The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), which advocates for the health and human rights of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), released its new five-year strategic plan for 2016 to 2021. Titled “Community Action, Sexual Health & Rights,” the plan focuses on MSMGF’s role and impact in the growing and ever-changing MSM and HIV communities.

Some of the changes to the HIV community listed in the plan include:

  • Persistent and increasing incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among MSM

  • Decreased HIV funding

  • Increase in stigma and discrimination toward MSM

  • Criminalization and stigma around HIV

  • Continued success of antiretrovirals as treatment and as prevention (including pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP)

To guide its work in the next five years, MSMGF chose three “strategic directions”:

  1. “Forging the way: Nurturing and mobilizing leadership for community action in HIV, sexual health and human rights

  2. Breaking barriers: Promoting equitable access to comprehensive and holistic HIV and sexual health services for gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men

  3. Leading together on human rights: Gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men working in broad-based coalitions towards social justice.”

The strategic plan explains in detail how these three directions will be executed, what they should achieve and how their success will be measured.

MSMGF conducted interviews and surveys that helped them to develop these directions. The organization also held a large group exercise asking participants to imagine HIV 40 years from now, which helped develop its focus on long-term solutions.

To read more about the organization, visit MSMGF.org.

To read and download a PDF of strategic plan, click here.