People living with HIV have always offered strong community voices, and played an essential part of the HIV response. Whether advocating for real access to emerging HIV medications, or protesting policies of exclusion, harm, and isolation, people living with HIV have made our communities a better place from the very beginning.

Ribbon’s Community Voices project is also known as the GIPA/MEPA project. Through this program, we actively seek opportunities for people living with HIV to be part of decision making, policy making, and education related to HIV.

We work with health authorities and provincial decision making bodies to meaningfully engage the expertise of people living with HIV. We also provide education within a variety of settings including staff training, facilitating guest lectures in postsecondary classrooms, and hosting practicum students across several disciplines.

This project is one of the ways we nurture meaningful involvement of people living with HIV within and beyond our organization, and amplify and build on the incredible work of people living with HIV over four decades.

Ribbon Roundtables

Throughout 2025, Ribbon Community hosted online roundtables by-and-for people living with HIV throughout British Columbia. During these conversations, we identified three policy priority areas to share with the provincial government and guide our day-to-day work in this program.

The Forums (Spring 2025)

In spring 2025, Ribbon Community hosted two forums for people living with HIV interested in making changes to the policies that impact us every day. It was a virtual a space to connect, share experiences, and shape advocacy efforts and priorities  across the province. As a peer-led forum, it was guided by an adhoc committee of people living with HIV from different parts of BC, and hosted 40+ people living with HIV for discussions on HIV policy, barriers to advocacy, and pathways for change. This work was led by GIPA/MEPA Coordinator Jasmine and supported by an advisory committee with people living with HIV from each of the five geographic health authorities.

What is GIPA/MEPA?

GIPA/MEPA stands for Greater Involvement of People Living with AIDS and Meaningful Engagement of People Living with AIDS. This concept first emerged in 1983, the same year scientists learned AIDS was caused by a virus now known as HIV. GIPA/MEPA is grounded in the 1983 Denver Principles.