Africa: Women's fund launches campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT FUND LAUNCHES 13 CAMPAIGN

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) launched a campaign in support of its HIV/AIDS Fund on Monday, August 14 2006 at the Brassaii Restaurant, 461 King Street West, Toronto, during the 15th International AIDS conference in Toronto, Canada. The initiative, known as The 13 Campaign was launched during an awards ceremony organized by the AWDF, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and Action Aid International to honour Stephen Lewis, the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa who has done a lot of work to draw the world’s attention to the pandemic in Africa, and to the experiences of African women who have borne the brunt of the pandemic.
During the awards ceremony, the organisers of the event also initiated the Stepten Lewis Fighting Spirit Award, which would be given to an African woman who has done exceptional work in HIV/AIDS in Africa. This year’s award went to Siphiwe Hlophe, of Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL).
The number 13 is very symbolic for the AWDF, even though for many in some parts of the world, 13 is regarded as an unlucky number. According to the 2004 UNAIDS report `Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis’, for every ten African men infected with HIV, there are 13 African women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 13.1m women are infected. By focusing on the number 13, the statement the AWDF is making is that the situation can be turned around. By mobilising human and financial resources, women need not be infected and those who are infected need not die, but live positively.

The statistics have changed since this UNAIDS report, but the the AWDF will symbolically freeze these grim statistics by using the number 13 as a brand for the campaign to mobilise funds and resources to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on women. The campaign seeks to use the number 13, to get individuals and groups to mobilise thirteen others, and also to make donations with the number 13 in mind. People can, therefore, make a donation of US$13, US$130, US$1,300, US$13,000, US$130,000,000 etc.

In November 2005, the AWDF launched a HIV/AIDS Fund in Accra, Ghana in order to increase the amount of resources available to women’s groups in Africa working on HIV/AIDS. The 13 Campaign was conceptualised by one of the AWDF’s guests at the launch, Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro, Executive Secretary of the World YWCA, a global movement of 25 million women and girls in 124 countries.
The AWDF is an Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making initiative, which aims to support the work of African women’s organisations. The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a changed world in which transformed women can live with integrity and in peace. To realize this vision, the organization’s mission is to mobilise financial, human and material resources to fund local, national, regional and international initiatives for transformation led by African women. Since the AWDF started making grants in October 2001, it has awarded up to US$2.7 million to 311 women’s organisations in 39 African countries.
For further enquiries on the event, please contact Ms Vera Doku, Communications Officer, AWDF. Tel: 021 780476/7 or 021 782502; E-mail: [email protected]

Siphiwe Hlophe

Siphiwe Hlophe is the Director and a founding member of Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL), which was formed in 2001 after she and four other women were diagnosed HIV positive. Ms. Hlope is a strong advocate on the rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), especially women, and is the Chairperson for International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Swaziland. Before assuming the directorship of SWAPOL, Ms. Hlope, who holds a degree in Agricultural Science was working at Swaziland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, where she was the Project Manager working closely with women in the rural areas, training them on initiating income generation projects to alleviate poverty and to earn a living. She is also a member of the UN Secretary General TASK Force on issues of Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS.

In addition to this, Ms. Hlope has immense experience in the labour movement, where she has serves in various capacities. Presently, Ms. Hlope is the Treasurer for Swaziland Federation of Trade Union (SFTU), the Vice-president for Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants (SNACS). She also was instrumental in initiating the formation of the women’s wing under Swaziland National Association of Civil Servants (SNACS) and Swaziland Federation of Trade Union (SFTU).