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HIV/AIDS
August 3-9, 2008: International AIDS Conference
Roughly 25,000 people attended the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Mexico City from August 3-9. Women’s rights and human rights activists joined scientists, researchers, government representatives and UN officials in exploring trends and needs related to the HIV & AIDS pandemic. Human rights and gender issues remained central to the programming of the official conference and the NGO-driven Global Village. Critical areas of concern in both spaces were: women’s empowerment and leadership, violence against women, rights of sex workers, criminalization of HIV transmission, criminal justice systems targeting people living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA), stigma, discrimination and other rights violations targeted at PLWHA. One highlight of the IAC was former US President Bill Clinton’s endorsement of the new UN gender equality architecture proposal. CWGL’s Cynthia Rothschild attended the conference and wrote an article on lesbian and gender issues, entitled the L Word and the G Word at the IAC, written for Mujeres Adelante, a daily newsletter focusing on women's rights and HIV at the International AIDS Conference 2008 in Mexico.
June 10-11, 2008: UN High Level Meeting on HIV&AIDS, New York
The 2008 high-level meeting (HLM) on AIDS will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 10 - 11 June. The meeting will review progress made in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. CWGL will join allies in demanding that governments allocate greater resources to address women and HIV&AIDS, generally, and the links between violence against women and HIV&AIDS, in particular.
Women's Groups Demand Action and Accountability at UN HIV Meeting
A number of women's groups (and sexual and reproductive rights and health and human rights groups) issued the following statement demanding "Action and Accountability" to increase focus on and resources for women/girls and HIV. Note references to violence against women and human rights defenders. Please share with your networks!
Resources
Resources
- March 6, 2007: Launch of Women Won't Wait: End HIV and Violence Against Women. Now. campaign and release of Show Us the Money: Is Violence Against Women on the HIV&AIDS Funding Agenda http://womenwontwait.org
- January 18, 2007: Action on Gender Based Violence and HIV/AIDS: Bringing Together Research, Policy, Programming and Advocacy - Meeting Report
In August 2006, the Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health, and the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University organized a consultation to discuss the linkages between Gender Based Violence (GBV) and HIV with a view to understanding common challenges and informing research, advocacy, policy and practice. A small group of organizations and experts working at the intersection of GBV and HIV came together to share lessons learned from working from a variety of entry points, including human rights, gender, feminism, sexuality, and sexual rights, at global, national and local levels, using various methods and within different country contexts. The report summarizes discussions, outcomes, and recommendations from the consultation.
- XVI International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada, August 2006 / Five Year Review of the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, May-June 2006
- Strengthening Resistance: Confronting Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS (2006)
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