The Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organisations (APCASO) is a network of non-governmental and community-based organisations that provides HIV and AIDS related services within the Asia and Pacific region. APCASO promotes the role of NGOs and CBOs in the response to HIV by strengthening and supporting the foundations of regional and national level networks; and supporting and promoting the role of people living with HIV and other populations and communities affected by HIV including sex workers, injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, transgender people, migrant workers, mobile populations and women.
NGOs and CBOs have been involved in the HIV and AIDS epidemic at local and global levels and are one of the most distinctive features of the response to the epidemic. CBOs are based in, and are made up of people from, the most affected communities and their advocates. CBOs are able to reflect and anticipate needs at the local level, giving them a unique perspective and function in the formulation of effective and appropriate responses to HIV and AIDS.
APCASO was formed in 1992 and is part of the global network of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO), together with AfriCASO (Africa), AIDS Action Europe (Europe), LACCASO (Latin America and the Caribbean), and NACASO (North America). ICASO is the interactive focal point that links these five regions. ICASO ensures that the concerns and interests of CBOs and NGOs around the world are articulated and represented at the global level.
APCASO is active at the global level through links with regional networks and other regional bodies including UNAIDS and the United Nations Family; the Asia Pacific Network of People living with HIV (APN+), the Asia Network for People Using Drugs (ANPUD), the Asia Pacific Coalition for Male Sexual Health (APCOM), and other regional and international networks and organisations. It also has links at national and local levels through the work of its National Focal Points and through membership of the Council of Representatives (COR).
APCASO is the longest-serving HIV community support network in the Asia Pacific region. APCASO was formed by a group of concerned representatives of affected community CBOs and NGOs who saw the critical need for a platform for the voices of people most affected by the epidemic. Since APCASO was formed the organisation has supported, and continues to support the central role of people living with HIV and other affected communities in the response, through advocacy, capacity building and networking across the Asia Pacific region.
In 1995 APCASO developed the first HIV and Human Rights analysis, advocacy and training modules on HIV. APCASO also coordinates civil society involvement into the HIV UNGASS reports presented to the United Nations General Assembly every two years and provides ongoing UNGASS capacity development to CBOs and NGOs to support their engagement at the country and the international level. In partnership with local CBOs and NGOs, APCASO implements training and support across a range of activities designed to strengthen community based responses and involvement in HIV. These include working with local partners to support HIV related advocacy and Human rights and working with an international coalition to advance HIV prevention approaches including microbicides.
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