Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations and faith-based organizations often function as gatekeepers to the communities in which they work.  IAVI and its affiliated research centers have established partnerships with many such organizations worldwide.

Our aim in these partnerships is to:

• Nurture a national environment supportive of clinical trials through grassroots education and advocacy for AIDS vaccine development. Civil society organizations have played an important role in promoting vaccine literacy in communities around research centers
• Support existing HIV-related community advocacy and education programs, such as those concerned with HIV prevention and gender issues
• Help strengthen the voluntary HIV counseling and testing services and the health care provided by NGOs in communities in which IAVI-sponsored clinical trials are conducted
• Prepare communities for future access to a preventive AIDS vaccine, and do the ground work required to promote its use