WUNRN
http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2015/JC2746
Direct Link to Full 32-Page 2015 Report:
http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/JC2746_en.pdf
Empower
young women and adolescent girls: Fast-Track the end of the AIDS epidemic in
Africa
Fast-tracking the end of the AIDS
epidemic by 2030 requires strong political leadership and commitment to stop
new infections and deaths among young women and adolescent girls and eliminate
mother to child transmission of HIV. This requires building on, and extending
Africa’s commitments on sexual and reproductive health and rights, expanding
ministerial commitments on comprehensive sexuality education and stopping early
marriage, adolescent pregnancy and expanding treatment service coverage.
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsId=51116#.VXiPBXkw_mJ
WOMEN & GIRLS IN AFRICA “BEING
LEFT BEHIND” IN FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS – UN REPORT
In Malakal, South Sudan, an HIV support network with
around 150 members meet on a regular basis to talk about the challenges faced
in accessing antiretroviral medicines. Photo: UNAIDS
10 June 2015 – Despite considerable advances made in the
global response to the AIDS epidemic over the last several decades, young women
and adolescent girls in Africa “are still being left behind,” according to a
new joint report from the United Nations and the African Union.
In the sub-Saharan region, AIDS-related illnesses remain
the leading cause of death among girls and women of reproductive age. In 2013,
74 per cent of new HIV infections among African adolescents were among
adolescent girls, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said in a statement.
Young women and adolescent girls acquire HIV on average
five to seven years earlier than young men, and in some countries in the
region, HIV prevalence among this population can be as much as seven times that
of their male counterparts.
“In the absence of a vaccine, ending gender-based
violence, keeping girls in school and empowering young women and adolescent
girls are the best options we have available,” Sheila Tlou, UNAIDS Regional
Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said.
In order to guide regional and global advocacy and inform
political dialogue on HIV prevention and treatment among young women and
adolescent girls, UNAIDS and the African Union have launched a joint report
entitled Empower young
women and adolescent girls: Fast-Tracking the end of the AIDS epidemic in
Africa.
The document outlines three political commitments to
advance the rights and empowerment of Africa’s young women and girls to help
Fast-Track an AIDS response firmly rooted in gender equality and social
justice.
The commitments are to stop new HIV infections among
young women and adolescent girls in order to ensure that AIDS is no longer the
leading cause of death among adolescents; to empower young women and adolescent
girls through comprehensive sexuality education; and to prevent HIV infections
among children and keep their mothers alive.
“As we work with our communities, our networks, our
health service providers and our governments, we must commit to demanding a
comprehensive focus on young women in the AIDS response,” said Rosemary
Museminali, UNAIDS Representative to the African Union.
The report launched 8 June as part of the 26th Gender is
My Agenda Campaign pre-summit to the African Union meeting in Johannesburg,
South Africa.