Women need finances and resources too says World YWCA at AIDS 2008

Although women’s organisations and grassroots groups have been responding to HIV and AIDS, recent reports indicate that they face many challenges in accessing quality sustainable resources for their work on AIDS.

The satellite session held on August 3 at AIDS 2008 was convened by the World YWCA and explored the challenges and opportunities in financing and resourcing gender equality and women’s empowerment of HIV and AIDS.

In partnership with AWID, the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, UNIFEM and Women Wont Wait, Brennan urged the audience to shift the thinking and rhetoric beyond the vulnerability of women and discuss women’s leadership and empowerment in the HIV response.

Nazneen Damji, UNIFEM Programme Specialist on HIV and AIDS, and panellist on the session talked about the reality of universal access for women and girls. ‘Women in need are less likely to be on ARVS and this sends a strong message to governments that gender equality should become norms in government responses. Commitments like the global fund are not enough to ensure that treatment for women and girls are reached and the architecture of funding needs to be redesigned,“ said Damji.

Women living with HIV often experience many challenges in accessing resources in the context of HIV and AIDS. Kousalya Periasamy, Founding Member of the Positive Women's Network (PWN +) explained the reality faced by positive women’s organisations. “Resources are very limited to do the advocacy that we want to do and there is always negotiation that goes on. Infection rates are around 40% in girls but yet the only programmes that address women and girls are prevention programmes. Women are infected by their husbands and there is no information," said Periasamy.

Terry McGovern from the Ford Foundation spoke on innovative approaches to financing women's empowerment but admitted ‘ finances and resources for gender equality are very rare’.

Anne Skjelmerud, Senior Adviser, Coordinator HIV and AIDS Avdeling for helse og aids (AHHA) Global Health and AIDS Department believes civil society has a role to play in ensuring women’s organisations access critical funding for their HIV and AIDS programmes. “ Civil society needs to hold their leaders accountable. We cannot dictate what governments should spend their money on and therefore we need a bottom up approach because from the inside it is a struggle.”

“We don’t know where the money is going,” said Neelanjana Mukhia, International Women's Rights Policy and Campaign Coordinator for Action Aid International Secretariat Women Won't Wait. “ We need to figure out a way to track the funds and monitor how the funds are used. We also need to ensure that the money is tracked. This information needs to be transparent so that we can hold governments accountable.”

There was agreement from the panel that in many regions of the world HIV and AIDS disproportionately affects women and girls and a gender sensitive response must invest in changing social, cultural and economic factors that put women and girls at risk. Panellists to the event also acknowledged investment in women and girls must include allocating flexible and adequate funds to organisations that reach women and girls – providing them with appropriate services and ensuring they have equal opportunities.

“As the HIV epidemic becomes feminised in the most affected regions of the world, it is important for world leaders to build on the capacity and leadership of women and girls at the frontline of the HIV response,” says Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA.