PRESS CONFERENCE ON AGENDA FOR ACTION ON WOMEN AND AIDS

 

One effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic had been making women’s inequality worldwide so blatant, as to force them into leadership roles as a matter of survival and, with that, changing men’s behaviour, including at the legislative level, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Peter Piot, said this morning at a Headquarters press conference.

Joining Dr. Piot at the launch of “Keeping the Promise:  An Agenda for Action on Women and AIDS” were two members of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, an initiative of UNAIDS.  They were Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and current Executive Director of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Institute; and Ludfine Anyango of ActionAid Kenya.

The face of HIV/AIDS, said Dr. Piot, had changed in the 25 years since its first appearance.  Back then, the epidemic was associated with middle-class gay men.  Today the disease was so prevalent among young women that teenaged girls in some countries were threatened with extinction.  In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, 10 girls were infected with HIV for every one boy.

That situation, he said, was related to social, cultural and economic factors that contributed to inequality between men and women and made women vulnerable.  Those included traditional practices related to trans-generational sex, legislation on property rights and discrimination that affected education and women’s earning power.  Those were the drivers of the disease and they needed to be addressed.

In addition, he said, most of the progress made on curbing the disease had benefited men because the gender dimension was not taken into consideration.  Only 9 per cent of pregnant women worldwide, for example, were tested for HIV.  Less than 1 in 10 pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries received antiretroviral treatment to prevent HIV transmission to newborns.

A course of action on those issues must be clearly set out in the outcome document, to be adopted tomorrow at the conclusion of the General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on AIDS, he emphasized.  In its present form, the draft political declaration lacked clarity on those issues, and “the world would not forget or forgive” those who passed up the opportunity to issue a statement strong enough to affect people’s lives.

Ms. Robinson called for the declaration to address such issues as needle-sharing and condoms in explicit language.  She called for women to increase their participation in areas that impacted on their vulnerability, by taking leadership positions to build their strength.  Among the initiatives taken by the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS to promote that element of the agenda was the formation of a global alliance of women ministers of health and women with HIV.  An alliance of women parliamentarians had also been formed, as had an alliance of businesswomen who carried weight with their companies.  Wherever they were and in whatever field, she said, “women with power must engage”.

The Agenda for Action being launched today highlighted three key areas to be addressed with regard to women and their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, she said.  First, women’s rights had to be secured by implementing laws and policies to protect those rights effectively.  While it was important to pass legislation on issues such as domestic violence and equality in marriage, the strategies to enforce those laws and the financing to implement them must also be in place.

Second, she said, the existing AIDS strategies needed to be reviewed to measure how well they worked for women.  Also, services must be scaled up in areas such as education, health, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral therapy.  The funding gap for microbicides and female condom development must also be closed, and the support increased for women who cared for the sick at home.

Third, she continued, the full participation of women in national coordinating bodies must be secured to make sure that AIDS policies, programmes and strategies worked for women.

Ms. Anyango stressed the Agenda’s emphasis on the need to address the question of women and HIV, by going beyond the obvious areas, such as the promotion of abstention and the use of condoms, and to recognize other areas, in which women were vulnerable and which contributed to their vulnerability to the disease.  Violence against women was one of them.  A woman could not seek help or even give voice to concerns, if the threat of being beaten hung over her. 

Likewise, she added, Governments must stop compromising women’s health, by holding back on health care for HIV patients left to be cared for by women.  Education must go beyond the basics to teach about sex and gender issues.

Asked about a mechanism for changing men’s attitudes to promote women’s rights and reduce their vulnerability, Ms. Robinson said the answer was to prioritize and determine where women were most vulnerable, and secure changes starting with that area, whether the vulnerability was presented by laws or policies affecting property rights, violence against women or education.  In addition, the conditions must be created to enable women’s voices to be raised on their own behalf, not only among other women, but as a bridge with men in securing women’s leadership on issues affecting them.

Dr. Piot emphasized the need to bring about change at both the bottom and top levels.  The issues involved in the areas of women’s equality that now made them vulnerable to HIV came down to a matter of power.  Men would have to give up some power, in order for all to benefit in the end.  Change from the top would have to come about through legislation and implementation of laws and policies.  At the same time, grass-roots pressure could bring about legislative changes. 

Regarding the outcome document, he said that some States wanted certain issues left out, while others wanted the document to omit mention of vulnerable groups.  Some observers had characterized the negotiations as headed for a “train wreck”.  He wondered whether the High-level Meeting would be seen as yet another well-intentioned initiative that had become mired down in United Nations politics.

He added that differences in views were to be expected and were part of any negotiations.  Work was still ongoing to strengthen the text with specific language.  Further, tomorrow would bring in the arrival of legislators who dealt with HIV/AIDS programmes at the national level.  The urgency of their mandate would help ensure that the United Nations not be held hostage by differing views.

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For information media • not an official record