No. 1/09

The new GCWA website will be going live in the next few days, with a focus on results-oriented information about women and girls in response to the AIDS epidemic.

The new site is a hub that will facilitate action among GCWA partners to raise the level of advocacy we all strive for. The site will contain information fostering robust debate and exchange of knowledge that helps our partners focus on strategic action at the country level. We want to provide our partners a special space where they can share information about their research, experiences and thoughts from the countries where they live and work.

Several features of our website and future extranet:

• World map on women and AIDS:
  In keeping with the GCWA’s strategic focus on prioritizing country-level results, www.womenandaids.net’s central feature will be a world map highlighting action for and by women fighting AIDS. It points to information and documents from National Strategic Plans, press and research articles, and partners' projects in each country. All the information on the site will be tagged by country and issue, populating the map automatically and facilitating searches.
• Debate and knowledge exchange forum:
  Another central feature of our site will be the debate and knowledge exchange. Here again, our focus is on results. The site will aim to create a practical space in which partners and external organizations exchange information, case studies and resources on specific topics. At the end of the specified periods of dialogue and debate, the GCWA Secretariat will compile this information and prepare brief summaries, which partners may use in their advocacy campaigns.
• “Ask the Specialist” forum:
  This is a forum to topics of immediate relevance or interest, such as microbicides, violence and human rights, circumcision and others.

For more information, please contact Andres Lopez at info@womenandaids.net.

In the last few months, 20 organizations have reaffirmed their commitment to the goals and principles of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, and ten others have joined for the first time.

They have done so at a critical moment. New strategies pertaining to gender and AIDS have been implemented by the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UNAIDS family, various bilateral donors and other actors. There is new emphasis on gathering evidence about what works, and why, for effective programming. It is increasingly essential that organizations working to improve HIV programming for women and girls share knowledge, tools, and approaches to create synergies to better assist national and community partners.

We encourage other organizations to be part of this movement. If you are not already a partner, or know of other organizations that might wish to partner with us, please contact us at info@womenandaids.net.

At the invitation of the Bangladesh office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the GCWA organized a mission to that country from June 28 to July 1st that has helped to initiate a new dialogue around issues related to women and girls in the national response to AIDS among Government representatives and a wide range of civil society partners.

Bangladesh will soon be embarking upon the process of developing its next five-year National Strategic Plan, under the leadership of the National AIDS and STD Programme of the Ministry of Health. It is envisioned that a series of constituency consultations will inform and guide this process.

"As the country moves forward in the development of its new National Strategic Plan on AIDS, it would be useful for Government and her partners to consider several key issues related to gender", noted Kristan Schoultz, director of the GCWA, at a press conference in Dhaka. "The time is now ripe to further invest in women, and in women’s groups, particularly those which have not traditionally been involved in discussions on AIDS."

The GCWA stressed the importance of considering how to deal with issues such as gender-based violence, and other issues that are deeply rooted in harmful gender-based norms. "This will involve action to empower women; to engage with men and address issues related to masculinity; to challenge stigma and discrimination; and of course this is all linked to ensuring basic human rights," said Schoultz.

The mission also included Nazneen Damji, Team Leader for HIV/AIDS at UNIFEM; Anandi Yuvraj, Regional Coordinator for the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW); and Judith Polsky, Programme Officer at GCWA.

For more information, please contact Judy Polsky at info@womenandaids.net

In order for the new website to serve as a knowledge hub and opportunities-creation mechanism for action, it is essential that partners contribute content. We ask you to send us news, publications, activities, case studies, and so forth, and actively participate in our forums and debates. We will contact each organization in the coming days with requests for information and documentation. In the meantime, please feel free to email us and share any of the above at info@womenandaids.net.

UNAIDS is seeking information about ongoing inititiaves related to violence against women within the response to AIDS. In order to achieve a fuller understanding about partner action in this area, the UNAIDS Secretariat will soon contact each of your organizations’ focal points to ask for your input and to share any relevant documents and experiences you may have. Thank you in advance for your support to this effort!

For more information, contact Judy Polsky at info@womenandaids.net.