Durban, South Africa - Ten exceptional community-based organizations have won the 2016 Red Ribbon Award for their inspiring work towards ending or reducing the impact of the AIDS epidemic.

They were presented with the prize in a special session at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa.

"Across regions and cultures, communities are showing the world that ending AIDS is possible. Their courage, innovation and leadership is helping us overcome barriers and better respond to the needs of those most affected by the epidemic," said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.

The 2016 winning organizations are from Burundi, Mexico, Belize, Kenya, Nigeria, Iran, Nepal, Chile, and New Zealand. Almost 1,000 nominations were received from more than 120 countries, for the Award, which is hosted by UNAIDS in partnership with AIDS 2016, the Global Network of People Living with HIV, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations and Irish Aid. A global panel of civil society representatives selected the finalists from a shortlist determined by regional panels.

Each of the winning organizations will receive a $10,000 grant and have been invited to participate in AIDS 2016, where they organize the Community Dialogue Space in the Global Village.

At the Red Ribbon Award special session, the winners were congratulated by Her Royal Highness, Princess Mabel van Oranje of the Netherlands; Her Royal Highness, Princess Tessy of Luxembourg; Minister of Health and Child Welfare of Zimbabwe, David Parirenyatwa; Former President of Fiji H.E. Epeli Nailatikau, and Jan Beagle, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS.

"Community-based organizations are taking the lead in shaping the course of the AIDS response. The organizations here today - recipients of the 2016 Red Ribbon Award - are examples to us all of what it truly means to fast track the AIDS response, and to do so in a way which is inclusive, and that advances human rights and gender equality", Jan Beagle, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS The Red Ribbon Award was first presented in 2006 and since then has been awarded every two years at the International AIDS Conference.