UNIFEM UK: Working for women's empowerment and gender equality

Progress for Women Is Progress for All

HIV/AIDS— time to deliver for women and girls

14th August 2006

The 16th International AIDS Conference was held in Toronto, Canada, between 13th and 18th August. Addressing the High-Level Session on Leadership, Noeleen Hayzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM, urged the international community and national governments to speed up the pace of delivery on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls to reverse the feminization of the AIDS pandemic. "We cannot wait another 25 years" she said.

The High-Level Session on Leadership was attended by ministers from 20 countries and leaders representing development partners, HIV-positive women's networks, faith-based groups and the business community. Noeleen reminded the gathering that the women's movement has spoken out for more than 10 years on gender inequality as one of the major drivers of the AIDS pandemic. Ten years ago, women saw what was happening, especially in Africa, and began speaking out. With the support of UNIFEM and others, they have been working to place gender inequality and HIV on national and international agendas - demanding greater attention to the ways in which gender discrimination, poverty and violence interact with the disease to increase its spread and the dreadful consequences on lives.

UNIFEM's experience at community and national levels with the women's movement and HIV-positive women's networks is that there are several strategies that can, and have worked, to turn the tide to benefit women and girls. These include actions to eliminate violence against women in times of war and peace, the removal of laws that discriminate against women, changing attitudes and behaviour that reinforce barriers to change and ensuring women’s participation in the shaping of HIV/AIDS policies and plans.

"We do have the strategies that work. What's holding us back? We fear up-scaling the measures and investments to ensure the response is large enough for transformation. Money matters and money must reach the people," Noeleen said.

For the full text of Noeleen Heyzer’s statement to the Conference, go to www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=506

Delivering the keynote speech of the opening session of the Conference, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates also spoke about the social changes necessary to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and called for more rights for women. "We need to put the power to prevent HIV in the hands of women," he said. The Gates Foundation is funding research into microbicides – gels or barrier creams that women could use before sex and that could destroy the virus.

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