Africa: Women’s and girls’ rights and HIV/AIDS
2006 offers opportunities to advocate for women’s rights and HIV/AIDS during the Abuja +5 Review, UN General Assembly Session on HIV and AIDS and the International HIV/AIDS Conference among others. To prepare for advocacy and a road map on how African women’s rights can be infused in the meetings above, the African Women’s Development Fund, (AWDF), ActionAid International’s HIV/AIDS and Women’s Rights Themes, UNIFEM and OSISA hosted a two day round table, from 6-7 April, 2006, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2006 offers opportunities to advocate for women’s rights and HIV/AIDS during the Abuja +5 Review, UN General Assembly Session on HIV and AIDS and the International HIV/AIDS Conference among others. To prepare for advocacy and a road map on how African women’s rights can be infused in the meetings above, the African Women’s Development Fund, (AWDF), ActionAid International’s HIV/AIDS and Women’s Rights Themes, UNIFEM and OSISA hosted a two day round table, from 6-7 April, 2006, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The immediate objectives of the meeting included to develop a set of advocacy positions around women’s rights and HIV/AIDS and to develop a road map for women’s participation in key policy dialogues and processes on HIV and AIDS to ensure the integration of African women’s concerns and solutions.
The meeting was attended by 55 women from across the continent comprising African feminist/women’s rights organizations, women HIV and AIDS activists, Women living with HIV and AIDS including young women, women in strategic decision making positions in sub-regional/regional organisations who have/can use their positions to champion issues of women’s rights in the context of HIV/AIDS, development partners working on women’s rights and HIV/AIDS and strategic international women’s rights organizations.
The meeting was an exclusive space for African women’s rights organisations, women living with HIV and AIDS and women in strategic policy and decision-making positions to plan on how to engage the 2006 processes. The meeting resulted in the Johannesburg Position on Women’s and Girls’ Rights and HIV/AIDS in Africa-an advocacy statement. This statement will be updated as times goes by to bring in line with emerging issues and to customise it for different types of audience. The meeting also developed a road map for women’s participation in key policy dialogues and processes on HIV and AIDS to ensure the integration of African women’s concerns and solutions covering Abuja +5, UNGASS Review and the International Conference on HIV/AIDS