WUNRN
WHERE IS THE MONEY FOR WOMEN'S
RIGHTS & HIV/AIDS?
World YWCA - 30/11/2010
World YWCA, World AIDS Campaign and Women Won’t Wait Campaign
World AIDS Day Statement
Although there
are encouraging signs regarding progress in the response to HIV, around the
world, there are nearly 16 million women are living with HIV. In sub-Saharan
In every region
of the world, incidence rates of HIV infection among women are increasing.
The AIDS
pandemic has changed the fabric of communities around the world and created a
particular burden in the lives of many people, especially women and girls. In
many settings where the health care system is already overburdened, women have
stepped in and filled the gap and the funding on women’s rights has been key to
success.
Yet, AIDS continues
to be the leading cause of death and disease for women of reproductive age.
This is further
compounded by the inequalities women face. Worldwide, seven out of ten of the
world’s poor are women—living on less than a dollar a day and at least one in three
women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
It is widely recognised that violence is both a cause and consequence of HIV
transmission.
Today, women
living with HIV continue to experience gross human rights violations that
relate to their sexual and reproductive health. In fact, human rights has often
been characterised by governments as a great imposition, and so addressed more
in the breach than in respect and accountability, most especially when it comes
to those who are made vulnerable by the lack of human rights.
In 2006,
governments promised to provide Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment,
care and support for all those in need by December 2010. Sadly, most government
have not delivered on this commitment.
The World YWCA,
the World AIDS Campaign and the Women Won’t Wait Campaign call for strong and
accountable leadership from governments for effective and sustainable solutions
to HIV that uphold and protect the human rights of all women, especially young and
women living with HIV. The rights of women must be upheld and implicit for an
effective HIV response.
From research
conducted for the production of the film ‘Where did the money go? Women’s rights and HIV’ developed
by the World YWCA, the World AIDS Campaign and the Women Won’t Wait Campaign,
it was clear that the money exists. The financial crisis and economic recession
that is affecting most of the globe has had little effect on levels of military
expenditure. The total global military expenditure in 2009 is estimated at
US$1,5 trillion [1], Another example is
the global bank bailout. The latest figures for bailout money amounted to
US$8.5 trillion [2]. This spending shows
the disparity and the lack of commitment to supporting communities in urgent
need of universal access. Where is the money for women’s health, education,
treatment, access to services, equality – Where is the money for women’s rights
and HIV and AIDS?
If holistic and
comprehensive solutions are to be achieved, funding must increased
significantly and should go beyond financing traditional HIV programmes.
Funding should include programmes and actions that empower women and girls as a
strategic solution to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS.
On World AIDS
Day 2010, on the eve of the Universal Access deadline, the World YWCA, the World AIDS Campaign and the Women
Won’t Wait Campaign call on governments to:
1. Deliver on
the commitment to achieve universal access to treatment, prevention, care and
support for all people, including through ensuring that national budgets
address women’s rights and HIV by:
a. Empowering
women and girls, especially those living with HIV as an integral and
indivisible part of any HIV response
b. Establishing
programs to prevent and redress violence against women and girls, and increase
investment and access to sexual and reproductive health services with a rights
based approach.
2. Promote
gender equality and human rights of women and girls, including laws and
services that protect and enable women to claim their rights.
3. Implement
strategies, which lead to equitable representation and meaningful involvement
of women in political, executive, legislative and judicial structures around
the world including other decisions making bodies that address HIV strategies
and programming.
4. Provide
physical, sexual and psychological safety and security for women and girls.
As Hillary
Clinton said in
Where
is the Money for HIV and AIDS ( www.moneyforaids.org);is a consortium of
regional and international organisations raising awareness of inadequate
funding, corruption, and waste of money and resources in the AIDS response.
Inspired by a campaign created by the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern
Africa (ARASA), Where is the Money for HIV and AIDS is coordinated by the
Brazilian NGO Gestos and the Art and
[1] Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute Yearbook 2010
[2] http://keepamericafree.com/?p=35