…  CALLS  ON UN, GOVTS TO TAKE ACTION ON UNAIDS AGENDA FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS
[United Nations] Women leaders of diverse networks and organizations from every region of the world, last Thursday, at the United Nations, announced the creation of a new global coalition called Women ARISE.
Developed and sponsored by 35 international women’s groups and regional and global networks, the coalition, poignantly draws attention to the lack of action in five key areas that impact women and girls living with and affected by HIV:  Access, Rights, Investment, Security and Equity, hence the acronym – ARISE.
Women ARISE members are working together to galvanize and promote a common agenda on women and girls’ rights in the AIDS response. They are focusing on these five areas of action:
* Access: to information, services, prevention, care, treatment, support
* Rights: sexual and reproductive health and rights, property, inheritance, non-discrimination, equality, justice
* Investment: budgets and funds for women and girls
* Security: mental, physical, psychological, financial
* Equity: education, empowerment, resources
Included among the groups are those that advocate for the rights of, and are run by HIV positive women, sex workers, and young people. Despite their different countries, languages, ages, and focus of work, they have joined together to counter the continued lack of action in the five key areas.
At the UN forum, Dr. Mabel Bianco, Coordinator of Women ARISE, who is also President of FEIM (Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer), and Coordinator of the International AIDS Women’s Caucus, registered a very passionate call for the immediate implementation of the UNAIDS operational plan at the country level.
She noted that, with HIV being the leading cause of disease and death among women of reproductive age worldwide, the time to act is now.
Considering time to be of the essence, Dr. Bianco who urged that 2010 be seen as a turning point in acceding to these demands, declared: “We have no more time to waste on more promises or pilot projects—we need action now on women, girls and HIV.”  This, according to her, is the only way to stem the rising rates of HIV transmission among women and girls in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, Robin Gorna, Executive Director of the International AIDS Society and a speaker at the launch event, welcomed the work of Women ARISE at a time when work is being done to ensure that women and girls’ perspectives, voices, and realities are taken into account at the International AIDS Conference , scheduled for July Vienna, Austria.
She noted that three decades into the AIDS pandemic, AIDS is now the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age. Yet the needs of women and girls living with HIV are still not met.  Gorna emphasized the urgent need for  more research into the impacts of HIV treatment on women, adding that reliable research is the only way to ensure that better treatments are developed and tailored to the unique needs of women and girls, often excluded from the early stages of trials, and with a guarantee to access to the care and support services they need.
And Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA and member of Women ARISE  observed that young women and girls are especially vulnerable to sexual violence and coercion, which put them at great risk of contracting HIV.  She called on governments and the UN, to accelerate positive action in this regard.
“ They [Governments and the UN] must fulfill the commitments they made on sexual and reproductive health rights and HIV at the Beijing World Conference on Women 15 years ago. Action is needed now,” Gumbonzvanda stressed.
“We know what to do to stop rising rates of HIV transmission for women and girls—the UNAIDS operational plan lays it out,” stated Sheila Tlou, Co-chair of the Global Task Force on Women and the former Minister of Health in Botswana. “But to be effective, the UNAIDS agenda must be accelerated at the country level and all of the UN agencies must work together to support and implement it.”
As a new and powerful coalition, Women ARISE is committed to focusing attention on the serious problems that women and girls in all their diversity face in regard to HIV/AIDS. The stigma and discrimination encountered by all people living with HIV are magnified for women and girls because of persistent gender inequality. HIV positive women are ostracized in their communities, afraid to seek treatment, and lack fundamental support, care, and services.
‘Women ARISE’ was launched as the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is conducting a 15-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action and its goals related to HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS has also unveiled at the CSW its new Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV.
After its launch and advocacy work at the CSW, Women ARISE will seek to raise the visibility and presence of women and girls at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in July 2010.