Ending the Increased Feminization of AIDS

High-Level Review on HIV/AIDS

Good morning. It is my pleasure to moderate today’s panel on Ending the Increased Feminization of AIDS.

I know that all of our panellists and all of you, as participants, are fully committed to ending the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS on women and girls.

We are at this panel because we know that, only by addressing the needs and human rights of women and ensuring their full participation, shall we change the course of the epidemic. And we will use this panel today to discuss and chart ways to generate greater commitment and action to make this a reality.

Twenty years ago, one third of adults living with HIV were woman. Today, it has climbed to nearly one half.

In the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, more women than men are infected.

In Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, female HIV infections are on the rise.

Here in the United States, AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American women aged 25 to 34.

Today, three in four of all HIV positive women in the world live in sub-Saharan Africa. They are carrying a heavy load.

And they are rightly demanding that their needs be met and their human rights be fulfilled. They are joined by women from every region. And we will continue to make our demands until they are met.

Today, three in four young people in sub-Saharan Africa who are living with HIV are young women. Three in four!

We have to ask ourselves? How did it get to this point?

We know why. All of us in this room can count the reasons.

Women and girls are vulnerable not because of their individual behaviour, but because of the discrimination and violence they face, the unequal power relations. In the context of the HIV environment of today, even being married is a risk factor for women.

And in too many cases, the response to AIDS does not create opportunities for women to be recognized and respected as equals.

Women continue to be marginalized when decisions are made and funds are allocated.

Even though women and girls are highly vulnerable to HIV infection, they have:

Less access to education and HIV information

Less say in matters of marriage and sexual relations

Less access to credit and economic opportunities

And little role in designing AIDS policies and responses.

As a result, less than 10 per cent of pregnant women in the developing world were offered services to prevent mother to child transmission in 2005—let alone ARVs to prolong their lives.

As a result, only 20 per cent of young women can correctly identify the ways to prevent HIV infection.

While some progress has been made, the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS says efforts are “small scale and half-hearted”.

The Coalition’s report, Keeping the Promise, calls on leaders to secure women’s rights, invest more money in AIDS programmes that work for women, and allocate more seats at the decision-making table to women.

Of course, we also need to reach out to boys and men. Through active participation and partnership, we will move further ahead.

When we demand universal access to treatment, prevention, care and support, we must also demand universal access to reproductive health.

We need comprehensive education and services, and greater access to female condoms and microbicides.

Yesterday, the civil society hearing was filled with truth and passion. This truth and passion are contained in the Compact to End HIV/AIDS With Women Worldwide. It is a compact that has been endorsed by many groups from every region. And it puts the focus where it belongs—on fulfilling the human rights of girls and women, including their right to sexual and reproductive health and to live free of sexual coercion and violence.

Excellencies, friends,

Ending the feminization of AIDS goes through Cairo and Beijing.

It really comes down to this. “To reverse the spread of AIDS, women need greater control of their bodies and their lives. Women need greater control of public policies and budgets. And everyone needs to understand that progress for women is progress for all, as the Heads State and Government said at the 2005 World Summit.

I thank you.