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http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/11/30/the_importance_of_african_grandmothers_in_the_fight_against_aids.html?utm_source=World+AIDS+Day+2013&utm_campaign=World+AIDS+Day+2013&utm_medium=email

 

HIV/AIDS - THE IMPORTANCE OF AFRICAN GRANDMOTHERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AIDS

 

At the Heart of the Devastation Wrought by AIDS, Are 15 Million Children Orphaned by the Disease.

 

They Are Being Raised, Overwhelmingly, by Their Grandmothers.

 

A South African grandmother, with a young orphaned baby on her back.

A South African grandmother, with a young orphaned baby on her back.  Photo: DEBRA BLACK / TORONTO STAR

By: Ilana Landsberg-Lewis - November 30, 2013 

 

December 1 was World AIDS Day. While much of the press coverage was focused on the promise and hope that an end will be found to new infections, we’d like to draw your attention to one simple — but rarely mentioned — fact. African grandmothers have become the linchpin of survival for their families and communities. Twenty-five million people have died of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa in the last 30 years, and the collateral damage to those countries is incalculable. At the heart of the devastation are 15 million children orphaned by AIDS. They are being raised, overwhelmingly, by their grandmothers.

The end point of the response can’t simply be seen as zero new infections. Our goal must be the restored well-being of the people who live in countries hardest hit by HIV and AIDS, and the promise of decent futures they can work together to build. From this perspective, what happens to the grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa matters hugely, and taking measures to ensure their rights are protected and they continue to lead healthy, productive lives is an absolute priority. The grandmothers stepped in, with infinite love, to shoulder the burden of children orphaned by AIDS when there was no other help to be found. Grandmothers are now supporting and caring for a significant percentage of the subcontinent’s next generation.

What would the world look like today if grandmothers hadn’t taken the initiative when no one else would? Hadn’t stepped in to care for their families and neighbours as they were decimated by HIV and AIDS? So many communities would not have been able to survive. A generation of children would have been left so deeply traumatized and neglected that they would now pose a danger to themselves and to others. That possible future didn’t become a reality, and we have the grandmothers to thank.

Community-based organizations run by and for grandmothers have moved mountains to reclaim lives and restore hope for their families and communities. Grandmothers are feeding whole neighbourhoods of children and getting legions of orphaned kids back into school. They are fighting the stigma that holds people back from treatment and testing, and have become home-based care workers — bringing health care and succour to those living with HIV and AIDS. Perhaps most significantly, grandmothers are forming mutual support groups and networks, and showing the most inspirational type of leadership. But gender inequality is making them pay an unconscionable price. Grandmothers face a triple threat of discrimination, based on sex, age, and HIV status, and their access to health care is often extremely limited. They are vulnerable to violence, which exposes them to infection. The death of family members has destroyed their previous economic support systems. Property grabbing is a constant threat to grandmothers’ housing security. They are leading precarious lives, under the constant threat of extreme poverty. One bad turn can lead to hunger, the end of children’s schooling, and the loss of HIV treatment.

African grandmothers deserve better — they deserve justice. On September 7, 2013, in Vancouver, the Stephen Lewis Foundation hosted a People’s Tribunal to shine a public light on the denial of their human rights, and to issue a call for action. Grandmothers from across sub-Saharan Africa presented their personal testimonies, and leaders of community-based organizations shared their expertise about some of the most pressing human rights challenges grandmothers are facing. In response, the tribunal’s judges spoke with great urgency about the remedies that must be delivered. The tribunal concluded with the voices of the indomitable African grandmothers, who sent out a clarion call for change:

It's time to recognize that grandmothers at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS crisis must have our human rights respected and protected.

It's time to support our organizations fully, and put systems in place to address our needs and the needs of the children in our care.

It's time to recognize our contribution to the survival of our communities, and the expertise we have developed to do so, by giving us our rightful place and voice wherever decisions are being made.

We, the grandmothers of Africa, speak to you now as the guardians of the future.

Our labour, with all of its struggles, challenges, knowledge and triumphs, has gone unheeded for too long.

We will not let the AIDS pandemic defeat us nor destroy our communities, but we cannot prevail alone.

Africa cannot survive without us.

We call on you to act with urgency and purpose to support our efforts to secure justice.

It is time!

Ilana Landsberg-Lewis is executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.