Although the women were of different ages and backgrounds, what unified them at the ceremony was their leadership qualities that exuded dedication to the betterment of the lives of women affected and infected by HIV in their communities and countries.Through innovative responses to the pandemic, these women have been able to restore hope for many women. A twelve-member international review panel, chaired by Sandra Thurman, the President of the International AIDS Trust, selected the fourteen award recipients among many nominations.

The awards were divided into seven categories and there were two recipients per category. For the Providing access to treatment, care and support category, the recipients were Rose Auma, 35 years from Kenya and Anita Isaacs, 48 from Namibia.

Gracia Violeta Ross (30) from Bolivia(who was not present at the ceremony) and Madeleine Lubuya Mbuji (26) from the Democratic Republic of Congo scooped the award in the Addressing Gender Inequalities section.

Kousalya Periasamy (32) from India and Anne Ntombela (35) from South Africa were proud recipients of the awards in the Addressing stigma and discrimination section.

For the Innovative Leadership section, the awards were presented to young Tashinga Matindike (25) from Zimbabwe and 48-year-old Alice Welbourn from the United Kingdom.

For their outstanding work in Policy and Advocacy, Irina Borushek (43) from Ukraine and Veronica Kini Morfaw (47) from Cameroon received the awards.

Dawn Averitt Bridge (38) from the USA and Neema Mgana (32) from Tanzania were honoured for their achievements in the HIV and AIDS Prevention Programmes category.

The Life time Achievements awards were presented to the deserving Professor Miriam Were (67) from Kenya and Dr. Shiela Tlou (53) from Botswana.

Speaking after receiving her award, Rose Auma shared various challenges she faced with disclosing her HIV status and the work she is doing in caring and supporting women living with HIV in Mathare, a slum in Nairobi.

“Providing care and support is not an easy task. It requires sacrifices of time, energy and caregivers’ scarce resources. We are poor but our hearts are rich,” she said.