduct activities that positively impact global AIDS policy.

Specifically, the grant will help to develop the following new opportunities for Candlelight coordinator:
  • National and Regional Coordinators
    In addition to the current community coordinators, the Council will appoint national coordinators (one per country) and regional coordinators (two per region) to help organize the Candlelight Memorial program in their areas. National coordinators will participate in regional capacity-building workshops (see below). Regional coordinators will form an International Advisory Board (see below). Both leadership opportunities are two-year voluntary programs. The Global Health Council will award certificates of recognition for their service. Apply today!

  • International Advisory Board
    An International Advisory Board made up of regional coordinators from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, Northern America, and Oceana will be created to contribute to the strategic planning for both the Candlelight Memorial in May and the new Candlelight Advocacy Network. The Board will help guide the program’s direction, policy agenda, leadership structure, communication systems, and evaluation. In-person meetings will take place each year in the United States or in other regions.

  • Regional Capacity-Building Workshops
    Each year, the Global Health Council will facilitate regional capacity-building workshops for national coordinators in a different region. Workshops will provide coordinators with opportunities to share experiences, perspectives, challenges, solutions, ideas and strategies regarding the Candlelight Memorial program and the new Network.

  • Information Campaign
    To support coordinators in conducting advocacy activities through the Network, the Council will provide them with substantive, relevant policy content on HIV/AIDS, including the latest evidence, analysis, research and developments from the field. Examples include news, presentations, reports and publications, such as the Council’s own policy papers and Global AIDSLink newspaper.

  • Opening Ceremony
    The Council will co-host an opening ceremony with a coordinator and their organizing team in a different country each May to officially commemorate the start of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The Opening Ceremony will include speeches by both government and civil society groups, as well as the lighting of a ceremonial candle. The ceremony is meant to highlight the partnership between civil society and government, demonstrate the unity between coordinators globally, and encourage governments to use grassroots groups as a resource in fighting AIDS.

  • Improved Systems for Communication and Promotion
    The Global Health Council will also improve systems and materials for communication and promotion to better facilitate the coordinator experience. New initiatives like the Candlelight Connections program which connects coordinators in different regions through correspondence, will be developed, along with an assortment of online and print materials, and media and information-sharing capabilities.
More information about all these initiatives is forthcoming. Read the Global Health Council’s recent press release announcing the grant.

For further questions about the grant and its activities, please contact Todd Lawrence at tlawrence@globalhealth.org or (202) 833-5900, ext. 3230.

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International AIDS Candlelight Memorial
1111 19th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, U.S.A.
Tel: 202.833.5900 | Email: candlelight@globalhealth.org