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Gender and AIDS

Gender and AIDS. UNDP Focal Points Meeting June 2007. Global Overview. Almost 18 million women living with HIV globally Steadily increasing proportion of women living with HIV – rising from 35% in 1985 to 48% in 2006

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Gender and AIDS

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  1. Gender and AIDS UNDP Focal Points Meeting June 2007

  2. Global Overview • Almost 18 million women living with HIV globally • Steadily increasing proportion of women living with HIV – rising from 35% in 1985 to 48% in 2006 • Young women are particularly impacted – girls aged 15-24 make up 76% of young people with HIV • Marginalized and vulnerable groups (e.g. sex work, MSM, IDU) have limited access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services

  3. The Epidemic, Europe & the CIS • 1.7 million people living with HIV in 2006 • Over 500,000 women aged 15+ living with HIV (30%) • Proportion of women living with HIV increasing • Increasing % of infections due to unprotected sex (37% in 2005) • In 2005, 41% of new infections reported in women • In Ukraine, 46% of infections in women

  4. Gender Inequality Fuels Spread of HIV Why are women more vulnerable? • Social, economic and legal inequities • Lower social status, gender stereotypes, gender-based violence • Biologically more vulnerable • Reduced access to information, education and economic opportunities • Low-emphasis on female-oriented prevention methods • High risk situations: trafficking of women and girls, sex work, women injecting drugs, partners of IDUs  • Disempowerment of women and girls • Limit women’s ability to negotiate safer sexual relations • Make it more difficult for women to cope with impact of AIDS

  5. AIDS Deepens Gender Inequality Impact of AIDS • Heightened impact of AIDS on women and girls because of their care giving roles in families • Burden of providing care impacts women’s and girls’ economic and educational opportunities • Women living with HIV tend to face greater stigma than men

  6. Universal Access by 2010 Protect and promote human rights of PLHIV, women and children, and people in vulnerable groups, and ensure they are centrally involved in all aspects of response. • Prioritize funding for social mobilization campaigns to protect and promote AIDS-related rights and eliminate stigma and discrimination. • Increase funding for programmes to address gender inequalities that fuel the epidemic, reform and enforce legislation to protect women and girls from harmful traditional practices and from sexual violence in and outside marriage and ensure equality in domestics relations, including in respect of property and inheritance. • Establish and enforce legislation and policies to eliminate AIDS-associated stigma and discrimination against PLHIV, IDUs, sex workers, MSM and other vulnerable populations.

  7. 2006 Political Declaration on AIDSAdopted by the General Assembly “Commit ourselves to strengthening legal, policy, administrative and other measures for the promotion and protection of women’s full enjoyment of all human rights and the reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS through the elimination of all forms of discrimination, as well as all types of sexual exploitation of women, girls and boys, including for commercial reasons, and all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful traditional and customary practices, abuse, rape and other forms of sexual violence, battering and trafficking in women and girls”

  8. UNDP’s Lead Role UNDP leads gender response under Division of Labour • UNDP-UNIFEM partnership to support lead role • All Cosponsors must address gender-dimensions of AIDS through their lead role • UNDP responsible for: • Coordinating and facilitating UNAIDS technical support • Identifying gaps, advising country-level stakeholders, and stimulating demand • Establishing regional support for delivery at country-level • Integrating gender in all aspects of UNDP’s work on AIDS

  9. Addressing Gender-dimensions of AIDS • Gender Equality • Empowering women and girls to reduce vulnerability and mitigate impact • Involving men as full partners to address gender-inequality • Human Rights, Stigma and Discrimination • Promoting human rights values and enabling legal frameworks • Creating an environment respectful of rights of women and men affected by HIV and vulnerable groups (MSM, IDU, sex workers) Involvement of Women Living with HIV and Capacity Building • Supporting meaningful involvement of women and men living with HIV in design, implementation and monitoring of programmes • Building capacity of women’s organizations (and groups representing vulnerable populations) to address HIV and provide gender-expertise to national AIDS responses • Sensitizing AIDS experts and policy-makers to gender-dimensions fuelling HIV

  10. Reducing Vulnerability of Women and Girls • Creating platforms to address gender inequality fueling HIV,gender-based violence andharmful practices • Increasing information and empowering women and girls to protect themselves from infection • Promoting access to HIV prevention services for women and girls • Gender-sensitive programming and transformative interventions to reduce risk and vulnerability • Engaging men as champions for gender-equality and women’s empowerment • Integrating gender-dimensions of AIDS in national policies, plans and implementation processes

  11. Mitigating the Impact on Women and Girls • Providing treatment, care and support services for women affected by AIDS • Reducing the burden of care on women by promoting and advocating value for care – recognizing monetary value of care and unpaid work • Working with policy-makers and local government to reinforce government and CSO capacity to deliver social services – to reduce burden of care on women • Increasing access to economic and educational opportunities for women/households affected by AIDS, micro-credit/finance • Building organizational and leadership capacities of networks and groups of women living with HIV

  12. Examples of UNDP’s Work • Advocacy with Media and Artists • Promoting empowering messages relating to people living with HIV and women to reduce stigma and discrimination and transform negative stereotypes and perception • Strengthening Capacity of Networks of people living with HIV • In all regions, UNDP has partnered closely with CSO networks and organizations of women and living with HIV to support their involvement in the response to HIV at all levels • Outreach to Vulnerable Populations • Reducing marginalization of vulnerable populations: Several initiatives have involved outreach to IDUs and men who have sex with men to reduce vulnerability and promote access to services

  13. Examples of UNDP’s Work • Trafficking of Women • Reducing vulnerability of women and girls due to trafficking and unsafe mobility in South Asia: Working with Ministries and source and destination communities to sensitize on vulnerability to trafficking and HIV and to support reintegration of trafficking survivors • Community Conversations • Addressing harmful norms and practices fueling HIV through open dialogue at community level: Several communities in Ethiopia banned FGM as a result of Community Conversations • Women’s Inheritance and Property Rights • Protecting and promoting women’s rights to inheritance and property: • UNDP-UNIFEM initiative launched to build capacity of countries to bridge the gap between law and practice

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