ABDGN emerged from activities organized for the African and Black Diaspora stream at the 16th International AIDS Conference held in Toronto, Canada in August 2006. The first of its kind at the International AIDS Conference (IAC), the Diaspora stream presented an extraordinary opportunity to highlight the HIV/AIDS pandemics happing to African and Black populations living in the western world.

The African and Caribbean Council on HIV and AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) and the Black AIDS Institute (BAI), with support from the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and the Toronto Local Host Secretariat for AIDS 2006, advocated for a stream of activities, events, and conference sessions that highlighted the unique HIV/AIDS issues for African and Caribbean populations living in western developed countries. 

ACCHO then recruited an international advisory committee with organizations in Canada, the United States and Europe to facilitate the implementation of the stream for the conference. Though participant discussions and feedback, and the successful partnerships and collaborations that emerged, the committee decided to move forward in establishing a global network entitled “African and Black Diaspora Global Network on HIV and AIDS.

Since AIDS 2006, ABDGN has maintained the enthusiasm and commitment to the implementation of the network, recruited new governing council members, deliver the Diaspora stream for the 17th IAC in Mexico City, Mexico in 2008, organized a strategic planning meeting in November 2009, and coordinated a series of activities for the 18th IAC in Vienna Austria in 2010.