I am so pleased to read that the GF is working on a "gender equity strategy". This is so important as women are incresingly becoming infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and there is so little is being done in addressing women vulnerabilities to HIV at the community level.
For this initiative , I would like to appreciate the efforts and initiative of the GF in addressing gender issues. I believe the strategy should focus not only on women and girls, but also on men and boys systematically. It should be a comprehensive strategy that address women and girls vulnerabilities to HIV with addressing the issues of men and the contribution of both sexes in the prevention of HIV.
Although the number of women affected and infected by HIV and AIDS is increasing globally,the involvement of men and boys in the interventions as well is important. The social and economic factors that are making women vulnerable to HIV, which of course does not exclude biological and political factors, shows that strategies focusing only on girls and women will not bring about sustainable change on women and girls empowerment. The need of targeting men and boys help us in changing societal norms and values which are contributing to the gender division of labor and gender stereotypes, all linked to lack of economic, social and political empowerment of women, which factors on women and girls more affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.
The strategy of addressing women and girls and men and boys should of course differ. In HIV prevention, care and support and AIDS treatment the role of women and girls is changing rapidly as well as the impact on men and women differs. For instance, women and girls due to low social and economic status in the community as well as to harmful traditional practices are more vulnerable to HIV and are stigmatised based on their sex and HIV status which inclused Gender based violence, carry the burden of care and support at the family and community level. Women who work as sex workers are not able to protect themselves from HIV, not able to negotiate condom use and their human rights abused. When we see HIV prevention services, among others there is a lack of female controlled method like the female condom and lack of women negotiation skills in condom usage. Factors like GBV (Gender Based Violence) prevent women from accessing PMTCT and ART services. For the girl child, female genital mutiliation, early marriage, wife inheritance, poverty, gender division of labor and other factors prevent her from education and increase vulnerability to HIV.
What I have pointed out are some of the issues which should be considered in the strategy formulation, to be seen as a background and help us in getting us a strategy that address women and girls issues as well as men and boys issues as well. I believe addressing the issues of gender division of labor, women empowerment need the involvment and particpation of men and boys. The need to address women vulnerablitiies to HIV, needs the changed perception and involvment of the community, which of course means including men. For men the strategy needs to be focused on issues, such as socieltal strctural change, the need to recongnize and value women work at the family level, the need to change the gender division of labor and other issues that will bring sustainable change at the family and community level.