AIDES is a French community-based non-profit organization that was founded in 1984 by Daniel Defert following the death of his lifelong companion Michel Foucault. The name is a word play on aides ((several) helps in French) and AIDS.  Its aim is to bring people living with HIV/AIDS together with their loved ones and peers into an organized entity dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS and to defend the rights of people and communities affected by this disease. As of 2007, AIDES is active in France in 100 cities with 400 staff members and more than 1000 registered and trained volunteers. It is the largest non-governmental organization in France working on HIV issues, by number of activists and budget. It is considered one of the main observers of the epidemic in France. Internationally, AIDES has developed strong partnerships with fellow community-based NGOs in Africa, in Europe and in Canada (Quebec) to strengthen the role of civil society by sharing best practices and to jointly advocate for global access to care and prevention. It also developed a partnership with the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS -en.wikipedia.org-