Programmaboek 7e Nationaal Congres Soa*Hiv*Aids p. 14

In 1998, Joseph Scheich became International Coordinator of the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+). He learned to fundraise on a large scale, to build sustainable international partnerships and how to help people living with HIV/AIDS and non-govermental organizations of all calibers to work closely with the private sector, with the United Nations System and with large international health agencies.

Having made lasting tremendous improvements for GNP+, in 2001, he moved on to become manager of the STOP AIDS NOW! Foundation, an initiative of Aids Fonds together with four Dutch development agencies. Here he conceived and breathed life into numerous key projects and collaborations. The brand new partnership with the Association of Dutch Municipalities and the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa and the International HIV Treatment Access Coalition stand out especially. In addition, he represented GNP+ on the Transitional Working Group established to set up the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. It is through his unflagging advocacy and leadership, his shrewd negotiation skills, and his extraordinary ability to build coalitions that, today, three seats on the Global Fund Board are assigned to NGO representatives, two of whom are living with HIV. On the day of his death, he was about to embark on yet another partnership, this time with the two major labor unions in the Netherlands.

In losing Joseph, we have not lost the struggle against AIDS. Joseph accomplished too much for that to be true. He has left us, however, with an enormous responsibility: to sustain the work he completed, to finish what he started, and to draw from his enthusiasm and intelligence to begin lasting projects of our own. For his sake and for the sake of the 42 million people living with HIV to whom he dedicated his life, we must cast aside the heavy weight in our hearts and get back to work