IWTC Women's
GlobalNet #336
Activities and
Initiatives of Women Worldwide
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GOVERNMENTS FAIL TO MEET HIV/AIDS GOALS
FOR WOMEN July 1, 2008 Joeyta Bose & Maya Scherer 1.
FUNDING GAPS & BURDEN OF
CARE AMONG CRITICAL ISSUES FOR WOMEN 2.
WOMEN DEMAND ACTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY NOW 3.
WOMEN, INK. RELEASES DIRECTORY OF FREE RESOURCES ON HIV/AIDS
& WOMEN 4.
SAVE THE DATE - UPCOMING HIV/AIDS EVENTS IN 2008 5.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST |
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Women’s
organizations from around the world held a strong and critical presence at
the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS in
New York where 147 governments convened, from June 9 to 11, to report on
their progress in accomplishing global, national and regional goals that are
to be met by 2010 to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. These targets and
priorities were agreed upon in the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS that
was adopted by 189 countries during a previous UNGASS on HIV/AIDS in 2001.
The declaration outlines priority areas for international action such as
leadership, prevention, treatment, human rights, and resources needed to fund
a successful response to the epidemic. It contains 66 goals, 12 of which
specifically refer to the intersection between gender inequality and
HIV/AIDS, including commitments to decrease women’s vulnerability to HIV
infection by eliminating all forms of discrimination against women, including
violence against women and girls; creating national strategies to promote
women’s human rights; empowering women; and providing gender-based health
care and health services. The
declaration also requires UN Member States to submit country reports every two years and
those that were presented at this June meeting will be used to inform the
2008 UNAIDS report on the global epidemic that will be launched at the
all-important XVII
International AIDS Society Conference that will be held in August 2008 in
Mexico City. The next UN High-Level
meeting on this topic will be held in 2011. |
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1. FUNDING GAPS & BURDEN OF CARE AMONG
CRITICAL ISSUES FOR WOMEN Women’s
organizations highlighted the fact that goals set out for women and HIV/AIDS
in the Declaration of Commitment remain partially or completely unfulfilled by
many governments and that there has been more rhetoric than action. Further,
there are serious gaps in funding that prevent full implementation of these
goals for the progress of women. For example, one of the goals stipulates
that governments implement national strategies that promote the advancement
of women and women’s full enjoyment of all human rights. However, earlier
this year the Secretary-General released a stock-taking report on the
execution of the Declaration of Commitment, which notes that of the 80% of
countries that now have women-focused policies, only 53% provide these
programs with budgeted support. (The Secretary General’s full report can be
found at: (http://data.unaids.org/pub/report/2008/20080429_sg_progress_report_en.pdf). Support to
women’s programs and policies are especially important because of the
feminization of the epidemic - over 50% of the adults living with HIV today
are women. Over the past
two years, the number of women and girls infected with HIV has increased in
every region of the world, with rates rising particularly rapidly in Eastern
Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls
already make up almost 60% of adults living with HIV. At UNGASS women’s organizations highlighted
a number of concerns and themes, including: (a)
Funding The
consistent lack of financing for gender-based HIV/AIDS programs was
emphasized, as well as the infrequent inclusion of women, particularly those
living with HIV/AIDS, in decision-making and policymaking around the
epidemic. Women also emphasized that the current gender-based approach to HIV
is too narrow and must be changed to reflect the realities of women’s lives.
The World YWCA, UNIFEM, Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, Church World
Service and Women Won’t Wait, took on the issue of funding in a side eventand
more information about the meeting can be found at: http://www.worldywca.info/index.php/ywca/world_ywca/ywca_news/world_ywca_news
__1/un_high_level_aids_meeting_is_over (b)
Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights A project
called the UNGASS AIDS Forum, which brought together delegates from the
Global South before the meeting to discuss advancements made on sexual and
reproductive health and rights and HIV/AIDS, came to UNGASS with a strong and
unified position on the inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and
rights into HIV policy and advocacy. Participants in this project included
women’s groups from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the
Caribbean. On Friday June 6, representatives of participating groups came together
for a pre-UNGASS meeting to share findings on the status of UNGASS goals on
sexual and reproductive health in the Global South. The demand for the
inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights into the HIV/AIDS
response was reflected in the discourse of civil society throughout the
official meeting. For more information on the UNGASS AIDS Forum,
please visit: http://ungassforum.wordpress.com/
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Burden of Treatment and Care Other issues
pushed by women’s groups at UNGASS included the need for HIV/AIDS advocacy
and programs that place more emphasis on women’s autonomy and providing the
tools necessary for women to be active participants in reversing the
epidemic. They also asserted that governments must recognize that the burden
of treatment and care for infected people disproportionately falls to women
and adequate support must be given to women taking on this responsibility. |
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2.
WOMEN DEMAND ACTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY NOW A document
entitled “Women Demand Action and
Accountability Now!” was drawn up at the conference and presented to
participating governments to strengthen women’s groups’ demands. It pushed
for governments to ensure access to treatment, prevention, care and support
services for women and girls; gender-driven budgeting; improved monitoring
and evaluation of action on women and HIV/AIDS; strengthening of the evidence
base on the intersection between gender inequality and HIV/AIDS; and greater
focus on frequently invisible groups of women. It called for an articulate
and clear policy framework giving priority to violence against women and
girls, HIV/AIDS and their inter-linkages; promotion and protection of the
human rights of sex workers and drug users; ensuring the rights of human
rights defenders; ensuring the freedom of movement of people living with
HIV/AIDS; guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights; women’s
empowerment; and the greater involvement of women living with HIV/AIDS. The
document was signed by sixty organizations and can be found at: http://www.ua2010.org/en/UNGASS/Press-Centre/Women-Demand-Action-and-Accountability-Now |
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3. WOMEN, INK. RELEASES
DIRECTORY OF FREE RESOURCES ON HIV/AIDS & WOMEN Women, Ink., a program of the International Women’s Tribune
Centre dedicated to distributing resources that raise awareness on women,
gender and development, compiled a list of free and downloadable resources on
HIV/AIDS & women on the occasion of UNGASS. Comprising some 50
action-oriented tools as well as analyses, reports and case studies, this
resource pack was assembled to support informed participation and action on
issues of women and HIV/AIDS. It provides background and training tools on
the complexity of women’s vulnerability to HIV infection, including the need
for a gender-based approach to HIV/AIDS; protecting the rights of young women
and girls; promoting a gender-based approach to prevention and care;
guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights; supporting empowerment
and leadership for women living with HIV/AIDS; eliminating violence against
women; and ensuring women’s economic rights. To browse the resource list or download
a PDF copy, go to: http://www.womenink.org/hiv_for_web.pdf
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4.
SAVE THE DATE - UPCOMING HIV/AIDS EVENTS IN 2008 The
discussions at UNGASS provide a good prelude to the upcoming XVII International
AIDS Society Conference in Mexico City, Mexico (www.aids2008) to take place in August this year.
Connections and joint advocacy established at UNGASS will strengthen the
presence of women’s groups in Mexico. In addition, a Women’s Networking Zone
will convene during the international meeting to set out goals for women at
the conference. For more
information on the Women’s Networking Zone at the XVII International AIDS
Conference, email wnzaids2008@gmail.com
A number of
other regional conferences will provide additional opportunities to address
women’s issues within the context of HIV/AIDS. These include the 3rd National
Conference on Peer Education, HIV and AIDS, June 18-20 (http://www.icw.org/node/315); Pan Pacific HIV+
Peoples Gathering, Semptember 2-5 (http://www.icw.org/node/340); and the
15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in
Africa, ICASA, December 3-7 (http://www.icasadakar2008.org/english/). |
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WEBSITES OF INTEREST For more information, news, resources and events on women and HIV/AIDS,
you can visit the following websites: 1. UNIFEM gender and
AIDS portal - www.genderandaids.org 2.
World YWCA – www.worldywca.org 3.
International Women’s Health Coalition – www.iwhc.org
4.
Women Won’t Wait – www.womenwontwait.org
5.
UNGASS Forum – www.ungassforum.wordpress.com
6.
Global Youth Coalition – www.youthaidscoalition.org
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