Member Associations

Gestos is a philanthropic organization founded in 1993 by sociologist Acioli Neto, journalist Alessandra Nilo, sociologist Márcia Andrade and social worker Silvia Dantas. The first project developed was supported by MISEREOR and focused on psychological care for people living with AIDS, as well as the training of information multipliers in the poorest communities of the Metropolitan Region of Recife. Since then, they have effectively contributed to guaranteeing the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS. About 70% of the people who have sought legal support from the institution have had their rights redressed, through precautionary measures and sentences, which today are even part of the list of jurisprudence on the subject of Law and AIDS. Throughout its history, the organization has considered communication as fundamental in the fight against AIDS and has fought to expand this understanding in Pernambuco, Brazil and Latin America. This vision has consolidated Gestos as an important reference in Communication and AIDS in the country, with special emphasis on discussions on Public Policies on Health Communication. They also help to form new civil society organizations, such as the National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (RNPVHA - 1995), the Positive Work Group - GTP+ (2000), the Group of Positive Actions (2003), the Group of Support to HIV Positive People (GASP) 2003, Acts of Citizenship (2006). From 2007 to 2011, Gestos created and coordinated the UNGASS-AIDS Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health, where it oversaw the implementation of agreements signed at the UN in sixteen developing countries. The UNGASS-AIDS Forum has established itself as a space for political debate on issues related to HIV and AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights. They are also a consultative NGO at the UN, with ECOSOC status since 2017.   Instagram Twitter

Ghana is a country which has deep-rooted cultural norms, and structural barriers that perpetuate poor sexual and reproductive health. These include high risks of maternal mortality, high numbers of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and low levels of contraceptive use. The Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) was set up in 1967 to provide family planning services to the people of Ghana. Over the years, its work has expanded to cover a whole range of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Today, in addition to basic family planning support, PPAG provides maternal and child health care, infertility management, and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. It also provides other SRH services (for example, programmes for the management of erectile dysfunction).   PPAG’s operation depends on a team of 103 staff, over 1,000 volunteers, 300 peer educators, 551 community-based distributors (CBDs) and a Youth Action Movement membership of 810 young people. PPAG's delivers services and programmes through 1,356 service points, including 11 permanent clinics, 54 mobile clinics and over 1,000 community-based service points (CBSs). PPAG works with a huge roster of partners, right across government in health, education, HIV and AIDS, youth, and population planning departments. Its civil society networks include over 15 non-governmental organizations. It receives financial support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning, UNFPA, the Programme For Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the African Youth Alliance (AYA), the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) of UK, DANIDA, the French Embassy, the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), UNICEF and GTZ.