Two UN agencies team up to halt spread of AIDS among women and girls
The new partnership, which will help strengthen the UN's global response to the epidemic, takes place as governments end weeklong deliberations at UN Headquarters in New York in preparation for next month's special session of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS.
According to the two agencies, while the AIDS itself is a health problem, the epidemic is a gender issue, with women constituting 47 per cent of the 34.7 million adults living with the virus worldwide.
"Gender inequality is at the heart of the epidemic, which today is our biggest threat to development," said Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director for UNIFEM. "We must address power imbalances in every single policy, strategy and programme related to prevention, treatment and care, if we seriously want to tackle this global challenge. It is not simply a matter of justice and fairness. In this case, gender inequality is fatal."
It is estimated that 55 per cent of all HIV positive adults in Sub-Saharan Africa are women, according to the UN agencies. Teenage girls are infected at a rate 5 times greater than their male counterparts. By the mid 1990s, more than 25 per cent of sex workers in Indian cities had tested positive for HIV.
"The proportion of women living with HIV/AIDS has risen steadily in recent years," said Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "Today, young women in the developing world are twice as likely to be infected as men."
As part of the new agreement, UNIFEM and UNAIDS will work together to raise awareness about the role of power imbalances between women and men and the role of gender relations in HIV transmission. The agencies will investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on both infected and affected women; the added burden of care imposed on women and girls; and gender inequality in access to prevention, treatment, care and support.
The two agencies will also jointly develop gender-sensitive training manuals for peacekeepers and will work with women's groups in conflict areas to support their involvement in HIV/AIDS programmes within the context of peace-building, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.