UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

UNAIDS The First 10 Years218UNAIDS ExecutiveDirector Peter Piot andNii-K Plange, formerUNAIDS CountryCoordinator in PapuaNew Guinea, duringa visit to Papua NewGuinea in 2005.UNAIDSthese on World AIDS Day, and needed money to bring women in from the villages and stayovernight so they could march in the towns”.He recalled: “All this was a stage-setting venture. I wanted to create a context within whichgender-based violence and the links with HIV would become major issues for nationaldialogue. I knew that UNAIDS and the UN Theme Group on HIV/AIDS could have calledfor government action on violence against women, but I felt the impact would be greaterif we could get local women to initiate the calls, with the UN coming in later to provide thesupport”.Although Papua New Guinea has laws against violence against women, Nii-K feels they needto be better implemented. He described domestic violence as “rampant”, and explainedthat the situation for women is exacerbated by the disconnection between traditional normsand “modern lifestyles”, combined with poverty, unemployment, and a lack of decisionmakingpower in the household. More and more women are becoming infected with HIV:women aged 15–25 are three times more likely to be infected than men.Working closely with Dame Kidu, Minister for Community Development, Nii-K began to lookfor ways to make the AIDS response work better for girls and women. Kidu agreed withNii-K’s strategy of bringing women’s groups together to advocate on HIV and violence, butrealized that most members had no advocacy experience. The two agreed to find out moreabout what women felt they needed, and to provide them with the requisite skills so theycould advocate more effectively. But for this to happen, they required money.