africa: women must play a key role in development - piot

Message from Peter Piot on International Women's Day
-UNAIDS, Geneva
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8 March 2003

Women must play a central role in development. When they do so, the
benefits are apparent immediately: families are healthier and better fed;
savings and incomes rise; a supportive environment is created. Take away
women's ability to fulfil these roles and entire societies fall apart.

Yet for the first time at the end of 2001, women accounted for 50 percent
of all people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa,
the figure was 58 percent.

There is no question that we understand women's vulnerabilities to HIV
vulnerabilities based on biological factors, culture, and on their social
and economic status. We know that women face domestic violence, at times
exacerbated by conflict or insecurity; that girls are the first to be
pulled from school and put to work when AIDS strikes at home; that women
lack the power and economic independence to negotiate sexual safety. We
also know that women face the full brunt of the stigma and discrimination
associated with HIV, which fuels their fear of getting tested, and
prevents them from seeking care if they are infected. We also know that
inequalities between the sexes and women's lack of power to challenge
these inequalities lie at the heart of their vulnerability. We now have a
framework within with to redress these inequalities. The Declaration of
Commitment on HIV/AIDS is clear about what we must do and when we must do
it.

But we also know much, much more. We know what works. We know that
empowering women works. Expanding reproductive health services, training
peer educators and providing micro-credit works. Where women have
participated in decision-making and in managing health services, HIV/AIDS
interventions have worked. When girls are educated and kept in school,
they are more likely to be able to protect themselves from HIV infection.

Women may be vulnerable, but we must distinguish between vulnerability and
weakness. Women have shown great courage and resourcefulness in facing the
epidemic. They have practised safer sex when it was dangerous to do so;
they have successfully pushed through legal reforms protecting their
rights; they have consistently provided care, both at home and in health
care settings. Wherever we look, we see the hope women have generated by
their actions.

We have waited too long. Today, we are reminded that AIDS has a woman's
face. Let us use International Women's Day as a starting point to stop the
waiting, and put our knowledge into action now.

Source: UNAIDS Press Release

Dominique De Santis
Press Officer
UNAIDS
Tel +41 22 791 4509
Fax +41 22 791 4898
Email: [email protected]