On 12 February 2026, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) hosted a panel discussion at Dibukafé in Braamfontein titled One year later: the effects of the 2025 HIV funding cuts. The discussion examined how recent funding withdrawals have affected the HIV response, with particular attention to at-risk and LGBTQIA+ communities and to organisations working on the ground.
The conversation was chaired by Keval Harie, Director of GALA Queer Archive, and brought together speakers from health research, public health and community-based work. Jean Spiri, Director of IFAS and Vice President of Crips Île-de-France, reflected on experiences from youth health and HIV prevention programmes in France. From the civil society sector, Lunga Sithole of OUT LGBT Well-being highlighted changes in access to services and support for LGBTQIA+ people, while Luiz De Barros, founder of South Africa’s longest running LGBTQ news and lifestyle platform, spoke about the role of media in documenting community responses. The panel was completed by Hlawulani Silidi from the Gauteng Department of Health, who shared insights from local public health services.
Watch the recording of the discussion here.
Problem displaying Facebook posts.
Click to show error