Thousands to March for Human Rights During International AIDS Conference

April 13, 2010, VIENNA—Internationally acclaimed singer songwriter and AIDS activist Annie Lennox will headline a rally for human rights in Vienna on July 20, 2010. The public rally will follow a march that is expected to draw more than 15,000 fans and participants of the XVIII International AIDS Conference, which is taking place that week under the theme of Rights Here, Right Now.

“Over the last decade HIV and AIDS is an issue which has been increasingly affecting women and children,” said Lennox. “In fact, AIDS-related disease is the highest killer of women of reproductive age across the entire globe. We need to wake up to the fact that women are bearing the burden more than ever. Government leaders must be responsible and accountable for protecting human rights to education, health care, and treatment.”

As part of the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever campaign, the rally will be led by a global coalition of organizations including Lennox’s SING Campaign, the International AIDS Society, and the Open Society Institute, as well as local groups Aids Hilfe Wien and Homosexuelle Initiative Wien (HOSI).

Thousands of people are expected to gather in the city center at 19:00 and march through the streets to Heldenplatz, where activists and government leaders will rally the crowd in support of human rights. The rally will feature people living with or affected by AIDS from around the world.

Following this historical march and rally, Annie Lennox will give a special presentation and musical performance.

Further details on the march and rally, as well as information on the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever global campaign, are available at: www.HivHumanRightsNow.org.

For more information on Annie Lennox and The SING Campaign, go to: www.annielennoxsing.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Anne-Caroline Duplat (English, French)
duplat.nmte@gmail.com
Sigrid Ofner (English, German) ofner@aids.at
Paul Silva (English, Portuguese)
psilva@sorosny.org

About the Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever Campaign:
The Now More Than Ever campaign represents the hope of AIDS activists everywhere to place human rights at the center of the global AIDS response. The campaign stems from a joint statement that was originally drafted for the 2006 International AIDS Conference by 25 leading AIDS and human rights organizations. The statement has since been endorsed by over 650 AIDS organizations worldwide, as well as by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. For more information about the Now More Than Ever Campaign, go to: www.HivHumanRightsNow.org.

About Annie Lennox’s SING Campaign:
The SING campaign raises funds and awareness in order to contribute to support and change. The money raised by SING helps prevent the spread of HIV in South Africa in different ways, most importantly through treatment literacy programs at a direct grass roots level. SING has already reached out to thousands of people. For more information on Annie Lennox and The SING Campaign, go to: www.annielennoxsing.com.

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