November

UNAIDS appoints the artist OUM as National Goodwill Ambassador in Morocco

MHAMID AL GHIZLANE, 2 November 2024 — The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is pleased to announce the appointment of renowned Moroccan artist OUM as its National Goodwill Ambassador in Morocco. The prestigious announcement was made at the Taragalte Festival, held from November 1-3, 2024, in Mhamid El Ghizlane, where OUM proudly serves as the festival's ‘Godmother.’ OUM’s influence and commitment to social change will play a vital role in UNAIDS' efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Morocco and beyond.

02 November 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

G20 commits to fighting the inequalities driving AIDS and other pandemics. Leaders back new initiative to widen production of medicines in every region

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, 1 November 2024 — Ministers at the G20 Ministerial in Rio De Janeiro have made new commitments to tackle AIDS and other pandemics, through addressing the inequalities driving them, both globally and nationally. The commitments have been welcomed as a potential breakthrough against AIDS and other pandemics by international experts including Nobel Prize Winning Economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, world-leading epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot, and former First Lady of Namibia Monica Geingos. The experts, who are the Co-Chairs of the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics established by UNAIDS, have been in Brazil as part of the Council’s engagement of the G20.

01 November 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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October

Experts back G20 action to tackle pandemics by addressing the inequalities which drive them and by boosting production of medicines in every region of the world

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, 29 October 2024—Today, at a special event organized for the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministerial, the Brazilian government and experts from the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics backed calls for efforts to break the “inequality-pandemic cycle” that is fueling continued disease emergencies. Two crucial measures could enable the world to tackle current and future pandemics.

29 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS calls for global solidarity to strengthen Madagascar’s HIV response to end AIDS as a public health threat

The Executive Director of UNAIDS Winnie Byanyima is calling for accelerated global solidarity to strengthen Madagascar’s response to HIV, including preventing new HIV infections and expanding access to treatment, to end AIDS as a public health threat. Ms Byanyima is visiting the country between 19–24 October to support its response to the HIV epidemic. Madagascar has seen dramatic increase in new HIV infections since 2010 and a 158% increase in AIDS-related deaths over the same period. UNAIDS is concerned about what appears to be a dramatic increase in new HIV infections.

21 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS welcomes the Spanish government’s announcement of a new € 1 million contribution to overcome the global AIDS pandemic

GENEVA, 15 October 2024—The Spanish government has today announced a further € 1 million contribution to UNAIDS to support its work to end AIDS by 2030 as part of Sustainable Development Goals. The announcement was made following a meeting between Spain’s Minister of Health Mónica García Gómez and the Executive Director of UNAIDS Winnie Byanyima in the country’s capital Madrid.

15 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS response to ViiV’s announcement on increasing production of long-acting cabotegravir

Responding to ViiV’s announcement on long-acting cabotegravir , UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said: “New HIV prevention medication, in the form of a long-acting injection, could transform the lives of people who struggle to take daily pills. The option of an injection that only needs to be taken once every few months is vital for people who face stigma when seen with pills, and those who are driven underground by criminalizing laws.

08 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS response to Gilead’s announcement on signing voluntary licensing agreements on lenacapavir with six generic manufacturers

Responding to today’s announcement by Gilead on lenacapavir, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said:

02 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS statement on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Georgia

UNAIDS expresses deep concern over the recently adopted anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Georgia, which poses serious risks to public health and human rights.

01 October 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    Download PDF

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September

The AIDS response is recognized as a beacon of hope and guide for revitalizing multilateralism at the 79th UN General Assembly

At the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79) and the Summit of the Future in New York, global leaders called for the revitalization of multilateralism to address pressing global crises, drawing on the success of the global AIDS response as a model of hope and global solidarity.

27 September 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Leaders pledge bold action to end AIDS by 2030

The extraordinary advances made in the global HIV response are a success story of multilateralism. At the end of 2023, 30.7 million people out of a total of 39.9 million people living with HIV worldwide were on life-saving treatment — four times higher than the 7.7 million who were on treatment in 2010. Since 2010, AIDS-related deaths have been halved and new HIV infections among children have been reduced by 62%.

24 September 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

New UNAIDS report shows that the debt crisis is choking sub-Saharan Africa, leaving health and HIV services chronically underfunded

GENEVA, 19 September 2024—Growing public debt is choking sub-Saharan African countries, leaving them with little fiscal room to finance health and critical HIV services. A new report by UNAIDS, Domestic revenues, debt relief and development aid: Transformative pathways for ending AIDS by 2030 Eastern and Southern Africa | Western and Central Africa , shows that the debt crisis is putting in jeopardy progress made towards ending AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the largest number of people living with HIV, with more than 25.9 million people of the 39.9 million living with HIV globally. The region’s success in having reduced new HIV infections by 56% since 2010 will not be sustained if fiscal space is constrained.

19 September 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Young people living with HIV urge world leaders to partner with them in the AIDS response

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 19 September 2024—With support from UNAIDS, two young social media influencers living with HIV are on their way to the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future in New York to urge world leaders to partner with them in the response to HIV. Ibanomonde Ngema from South Africa and Jerop Limo from Kenya will call on leaders to invest in youth-friendly health systems, provide holistic services for young people living with HIV, and to partner with young people and communities, allowing them to lead in the response to HIV.

19 September 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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August

UNAIDS calls for a rapid international response to mpox based on rights and an equitable access to vaccines and treatments

UNAIDS is calling on the international community to respond swiftly and decisively to the World Health Organization’s declaration of the mpox outbreak in several African countries as a public health emergency of international concern. The move came after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) made a similar declaration for the region.

19 August 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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July

UNAIDS urges leaders to ‘act now’ to overcome the world’s deadliest pandemic at AIDS 2024

GENEVA/MUNICH, 26 July 2024—At the 25th International AIDS Conference (#AIDS2024), UNAIDS urged all participants to stay committed because the end of AIDS is within grasp. UNAIDS called on leaders to embrace new scientific developments to prevent HIV, ensure that the work to end AIDS is fully resourced, and to ‘stand for justice’ to end harmful laws preventing people from accessing lifesaving HIV services.

26 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

With new HIV infections rising in a growing number of countries and regions, urgent action is needed to turn the prevention crisis around

GENEVA/MUNICH, 24 July 2024—An estimated 1.3 million people became infected with HIV in 2023, three times more than the target of fewer than 370 000 by 2025. While there has been marked progress in sub-Saharan Africa, for the first time, in 2023 more than half of the new HIV infections occurred outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

24 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

New UNAIDS report shows AIDS pandemic can be ended by 2030, but only if leaders boost resources and protect human rights now

GENEVA/MUNICH, 22 July 2024—A new report released today by UNAIDS shows that the world is at a critical moment that will determine whether world leaders meet their commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The report, ‘The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads’, brings together new data and case studies which demonstrate that the decisions and policy choices taken by world leaders this year will decide the fate of millions of lives and whether the world’s deadliest pandemic is overcome.

22 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Stigma, criminalization and under-investment are driving worrying rises in new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

A new United Nations report released today shows that the HIV response in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is critically off track. Data in UNAIDS’ global report The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads reveals that in this region, new HIV infections have risen by 20% and AIDS-related deaths have risen by 34%, since 2010. Only half of the 2.1 million people living with HIV in the region are accessing treatment, and only 42% of all people living with HIV in the region have suppressed viral load, the lowest rate globally. The report shows that it is still possible to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, but only if governments reform laws to protect everyone’s human rights and increase resources to ensure services are available for all.

22 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Unfinished business: only the urgent and accelerated delivery of HIV services will keep the promise of ending AIDS in children by 2030

GENEVA/MUNICH, 22 July 2024—Despite progress made in reducing HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among children, a new report released today by the Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030 shows that an urgent scale up of HIV services in countries worst affected by the pandemic is required to end AIDS by 2030.

22 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Decriminalization of LGBTQ+ people saves lives

Decriminalization of LGBTQ+ people saves lives: Joint Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima

19 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS and China sign two strategic agreements to advance the HIV response

Beijing, 15 July 2024 – The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and China signed two new Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to advance joint strategic efforts to end AIDS in China and globally.

15 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a key HIV resolution by the Human Rights Council

GENEVA, 12 July 2024— UNAIDS welcomes the adoption, by consensus, of a critical resolution on human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

12 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Joint UN statement calling for sexual and reproductive health and rights for all

Joint UN statement calling for sexual and reproductive health and rights for all

11 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    Download PDF

New HIV drug can only offer hope of ending AIDS if all have access, UNAIDS says

GENEVA, 10 July 2024— UNAIDS has welcomed the release of Gilead Sciences’ trial results on the injectable long-acting HIV medicine Lenacapavir for HIV prevention. The result “provides hope of accelerating efforts to end AIDS”, UNAIDS says, “but only if Gilead ensures that all people who need it can have access to this game-changing medicine.”

10 July 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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June

Governments, civil society and United Nations agencies join together to “accelerate and sustain” a resilient response to HIV

GENEVA, 27 June 2024—At the 54th meeting of UNAIDS’ Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) which concluded today in Geneva, Switzerland, governments, civil society and United Nations agencies united in a shared commitment to accelerate progress to meet the 2025 AIDS targets and sustain the gains of the global HIV response toward 2030 and beyond.

27 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

To help ensure the end of AIDS, leaders need to move away from punitive approaches to people who use drugs

GENEVA, 26 June 2024—UNAIDS welcomes the recent report by Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, which was presented to the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The report, on Drug Use, Harm Reduction and the Right to Health, demonstrates the public health necessity of moving away from punitive approaches to people who use drugs.

26 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS and Global Fund sign a new strategic framework for their collaboration to end AIDS

UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, and Executive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), Peter Sands, signed a new strategic framework for cooperation and collaboration to end AIDS (2024 –2028). The agreement renews the organizations’ longstanding partnership and aligns ongoing collaboration with the most recent United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030.

24 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS applauds Namibian High Court's decision to declare unconstitutional the law that had criminalised same-sex relationships

GENEVA, 21 JUNE 2024—UNAIDS applauds the judgment by the High Court of Namibia, striking out as unconstitutional the law which had criminalised same-sex relationships. The court found the law incompatible with the constitutional rights of Namibian citizens. This decision, which is in line with a series of judgments by courts in Southern Africa in recent years, marks a significant victory for equality and human rights for all Namibians and will help protect the health of everyone.

21 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS urges sub-Saharan African countries and global partners to ensure children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment and to stop new infections

On the International day of the African Child this 16 June, UNAIDS is urging African governments and global partners to provide treatment for children living with HIV and to stop new infections among children. The latest data show that only 56% of children living with HIV were on life-saving antiretroviral therapy in 2022 in sub-Saharan Africa compared to 83% of adults globally. Without access to treatment, 50% of infants living with HIV will die before their second birthday. 

14 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS commends Mexico's ban on conversion therapy

​UNAIDS has applauded the decision by Mexico to ban the practice of so-called "conversion therapy".  

12 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS Executive Director and Inequality Council urge G20 to back bold network on medicine production and address the social determinants of pandemics

At the G20 preparatory meeting in Brazil, Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Winnie Byanyima, today urged governments to support a new G20 Alliance, proposed by the Brazilian government, to enable life-saving medicines to be produced in every part of the world. Co-Chair of the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics Sir Michael Marmot also called on G20 delegates to address the social determinants of pandemics, such as education and human rights, as a concrete part of the G20’s pandemic preparedness efforts.

06 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

To protect sex workers’ health, protect their human rights

On International Sex Workers’ Day, 2nd June 2024, and every day, UNAIDS stands in solidarity with sex workers in support of their health.

02 June 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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May

UNAIDS and the Australian Government sign partnership to boost the fight against AIDS

The Government of Australia and UNAIDS have today signed a new multi-million-dollar partnership to strengthen the fight against both non-communicable and communicable diseases, including HIV, to ensure better health outcomes for people in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The signing took place at UNAIDS during the 77th World Health Assembly.

30 May 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS stands with LGBTQ+ communities worldwide as PRIDE celebrations get underway

As LGBTQ+ communities and allies take to the streets to mark PRIDE month, UNAIDS is speaking out in solidarity, rejecting the criminalization, discrimination and stigmatization of LGBTQ+ people and insisting on respect for all.

29 May 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS calls for the protection of human rights on the International Day to End Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)

Ahead of IDAHOBIT, commemorated worldwide on 17 May, UNAIDS is calling on governments everywhere to protect the human rights of LGBTQ+ people. Protecting the human rights of every person, UNAIDS research shows, is essential for protecting public health, because it enables inclusive and equitable access to health services without discrimination.

15 May 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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April

UNAIDS expresses deep concern over the passing of new anti-LGBT legislation in Iraq

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is deeply concerned about the impact of the harmful new legislation in Iraq amending the 1988 anti-sex work law to criminalize LGBTQ+ people. The legislation imposes a prison sentence of between 10 and 15 years for same-sex sexual relations. Transgender people face up to three years imprisonment for expressing their gender or receiving gender affirmation care. Individuals also face up to seven years for promoting homosexuality. And up to three years for providing gender affirmation care.

30 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS welcomes Court’s ruling to protect the rights of LGBTQ people in Dominica

UNAIDS welcomes the decision of the High Court of Dominica to protect the rights of LGBTQ people in Dominica.

22 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS calls for sustained and expanded health and HIV investments at the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank

Debt restructuring and reforms to the global tax system are urgently required to finance health systems and other essential services

16 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Expand HIV services to power gains across health, urges new report

A new report released today by UNAIDS and Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria shows how countries are leveraging their HIV responses to both ensure impact on the HIV response and also to improve broader national health and well-being. The report finds that investing now to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 will not only follow through on the commitment to end the pandemic but also magnify the broader health benefits of HIV specific investments.

15 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Monaco Principality renews its collaboration with UNAIDS

Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS—the organization leading the global fight against AIDS—met with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco and government officials to strengthen Monaco’s collaboration with UNAIDS.

11 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS notes the judgment of the Constitutional Court of Uganda which has struck down certain parts of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023

The Constitutional Court of Uganda has today struck down certain sections of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023.

03 April 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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March

With a modest increase in investment UNAIDS can get 35 countries over the line to end their AIDS pandemics by 2025

UNAIDS is urging donors for a modest increase in funding to ensure that 35 countries can end their AIDS pandemics by 2025, five years ahead of the 2030 target. Current funding for UNAIDS is at US$ 160 million, less than 50% than the resources available in 2015. For maximum impact UNAIDS estimates it will need US$ 210 million annually which represents less than 0.02% of total health spending in low- and middle-income countries.

28 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS urges Indian Ocean Island countries to strengthen HIV prevention to end AIDS

Despite progress across most of sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS warns that gaps in HIV prevention are driving new HIV infections in the Indian Ocean Countries (IOC) and several other countries in Africa. The critical gaps in HIV prevention were the focus of a workshop organized by UNAIDS and UNFPA which was hosted in Madagascar between 18 and 20 March to address some of the barriers to accelerating progress.

27 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS welcomes governments’ commitment to end AIDS, tackle gender-based violence, discrimination and inequalities

On 22 March, governments attending the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) adopted, by consensus, a resolution focused on advancing the rights and empowerment of women and girls as part of efforts to end AIDS.

25 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a crucial resolution recognizing harm reduction measures at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a key resolution today at the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), recognizing harm reduction for the first time as an important part of an effective public health response. The resolution encourages member states to develop and implement harm reduction measures to minimize the adverse public health and social consequences of the non-medical use of illicit drugs. UNAIDS congratulates the CND and the CND Chair for this historic milestone.

22 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS urges scaling up of evidence-based services to address the transmission of HIV and viral hepatitis among people who use drugs

At the 67th meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs taking place in Vienna, UNAIDS has called for the urgent scaling up of services to prevent new HIV and viral hepatitis infections among people who use drugs. Addressing delegates in her video message, UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, commended some countries for making progress in implementing evidence-based programmes but called for bolder action.

14 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Reductions in new HIV infections in several Global HIV Prevention Coalition countries, but global progress needs to be accelerated

A new report, HIV Prevention: From Crisis to Opportunity shows that HIV infections continue to decline in countries that are part of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC) faster than in the rest of the world.

13 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

At the 68th Commission on Status of Women UNAIDS calls for action to achieve gender equality and end AIDS

UNAIDS is gearing up for the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW68) which begins today and will run until 22 March 2024. #CSW68, the United Nations largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, is being held this year under the priority theme, Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.

11 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

On International Women’s Day, UNAIDS calls for protecting women’s rights to protect their health

Ahead of International Women’s Day, celebrated on 8 March, UNAIDS is calling for the protection of women’s rights to protect their health.

06 March 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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February

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima responds to the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill in Ghana’s parliament

Responding to the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill in Ghana’s parliament, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said:

28 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Expertise France partners with UNAIDS to fight HIV stigma and discrimination in western and central Africa

The French public international cooperation agency ‘Expertise France’ and UNAIDS have signed a new partnership agreement to fight stigma and discrimination in six western and central African countries.

28 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

On the 10th anniversary of Zero Discrimination Day UNAIDS calls for the protection of human rights as a path to protecting health for all

On this Zero Discrimination Day (1 March), and across the whole month of March, events and activities will remind the world of this vital lesson and call to action: by protecting everyone’s health, we can protect everyone’s rights.

27 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

Member States negotiating the pandemic instrument have an opportunity to save lives and keep the world safe, says UNAIDS

As Member States enter the next stage of drafting and negotiating a new Pandemics Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord, and the targeted revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR), UNAIDS underscores the importance of protecting the gains made in the AIDS response and encourages Member states to use that experience to help prevent and respond to future pandemics and health emergencies.  

18 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS mourns the passing of Hage Geingob, President of Namibia

It is with profound sadness that UNAIDS learns of the passing of Dr Hage G. Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia. President Geingob was a distinguished leader, a tireless advocate for social justice, and a steadfast supporter of efforts to end AIDS.

05 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

UNAIDS Executive Director: let women and girls lead to protect and advance human rights globally

At a conference hosted in Oslo by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, has made an impassioned call to all international partners to support women and girls from marginalized communities at the frontlines of the defence of human rights. Only by ensuring that the rights of everyone are protected can the world ensure that the health of everyone is protected, and that the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved.

01 February 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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January

UNAIDS welcomes Jamaica’s expansion of protections against gender-based violence

UNAIDS welcomes Jamaica’s expansion of protections against gender-based violence as the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act comes into effect on 22 January 2024.

22 January 2024   |   Email this link to me   |    

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