Nashauna Drummond, Acting Lifestyle Coordinator

Members of the Tanzanian delegation kept everyone well entertained prior to the official launch of the World YWCA International Women's summit at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 5. The theme for this year's summit is 'Women's Leadership on HIV and AIDS'. - Photo by Nashauna Drummond

With the theme of the World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) International Women's summit being 'Women's Leadership on HIV and AIDS', the 'feminisation' of the disease was at the forefront of the opening ceremony of the summit at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, last week.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki showed his support in the fight against HIV/AIDS as he joined the World YWCA for the opening of the summit on July 5. All the keynote speakers representing government, civil societies, and United Nations agencies involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, reiterated the theme of the feminisation of the disease.

Collective responsibility

Mr. Kibaki noted that AIDS was not just a health issue.

According to him: "It is a social issue that demands our collective responsibility as individuals, governments, civil societies and corporate citizens."

He noted that, to invest in women was to invest in the development of society.

"We have a duty to eradicate ignorance from our ranks and do all that is in our power to empower women and girls to take control of their lives," he urged.

He outlined the reality of the AIDS pandemic which shows women are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged group suffering from the ravages of the disease.

Seventy per cent of people living on less than US$1 a day are women, and in sub-Saharan Africa, 60 per cent of adults living with the virus are female. Three out of every four young persons living with the virus are female.

The Kenyan president said further that gender inequality and the low status of women in society are two of the vital drivers of the disease.

Target inequality

Executive director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, told the gathering that 67 per cent of persons living with AIDS are women and girls.

"This trend of feminisation is transforming the epidemic and we must transform our response," Dr. Piot said. "In all the programmes we develop, we should ask ourselves, does it work for women? There is no such thing as a gender-neutral programme. Women must be at the table when programmes are being developed, implemented and analysed. We will not be able to fight this epidemic unless we target the drivers of this epidemic: gender inequality."

nashauna.drummond@gleanerjm.com