WUNRN
NewYork
January23, 2008
Repliesrequested by 4 February 2008.
Review of Women’s Leadership and Participation in the HIV and AIDS Response
Experience shows that AIDS policies and programmes do not work for women until women’s organizations – particularly those of HIV positive women and people with gender expertise – help shape their content and direction.
Currently, there is insufficient data from a gender equality perspective on
country-level decision-making related to HIV and AIDS policies. To respond to
this, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), with support from
UNDP, is conducting a review of the composition of national-level
decision-making bodies, such as the national AIDS coordinating authorities,
country coordinating mechanisms of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and
Malaria, as well as local-level coordinating bodies tasked with addressing HIV
and AIDS. The review will identify the number and position of women in
decision-making positions within these mechanisms, with an emphasis on
exploring the role and space accorded to HIV positive women, as well as women
affected directly by the epidemic, such as care-givers within households and
communities. The review will also examine the presence of gender experts or
gender expertise within these mechanisms. The review and analysis will
produce recommendations for policy-makers and programme implementers to ensure
the promotion of women’s participation within the national HIV and AIDS
response, as well as provide guidance for ensuring gender expertise as a
critical aspect of the planning and implementing of national strategies for HIV
and AIDS.
UNIFEM and UNDP will disseminate findings in the form of a joint
UNIFEM-UNDP report and will develop advocacy strategies to promote the
inclusion of women infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and other women’s
rights advocates and experts as decision-makers at local and national levels in
the response to the epidemic.
We look to you, as stakeholders in the AIDS response,
to contribute to this effort. Please share your answers to a few of the
questions below for us to include as a direct quote and/or as a basis for
analysis in the report. We also welcome any other relevant insights,
analysis, or materials you wish to share with us as we continue to develop this
review. In particular, we wish to receive references to model practices
or programs that you see as representing best practice.
1) Are there
particular challenges or opportunities that women face when participating in or
leading the response to HIV and AIDS? And how does this vary between the
local, national, and global levels?
2) What
lessons have you learned and recommendations would you share about strategies
to increase women’s participation and strengthen their leadership, particularly
of HIV positive women?
3) What is
the role of civil society leadership on women and AIDS, including networks of
HIV positive women?
4) Where
does gender expertise exist and what effect does it have on the success or
efficacy of programs for women and girls? Can you share examples?
5) What are the capacity needs to strengthen women’s leadership and participation in the AIDS response?
We would appreciate receiving your responses and inputs by 4 February 2008. Thank you in advance for your participation in this review.
Please submit all answers via email to:
Nazneen Damji, Programme Specialist, Gender and HIV/AIDS, UNIFEM
Project Consultant Tyler Crone
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