UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 8217The rates of HIV have soaredin many Eastern Europeancountries. Olga, the mother offi ve children, is collecting herantiretroviral drugs froma clinic in Odessa, Ukraine.WHO/V.Suvorovissues. That was surprising because Kenya has a very strong tradition of activist womenand women’s organizations. But we did what UNAIDS does best, we brought these twowomen’s groups to the table”. The focus of the joint initiative is on violence againstwomen, property and inheritance rights, and access to services and information; studiesin all three areas have been undertaken. The study on violence against women has, forexample, led to the strengthening of the effort to address this issue at the policy-makinglevel, including the development of a National Action Plan on women and violence whichincludes attention to AIDS.Most importantly, the issue of women and AIDS is a priority in key national documents suchas the Joint HIV/AIDS Programme Review (JAPR). At the same time, Kenyan media havebeen covering issues related to violence against women, its links to HIV and property andinheritance rights.UNAIDS and seed funds from the GCWA have also played an important role in catalysingadvocacy and action in Papua New Guinea.On 25 November 2005, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,UNAIDS Papua New Guinea and World Vision mobilized hundreds of women to march fornational action against domestic violence. The women put together a petition to the PrimeMinister and marched through the streets of Port Moresby, the capital. The media flocked toreport the event, and so women nationwide became aware of what was going on.Nii-K Plange, former UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Papua New Guinea, described theripple effects of this march: “… women leaders from outside Port Moresby began to call ouroffices asking us to help them organize marches in provincial towns. They wanted to hold