World AIDS Day 2011

The Graduate College of Social Work and the GCSW Alumni Association are proud sponsors of Houston World AIDS Day Candlelight Observance on December 1, 2011. The GCSW will join with others in the community at Tranquility Park in downtown Houston from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. in a show of commitment to helping those impacted by HIV/AIDS, remembrance for lives lost, and hope for the future.

Every year, World AIDS Day is observed on December 1. The World Health Organization (WHO) established World AIDS Day in 1988 as a day of hope, solidarity and understanding about HIV/AIDS in every country around the world. World AIDS Day provides governments, national HIV/AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on HIV/AIDS.

As active participants in the community, the GCSW is proud to lend its support to the event. Alumni and Career Services director Ann Liberman says, “the GCSW Alumni Association has set a goal for the year to address HIV/AIDS in women who live in the 5th Ward of Houston through partnerships with key organizations in the community. World AIDS Day Houston provides a wonderful opportunity for GCSW alumni to provide community service in support of their established goal for the year.”

The event itself promotes core social work values. Eleven years ago the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Schools of Social Work Conference in Montreal, Canada drafted a Social Work Manifesto on HIV/AIDS. The manifesto outlines the commitment of social workers across the globe to people and communities impacted by the pandemic. It declares, in part:

  • “That the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its psycho-social, medical, legal and economic ramifications are a priority for all social workers and all social work educators throughout the world;
  • That social workers and educators will forcefully advocate social and health policies founded on the human dignity of people with HIV/AIDS and the communities in which they live;

The Graduate College of Social Work is proud to support these efforts to help raise awareness in the Houston community and across the globe.

Read more about the Social Work Manifesto on HIV/AIDS.