4. Advocacy and leadership

Businesses are in a unique position to promote efforts in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. If businesses are seen to recognise the importance of responding to the disease, this has tremendous advocacy potential within communities, the general public, other businesses and governments. Most of the companies profiled within this report seek to take a lead in advocating for a greater business response. A number of high profile multinational companies such as Levi Strauss, The Body Shop, Glaxo Wellcome and Tata have long been recognised as key players in the business response to HIV/AIDS.

On both an international and national level, companies have begun to collaborate on advocacy through business coalitions on HIV/AIDS. For example, at the international level, the Global Business Council on HIV&AIDS is made up of senior-level business leaders from companies that have been spearheading the business response to the disease. Through their activities they have begun to raise the level of business involvement in dialogue and action on HIV/AIDS internationally (e.g. International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa, see Profile 16) and in identifying good practice by business. Important to this work at both levels has been the existence of a few businesses that are willing to take a lead in driving forward initiatives. Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of Glaxo Wellcome, has made particular efforts at the international level, as the founding Chair of the Global Business Council on HIV&AIDS, to encourage businesses to recognise the importance of responses.

MTV Network International have recently taken a lead through their CEO, Bill Roedy, who is acting as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS. Central to these activities is the partnerships with NGOs and intergovernmental organisations for mutual assistance and advice in facilitating this advocacy work.