Both first ladies Jeanette Kagame of Rwanda and Maureen Mwanawasa of Zambia demanded more rights and a voice for women in their countries. "In my country we have to
empower women" said Madame Mwanawasa, "but
what are we empowering women with? Empowerment has to be practical and
tangible. We need rights to and information about female condoms. These
must be cheap and accessible." She pledged her determination to mobilise
access to female condoms in Zambia with the support of UNAIDS. (Ghana's
female condom programme is already running very effectively, so this prevention
method is more than ever worth championing across Africa.)
Dr Nafis Sadik, Asia's UN special envoy, introduced another key discussion
point on the agenda: the barriers to women leading in the area of HIV
prevention. "I'm afraid men in power are the biggest barrier in my
country, India," she said. "They want to stick to traditional
values of morality.
"The only way we can transcend this is to form partnerships with
men. Women should have the rights to their reproductive and healthcare
decisions." UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy agreed: "The silence
between men and women has not been broken," she said, challenging
women to bring more openness and frankness about sexual relations to the
communication table.
ICW's UK representative, Beatrice Were, spoke openly about her own HIV
status and the difficulties she faced in coming out. She also talked of
the gender inequalities faced both by sub-Saharan and UK African women,
particularly when it came to mother-to-child transmission concerns. "We
as leaders still have to face the battle of safer sex in our homes,"
she said. She also urged women with HIV to come out: "Positive speakers
will help to demystify the epidemic. More high-powered women should be
doing this as a way of breaking down the barriers."
Her concluding comments on the future for women leaders rang true with
panellists and audience alike: "Remember, to be a leader, you need
to be alive! Access to treatments must be achieved in a far more definite
way."
Prevention plus
page 2 of 5
contents
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Other significant steps forward for HIV positive women
were announced at Barcelona.
The MTCT Plus programme was officially unveiled on the same day as the
aforementioned
