The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a signatory to the Code of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV/AIDS, established in 2004 to address the large numbers and a great diversity of NGOs working in HIV/AIDS as a result of the scale and complexity of the global pandemic. The Code’s guiding principles require that we:

• advocate for the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS and affected communities in all aspects of the HIV/AIDS response
• promote and protect human rights in our work
• apply public health principles within our work
• address the causes of vulnerability to HIV infection the impacts of HIV/AIDS
• our programmes are informed by evidence in order to respond to the needs of those most vulnerable

The current Steering Committee of the Code of Good Practice includes:

About the Code

The Code of Good Practice was developed by NGOs, for NGOs, drawing on the knowledge and experience gained since the response to HIV began. The Code sets out the key principles, practice and evidence base required for successful responses to HIV with the aim of:

• assisting NGOs to improve the quality and cohesiveness of our work and our accountability to partners and beneficiary communities
• fostering greater collaboration between the variety of NGOs now actively engaged in responding to the AIDS pandemic
• renewing the 'voices' of NGOs responding to HIV by enabling us to commit to a shared vision of good practice in programming and advocacy

The Code can be used to inspire organizational change; provide a framework for collaborative partnerships; and inform the development, implementation and evaluation of evidence-informed programs and advocacy.

The Code's principles are aspirational. In endorsing the Code, NGOs commit to continuous improvement and accountability.