This publication represents an initial effort to draw attention to the knowledge, institutional capacity, and resources needed to comprehensively address the intersection between HIV and AIDS and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). It profiles ten organizations that are working on innovative strategies to address the intersection between violence against women and HIV/AIDS, and highlights key elements to consider in the implementation of…
This publication provides a descriptive analysis of how adolescent girls and young women construct notions of risk and safety within the context of HIV/AIDS, and what strategies they develop to protect themselves. The study is based on data from interviews held with 821 young women aged from 15-24 from four communities of urban Lusaka, and supplemented by qualitative data from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. Information from…
This publication is the third report produced by the Women Won’t Wait Campaign aimed at holding institutions accountable for turning policy rhetoric into practice in response to the intersecting crisis of HIV and violence against women and girls. This publication analyses the policies, programming, and funding patterns of five agencies: UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the World Bank, the US Government’s…
Bar girls have become a rising concern for those looking to stem the spread of HIV, says a recent study conducted by KEM Hospital’s preventive medicine department. Read full article here.
SENIOR government officials and delegates from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agencies responsible for gender and women's affairs are meeting in Windhoek to consider successes and progress made during 2010/11 in the achievement of gender equity and women empowerment. Read full article here.
KENYA IS set to unveil a new medical compound that block HIV transmission in women and young girls after the successful completion of trials. Read full article here.
Keeping in mind the escalating incidence of HIV transmission, the WHO has recommended certain important steps for preventing its transmission via mother-to-child and ensuring their survival. Read full article here.
Kigali: Spread the word and help at-risk women who receive services the government of Rwanda has put in place. Read full article here.
The Ministry of Health in partnership with Imbuto Foundation, this week, launched a campaign to eliminate MTCT of HIV/AIDS, with a target to reduce the transmission rate at birth to below 2 percent by 2015. Read full article here.
I am Manisha and I have been HIV+ for the last 8 years. I came to know of my status in 2002 when my husband fell sick. I had not known that he was HIV+. Even when he told me, I did not take it very seriously as I had no knowledge about this disease and took it as a common ailment like TB or malaria.…
This report analyzes why and how HIV/AIDS is now disproportionately affecting women, as individuals and in their roles as mothers and care-givers. It also explores new gender sensitive approaches to fighting HIV/AIDS and suggests that in order to be effective, it is necessary to deal with the inequality that both drive and are entrenched in the epidemic. The report discusses the meaning of a rights-based approach and addresses the evolution of…
The Action Framework (2009) was developed in response to the pressing need to address the persistent gender inequality and human rights violations that put women and girls at greater risk and vulnerability to HIV, and threaten the gains that have been made in preventing HIV transmission and increasing access to anti-retroviral treatment.
This publication provides a literature review of linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in order to gain a clearer understanding of the effectiveness, optimal circumstances, and best practices for strengthening these links. Finding highlight the benefits of linking policies, systems and services related to sexual and reproductive health and HIV…
Religious leaders are key stakeholders in responding to health and social issues and can play an influential role in validating and promoting best practices for preventing and reducing gender-based violence (GBV) and related vulnerability to HIV in their community. This report summarizes the USAID Health Policy Initiative project titled The Role of Religious Communities in Addressing Gender-based Violence and HIV. The project, which was designed…
This publication is intended to spark greater attention and inclusion of women, particularly those most affected by HIV and AIDS, as agents of change and experts through their experience. Through an analysis of information provided through interviews with over 100 key informants as well as global surveys and several case studies, it attempts to identifying where and in what ways women, particularly those most affected by the epidemic, are…
This publication focuses on the critical need to scale up policies and programming for women, girls, gender equality and HIV. The Action Framework focuses on the following three areas in which UNAIDS Cosponsors, Secretariat, and UNIFEM can bring specific and unique contributions: 1) strengthening strategic guidance and support to national partners to “know their epidemic and response” in order to effectively meet the needs of women and girls, 2…
This publication compiles and summarizes evidence to support successful interventions in HIV programming for women and girls. This is a comprehensive review, spanning 2,000 articles and reports with data from more than 90 countries, that highlights a number of interventions for which there is substantial evidence of success: from prevention, treatment, care and support to strengthening the enabling environment for policies and programming…
I am Muthukani (29 years old). My husband is a driver. He was affected by HIV. I have two children, both girls. My younger daughter is HIV positive. In 2005 at a government ART centre, I was approached by an outreach worker of the Positive Women Network (PWN+). I began to regularly attend support group meetings and receive counselling on taking care of my family’s health.
In 2006, I heard that PWN+ was initiating Social Light…
Diamonds: Stories of Women from the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV is a compilation of the personal narratives of ten women and one girl who are HIV-positive. The publication is accompanied by a documentary that focuses on four of these stories.
Trailer can be viewed on-line here.
By ignoring the family planning side of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the international community is failing girls in developing countries. Read full article here.