Stepping Out of the Shadows

Delegates, colleagues, and friends,

I want to warmly welcome each and every one of you. This event marks the engagement of the Women ARISE coalition in this XVIIIth International AIDS Conference. I was honoured to participate in the launch of Women ARISE during the March CSW in New York. It is first and foremost a solidarity movement - a community of women representing civil society organizations from all corners of the world. The upcoming week offers us a high visibility opportunity to promote a common agenda for women and girls in the AIDS response. Together, we can elevate the status of women’s issues during every plenary, satellite, and side event. It is our purpose, our passion, and our obligation.

Women ARISE has already worked hard to ensure that women’s voices will be heard this week. They have lobbied successfully to ensure there is gender parity throughout the conference programme. They have created opportunities for women, including young women – HIV positive and negative – to lead discussions on the way forward. They have developed a strategy to ensure that all of us - as women - have a coordinated voice.
Now it is your turn. We are here to chart a common course to ensure that the AIDS response empowers all women and girls.

We know that the epidemic impacts women and girls differently – differently from how it impacts men and boys, and differently amongst each other. We are here to recognize, and in some cases, even celebrate the differences and translate them into a nuanced response to HIV.

The objectives of the AIDS conference represent seven ripe opportunities for women and girls to take charge of their future. Our future.

Objective one - take action:

We now have a surefire way to ensure action is taken. A groundbreaking Agenda for Women and Girls was launched at the CSW earlier this year. It is a blueprint for collectively taking 26 actions that will change the course of the epidemic for women and girls. We must all promote this Agenda.

Objective two - strengthen commitment:

As the saying goes, ‘talk is cheap’, and while gender issues are cited as drivers of the epidemic, the rhetoric often stops there.

We must point out the hypocrisy of stopping short of costing our actions and allocating sufficient budgets.

Objective three - accountability:

We can lobby during this conference for all countries to report sex- and age-disaggregated data, by five year age categories, and analyze qualitative data. We also need to ensure that, in this time of unprecedented economic crisis, women and girls do not bear the brunt of hardship.

Objective four - maintain public interest:

One moving story can inspire millions of people to act. Yet the media faces a dizzying array of issues to cover. We need to capture the attention of journalists and tell our unique stories as women - of despair and of hope.

Objective five - human rights:

Only about half of countries report having laws and policies protecting people living with HIV against discrimination and even fewer have mechanisms to document and redress violations.

We need to decry all human rights violations and demand our rights –to sustained treatment; to quality SRH services; to comprehensive sexuality education; to make reproductive choices free from coercion; to earn a living; to evade harmful practices; to be free from all forms of violence; and to live without stigma and discrimination.

Objective six - synergies:

HIV is the greatest contributor to mortality in women of reproductive age. It is our wake-up call to better link sexual and reproductive health and HIV policies and programmes.

And lastly, objective, seven - research and programming challenges:

This brings us full circle to the need to promote the 26 actions in the Agenda for Women and Girls. Policy makers and programme planners say to us “Just tell us what to do”. Now, there is no excuse for inaction.

Vienna is our time. We need to step out of the shadows, together, to shape our destinies. .

Thank you.