published: 19 Jun 2006

By Kristine Greenaway
Toronto, Canada

The Feminisation of HIV&AIDS

The Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS has met in Toronto, Canada to launch an agenda for action in response to the UNGASS Declaration issued June 2 in New York at the conclusion of the 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS.

Citing the rising numbers of HIV positive women in Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America, Musimbi Kanyoro, Secretary General of the World YWCA, says “Women must be heard speaking eloquently about the pandemic becoming feminized.”

Deborah Landey, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, says the Leadership Council was intentionally convened for June 6, immediately following the UNGASS meeting, so that members could make plans to hold world leaders accountable in their home countries for commitments made to tackle problems related to the impact of AIDS on women.

The World YWCA was part of the founding group of agencies who initiated the Global Coalition in 2004 with the specific objective of advocating for improved AIDS programming for women and girls. The focus is on securing adequate funding to meet the special needs of women affected by the pandemic, advocating for women’s rights, and ensuring the full participation of women at meetings where AIDS policies are set.

Kanyoro is a member of the Coalition’s Leadership Council, a group of prominent business, religious, and media leaders, parliamentarians, and civil society activists whose role is to speak out on issues affecting women and AIDS in the circles to which they have access.

Kanyoro convenes the group of women on the Leadership Council who are civil society activists, young women in leadership roles, and leaders from faith-based organizations.“These are the people who are really living the illness day to day.What they do needs to be recognized, validated, and funded” she says. “Policies ought to be influenced by the realities of the illness.”

Leadership Council member Yolanda Simon from Trinidad and Tobago says it is due to women’s advocacy at every level that the 2006 UNGASS Declaration is more explicit about women’s vulnerability than the 2001 Declaration and that countries are now being held accountable to find funds to address the special needs of women. Simon, founder of People Living with HIV/AIDS, says the Coalition’s support ensures that women like her are “not only heard, but listened to.”

Well-known South American AIDS advocate, Gracia Violeta Ross, is pleased the Leadership Council meeting ended with members each committing to a plan of action in preparation for the World AIDS Conference in Toronto in August. As a Special Consultant on AIDS to the World Council of Churches, her focus will be on church leaders. “Many don’t believe this is an issue for the church yet.” Her objective is to shift that perception.She is also committed to connecting with networks of Latin American feminists who, she says, are good at advocacy but don’t know about AIDS.“I am excited about what could happen when they do.”

Periasiamy Kousalya Chinn, President of India’s Positive Women’s Network, leaves Toronto with a commitment to work with local YWCA and Girl Guide groups to address landlord and property issues affecting women living with HIV and AIDS.It’s a way, she says, of nationalizing a global issue.

Landey applauds Leadership Council members for their agendas for action.“We need to get the message about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls around the world. Gender inequalities drive the epidemic.”

With the support of the World YWCA, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, and the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, people with direct experience of the pandemic, including HIV positive women, will be present at the AIDS Conference to be held in Toronto this year in August. The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS will work to convey the message that women are not victims and are resilient in the face of hardship. “The objective,” Kanyoro stresses, “is to portray women as looking for solutions.”

Members of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS will be at the conference to form strategic alliances for shared initiatives at the local and global levels, generating energy and momentum in the run-up to the World YWCA’s International Women’ Summit on HIV and AIDS to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2007.

Co-sponsored by a number of organizations including the World Association for Christian Communication, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, and the World Council of Churches, this unprecedented conference on women’s leadership on HIV and AIDS will attract 1500 women of all ages, some living with HIV/AIDS.The goal is to mobilize for the changes needed to reverse the pandemic.

The conference will highlight the difference women’s leadership is making and will focus on building leadership capacity, raising awareness in the women’s movement, and building strategic partnerships.It will be a time of celebration and hope, precious commodities for those facing the daily challenge of dealing with the impact of HIV and AIDS. Says Landey, “We are at a turning point because we now have the knowledge, means, and ways to stop this pandemic.”