In November 2009, the Cairo-based US Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3) invited representatives from several institutions and organizations involved in HIV/AIDS-response to build a national forum consisting of partners from different sectors to combat stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) in Egypt. The Egyptian Anti-Stigma Forum was then created as part of the Ford Foundation-funded project entitled 'Promoting HIV/AIDS Human Rights and Challenging Stigma and Discrimination in Egypt'. The forum is the umbrella under which several organizations gather to conduct joint actions aimed at fighting stigma in the community. Stigma and discrimination deeply affect the lives of people living with HIV around the world. The burden of these attitudes is even heavier in conservative countries such as Egypt. Interventions to combat stigma and discrimination require a rights-based approach involving multi-disciplinary joint action by a broad array of actors and a focus on different groups. But more importantly for any advocacy action to produce the desired outcome - it must include effective participation by PLHA. With this in mind, members of the forum were chosen following a strict and vigorous selection process that ensured the involvement of civil society actors, media experts and non-governmental organizations concerned with social, healthcare, educational and legal issues, along with broad participation on the part of PLHA themselves.