Webinar – “Turning challenge into opportunity: partnership models for sustained HIV vaccine research”

HIV vaccine research remains essential to ending the epidemic. Yet, it faces mounting pressure from persistent global inequities, emerging drug resistance and shrinking international investment. Recent funding cuts from major donors, including reductions to PEPFAR-supported programmes, threaten not only HIV prevention and treatment efforts, but also the scientific pipeline for HIV vaccine research and development (R&D). In this environment, sustaining progress depends on more than scientific breakthroughs; it requires durable, equitable partnerships and renewed political commitment.

Long-term, multi-stakeholder collaboration has been central to advancing HIV vaccine research. Partnerships among governments, multilateral agencies, African research institutions, philanthropies, civil society and communities have enabled clinical trials, built research capacity and translated innovation into public health impact. But as funding landscapes shift, questions remain about how these partnerships are formed, governed, financed and sustained and how African leadership can be further strengthened within them.

This is the second webinar in the “New horizons for HIV vaccine R&D” advocacy engagement series. It builds on the first webinar, which examined African-led assets, gaps and opportunities amid global funding cuts (watch the recording on IAS+). Moving from mapping the moment to examining solutions, the discussion will:

• Place emphasis on African-led and Africa-centred partnerships
• Highlight strategies to reinforce local leadership, promote equitable collaboration
• Sustain long-term investment in HIV vaccine R&D

By sharing lessons learnt and identifying actionable pathways forward, the webinar aims to inform a coordinated global and regional advocacy agenda to protect and advance HIV vaccine R&D.

This four-part advocacy engagement series seeks to mobilize stakeholders across sectors to secure diversified, sustainable financing and political commitment for African-led HIV vaccine R&D, ensuring that progress toward an effective HIV vaccine continues despite today’s challenges.