A femTALK Update from the 49^{th session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) opens at the United Nations Headquarters in New York by Sharon Bhagwan Rolls femLINKpacific: Media Initiatives for Women / AMARC-Women’s International Network}

Monday 07 March 2005

Women’s Leadership Can Make a Difference to Addressing the HIV/AIDS Pandemic

The World Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) today hosted a panel on Women’s Leadership on HIV/AIDS which provided a range of initiatives and perspectives that could enable more effective participation and inclusion of women in defining policies and programmes to reduce their vulnerability to this global pandemic.

The panel addressed women’s leadership in the context of HIV+ women defining their own needs, the need for stronger policy linkage with the elimination of violence against women, making a connection with the reality of women living in situations of armed conflict and poverty, putting young women in the forefront of global leadership, addressing the need for better prevention methods for women and also the need for organisations and campaigns to have more effective resources. According to the panellists all these issues need greater recognition as the United Nations, governments and the women’s movement meet at the 49th Commission on the Status of Women to assess the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

“We cannot afford to be silent any more”, said Dr. Mabel Bianco, President of FEIM – the Foundation for Research of Women, especially in the smaller and poorer countries of the world where women and young women’s vulnerability increases because of poverty. According to Bianco, the end of the decade conference in Nairobi in 1985 was silent on women and HIV/AIDS even though the world was in the midst of the HIN pandemic and in Beijing in 1995, there was a small campaign organised therefore today, 10 years on, there is an urgent need to be heard.

The panel presentation, moderated by Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro, General Secretary of the World YWCA included the World YWCA President – Monica Zetzsche, Mary Jo Vazquez of the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS, Jessica Nkuuhe the Associate Director of Isis-WICCE based in Uganda and Sara Nordstrom of the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership which coordinates the annual Global Campaign on the 16 days of Activism on Gender Violence, and Dr. Bianco. Each of these organisations is a member of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS Steering Committee.

Dr. Kanyoro set the scene for the discussion highlighting the importance of women’s leadership, in particular young women’s leadership across the world and the need to share strategies for engaging women and young women in order to best define future action to address the emerging issues of vulnerability and patterns of infection including the situations of armed conflict, and economic factors which increase the risk of infection, whilst also ensuring that HIV positive women are also in the forefront of leadership to define protection and treatment issues.

Here are highlights from the presentations:

World YWCA President – Monica Zetzsche: The World YWCA one of the largest women’s NGOs reaching more than 25 million worldwide, since 1987 has had an inclusive global commitment to ensuring 25% of all leadership positions in the organisation is comprised of young women.

“We have the power to change” said Zetzche as she highlighted how the World YWCA is working to change the face of HIV/AIDS, recognised the need to work within the communities at risk, which is the women’s community. This means that that the skills and tasks of leadership must be increased at community and local level in order to make a stronger impact at national (policy) level. A strong emphasis has been placed on peer education, especially in peer counselling to assist young women to make informed choices to achieve the global goals of preventing new infections, and so it is extremely important that young women know how to protect themselves. Strong alliances are also needed at national and global level.

“Just as the World YWCA believes in the self determination of women, we also recognise the self determination and the right of HIV+ women to develop their own campaigns”

Mary Jo Vazquez, International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS: ICW was founded in the Netherlands in 1992 following the lack of information for HIV+ women and today ahs 3000 members in 190 countries who share a vision for a respected and integrated involvement of HIV+ women in decision making for their lives. Members receive a free newsletter and also participate in capacity building workshops to help them cope with HIV. According to Varquez, HIV/AIDS needs to be considered beyond a health issue and needs to take into account women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, “Our main vulnerability is primarily based on social and gender imbalances; we lack control, the power to protect ourselves.” According the Varquez, there needs to be stronger advocacy on the potential of the female condom which addresses the powerlessness of many women in negotiating safe sex and therefore securing her own protection from pregnancy, HIV as well as STI infections, and Varquez believes that there is also a need to address the male-dominated arguement that women would become more promiscuous if there was greater choice available because of access to the female condom.

Dr. Mabel Bianco, President of FEIM – the Foundation for Research of Women, added to the discussion on the female condom stressing the need to continue to focus on the use of the male condom as an appropriate prevention method, as it may take another 5 years before the female condom is a viable prevention method especially when you take into account the cost factor which would further hinder women in poorer countries access. She suggested to keep the focus on empowering young women to be able to negotiate for safe sex and work with young boys to respect this need and to counter the myths that it is un-manly to use the condom: “We need to make young women to be more aware their vulnerability and therefore we need to address this beyond the abstinence issue” said Bianco.

Jessica Nkuuhe the Associate Director of Isis-WICCE: Women, including young women living in situations of armed conflict and extreme poverty do not have the power or the choice to abstain or say no let alone say they will be faithful, not when they are exposed to brutal, multiple rapes and sexual slavery which increases their risk to infection. Isis-WICCE’s work in documenting women’s experiences in armed conflict situations in Uganda and other conflict zones in the African continent has assisted in lifting the lid on the use of sexual violence during times of conflict (including outside the African region): “As long as armed conflicts continue to be at the level it is in the world we need to find ways to reduce women’s vulnerability” said Nkuuhe, including the inability to access women’s sexual and reproductive health services.

Sara Nordstrom of the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership: The world cannot afford to disregard the ongoing obstruction of women’s initiatives in response to their experiences and perspectives especially when countering violence against women, because it is one of the critical areas of concerns of the Beijing Platform for Action which intersects women’s vulnerability to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Looking at the issue from the perspective of women’s leadership for campaigns and advocacy, Nordstrom noted that despite international policy commitments including 1993 Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action, 1995 BPFA and the 2000 Millennium Declaration many government policies are not incorporating these into their own national HIV/AIDS programmes” “There will be no curbing of women’s vulnerability if there is no action within a women’s human rights framework” she said and this needs greater recognition that women are not victims but leaders in ensuring action to address HIV/AIDS.

Ends/femLINKpacific/SBr