IFPRI: Helping Women Respond to the Global Food Price Crisis

The current food price crisis has received widespread attention, but discussions to date have largely overlooked the gender dimensions of the crisis. More than 15 years of rigorous research on gender and intrahousehold resource allocation suggest not only that men and women will be affected differently by the global food crisis, but also that, as both consumers and producers, they will have different stocks of resources with which to respond to rising prices. Although the current situation calls for an urgent national and international response, urgency is not an excuse for misguided policies that fail to address the gender implications of the crisis. Instead, decisionmakers should take this opportunity to incorporate what is known about women’s roles in agricultural production and household welfare, and the specific challenges they face, both to craft more effective policy responses and to enable women to respond better to the current challenges and opportunities.

Download the document from Reliefweb (pdf, 78kb).

ICASA: 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa: “Africa’s Response: Face the facts”

For more than two decades, the African continent has participated in the fight against AIDS and provided potential solutions to the numerous challenges posed by this epidemic.

However, even as the fight continues, it is important to stop and evaluate these many initiatives, in order to recognize their contributions, successes and ambitions, as well as to acknowledge their weaknesses and shortfalls. It is time to take stock of political commitments, unfulfilled promises and actions and practices employed in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

At ICASA 2008, International and African experts will evaluate the current state of the HIV and STI epidemics with regard to science, communities and leadership.

In addition, the conference will broach topics concerning other, equally important infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and hepatitis.


Addressing the vulnerability of young women and girls to HIV in southern Africa
HIV Data

3 December 2008

On the opening day of ICASA 2008, a new regional report is launched by UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot that looks at the vulnerability of women and girls in Southern Africa to HIV.

Dr Peter Piot addresses the launch of the UNAIDS RST report on vulnerability of women and girls in Southern Africa.
Credit: UNAIDS/Jacky D. Ly
Almost two-thirds of all young people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa where about 75% of all infections among young people aged 15 to 24 years are among young women.

Responding to the need to understand why young women and girls living in countries in this region are so vulnerable to HIV infection, UNAIDS and the Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa convened an expert technical meeting in June 2008.

The meeting agreed four specific sets of actions at community and country levels that are grounded in national strategies and are context specific. The four key actions are:

Mobilize communities for HIV prevention, with strong male involvement, to design relevant strategies and messages about the causes, consequences of and solutions to young women and girls’ vulnerability
Expand access to high quality, well-integrated essential sexual and reproductive health and prevention services, while mobilising demand for and use of them.
Develop and ensure adequate technical and financial resources for implementation of national strategies that address the structural drivers of vulnerability.
Strengthen country capacities for epidemiological and behavioural surveillance, priority research, and monitoring coverage and impact of prevention responses to generate information to improve decision-making.


“UNAIDS Technical Meeting on Young Women in HIV Hyper-endemic countries of Southern Africa” was launched on the opening day of ICASA 2008, Dakar.

Participants at the meeting included regional researchers; representatives of national AIDS councils, government departments and the Southern African Development Community; and members of the eastern and southern Africa United Nations Regional AIDS Team. Participants were selected for representation across high-level policy, social and scientific research and programming expertise related to women, girls and HIV, from all countries of southern Africa.

Andy Seale, Senior Regional Adviser for Advocacy and Communications with UNAIDS Regional Support team for Eastern and Southern Africa, said: “A major acceleration in social mobilization, service scale-up, increased resources and better surveillance is needed to successfully address the vulnerabilities explored at the meeting. Actions are needed at all levels from the state level to actions at community, family and individual level.”

The outcomes of that meeting are reflected in a new publication launched by UNAIDS in Eastern and Southern Africa on 1 December 2008 that outlines the experts’ conclusions, recommendations and needed sets of action.

“UNAIDS Technical Meeting on Young Women in HIV Hyper-endemic countries of Southern Africa” also includes a number of the background technical papers which were commissioned for the meeting.

Southern Africa context explored

On the opening day of ICASA 2008, a new regional report is launched that looks at the vulnerability of women and girls in Southern Africa to HIV.
Credit: UNAIDS/Jacky D. Ly The papers explore some of the factors that are driving the current epidemic in southern Africa. These include the practice of age disparate and intergenerational sex; biological vulnerability of young women; economic empowerment; education and gender-based violence. A final paper examines the complex interaction between environmental factors and individual choices, behaviours and community norms.

Improved analyses of these factors will enable appropriate and evidence-informed responses to these specific challenges that increase vulnerability of young women and girls in the region.

Social transformation

Meeting participants called for a social movement to address the drivers that contribute to the risk of HIV infection in the region. Addressing human rights violations, harmful social norms, weak community and leadership capacities are seen as some of the fundamental steps to tackle the vulnerability of young women and girls to HIV in southern Africa.

JHA: Gender Mainstreaming During Disasters: The Case of the Tsunami in India

The 2004 tsunami had disastrous consequences for entire coastal regions bordering the Indian Ocean. Yet the tsunami’s impact on the affected populations varied according to their pre-disaster vulnerabilities. Specifically, gender roles contributed to the vulnerability of girls and women by limiting their social rights and access to resources. This study, which was conducted by researchers from the Anawim Trust in Tamil Nadu, India, documents ways in which 10 local Indian NGOs brought a gender dimension to their post-tsunami emergency and rehabilitation programs in the state of Tamil Nadu, and it offers recommendations to help local and international NGOs improve their gender mainstreaming efforts at both the programmatic and organizational levels.

Read more on the Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (JHA) website.

JHA: Understanding the Effect of the Tsunami and Its Aftermath on Vulnerability to HIV in Coastal India

In 2006, Oxfam commissioned the Swasti Health Resource Center in Bangalore, India, to study whether the 2004 tsunami and its aftermath increased vulnerability to HIV infection among affected residents of coastal India. Researchers found that such vulnerability did indeed increase in most of the 30 communities studied, primarily because the physical, social, and psychological conditions after the tsunami led to a significant increase in unprotected sex with non-regular sexual partners, especially among people living in temporary shelters. The research team recommends measures that government, local NGOs, and international aid groups can take to minimize the risk of HIV infection among displaced people after major disasters.

Read more on the JHA website.

Convention on Cluster Munitions signed in Oslo

More than 100 governments, with some notable exceptions, will sign an international convention today banning the production of cluster bombs whose unexploded canisters have killed and maimed thousands of innocent civilians and are dangerously scattered over more than 20 countries.

The convention is enthusiastically welcomed today by the Red Cross, and on the Guardian's website by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his German counterpart. The weapons had "rendered huge tracts of land unusable, cutting farmers off from their crops and visiting further suffering on families forced to risk their lives simply to pursue their livelihoods", said Matthias Schmale, international director of the British Red Cross.

The Guardian, 3rd December 2008

Civil society played a key role in bringing about this strong convention, as did the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Its president, Dr Jakob Kellenberger, captured the spirit of what we were trying to achieve when he quoted from the authors of the 1868 St Petersburg Declaration that our task was shaped by the need to "fix the technical limits at which the necessities of war ought to yield to the requirements of humanity." Civil society's involvement in the process helped to ensure that when redefining these limits humanitarian concerns were given due weight.

David Miliband in the Guardian, 2nd December 2008

Almost exactly ten years ago, the world celebrated a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel landmines, an immense achievement which has saved countless lives and spared the suffering of thousands around the globe.

Then, as now, the Red Cross and the British Government were at the forefront of the debate. The Red Cross first called for a Cluster Munitions treaty in 2000 following the conflict in Kosovo. More recently it was largely due to the United Kingdom that a conference in Dublin in May was able to reach agreement on the final wording of the treaty being signed today.

Matthias Schmale, British Red Cross press statement

We are committing ourselves to preventing further civilian deaths and injuries from cluster munitions, and to helping those whose lives have been blighted by them.... we are showing our commitment to international humanitarian law, and celebrating the tremendous positive energy which comes about through working together with civil society.

...

Our global community must continually keep challenging itself about the way it behaves. Political leaders must show they are prepared to listen and respond to the voices of victims, of civil society, and of ordinary people. The Cluster Munition Convention, the "Oslo Convention", shows both the importance and the power of advocacy to make the world a safer, better place.

It's only the beginning because we must continue working together internationally, and so must our military forces, to prevent conflicts and deal with their legacy. And when military force is required, it must be used responsibly.

David Miliband, short speech on signing the Convention.

UNAIDS:Understanding HIV transmission for an improved AIDS response in West Africa

“West Africa HIV/AIDS epidemiology and response synthesis”

On the opening day of International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), taking place in Senegal under the theme “Africa’s Response: Face the facts,” the World Bank launched a new report exploring the character of the HIV epidemics and responses in countries in West Africa.

The “West Africa HIV/AIDS epidemiology and response synthesis” is a review and analysis of surveillance and research data in 15 West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Aiming to gain an improved understanding of HIV transmission dynamics in this sub-region, the paper focuses on the degree to which epidemics in each country are concentrated or generalized, and the implications that this has for effective prevention strategies. The report argues that more prevention focus is needed on the specific groups in which HIV transmission is concentrated, including female sex workers and men who have sex with men.

The new publication highlights a need for better understanding of the complex nature of transactional sex in West Africa. Many women involved in commercial sex do not self-identify as sex workers and have other occupations as well. The boundaries between commercial and non-commercial sex are blurred and it is difficult to have an idea of the proportion of men having commercial sex due to substantial under-reporting.

The importance of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the HIV epidemic in West Africa is being increasingly recognized. High proportions of MSM are also married and/or have sex with other women with very low rates of condom use, acting as a bridge for HIV between MSM and women.

For more information, see the UNAIDS website.

“Know your epidemic. Know your response”

The paper was written as part of the work programme by the World Bank’s Global AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Team (GAMET) to support countries to “know your epidemic, know your response” so that interventions are carefully chosen and prioritized based on a careful characterization of each country’s epidemic.

Understanding the behaviors that are giving rise to most new infections is a crucial first step to being able to develop a results-focused, evidence-based response that will be effective in preventing new infections. In turn this will improve resource allocation, all the more appropriate when global economic outlook may impact AIDS response.

The work was carried out in partnership between the World Bank and UNAIDS and with the collaboration of the National AIDS Councils and AIDS programmes of the countries.

ICRC: The Convention on Cluster Munitions - Time to Act

British Red Cross podcast for World AIDS Day

In honour of World AIDS Day, a new podcast on the work of British Red Cross peer educators in Scotland and their link with peer educators in Nepal is up on our external website.

Other podcasts include episodes on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and child soldiers in Sierra Leone.

A message from Bernard Gardiner, Federation HIV Unit Manager

World AIDS Day has become the traditional day throughout the world to say the right things about HIV, BUT the real test comes on every other day of the year when we need to DO the right things to keep the promises. Good intentions and hope are not a method. Promises have to be followed up with specific targets, and monitoring to ensure those targets are met.

Two years ago on World AIDS Day the previous Secretary General launched the Federation's Global Alliance on HIV, and committed the Federation to doubling the amount of HIV work by 2010.

In the late 1990s the Federation was spending only about CHF 3 million each year on HIV work. Last year we pushed past CHF 45 million, meaning we are on track to keep our promise. 80 National Societies are now members of the Global Alliance on HIV, detailed plans and costings of exactly how each will double HIV work, and how Zones will support national society capacity building, can be seen on the Federation's website.

Our resource mobilisation target for 2010 is CHF 270, which is more feasible today as global HIV funding has increased from millions to billions of dollars. To stay on track to meet our target the Secretariat has to put intensive effort into supporting National Societies to access Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria and other funding sources at the country level. The reality of HIV funding architecture is the 'country driven approach' - most donor support is dispersed at country level. The Global Alliance on HIV means national societies have technically credible plans and budgets to take to the table in country, and donors are taking the Federation's standardised approach as a signal the Federation is serious and organised.

Some resource mobilisation opportunities still exist at Zone and Global levels, and these must also be maximised.

So in summary, we are now in a position where we have a clear platform for co-operation (the Global Alliance on HIV), specific plans and budgets, and improved resource mobilisation. We need to build on this hard work and success, to DO MORE and DO BETTER. We aim to fully deliver this promise to double the Federation's HIV work by the end of 2010.

The banners hanging in the IFRC Geneva Secretariat's foyer today are an adaptation of the current 'Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise' materials of the World AIDS Campaign, and address key elements of how we will deliver over the coming year. These designs will be made available to all national societies for use throughout 2009.

Felicita Hikuam came to the Secretariat four years ago from Namibia Red Cross to develop our colourful 'Come Closer - you cannot get HIV by being a friend, kissing, hugging, playing, talking etc' anti-stigma campaign, and then went on to work for World AIDS Campaign. She suggested IFRC develop its own version of World AIDS Campaign materials focusing on how the IFRC will keep its promises over the coming year.

The first banner highlights our Global Alliance on HIV platform to DO MORE and DO BETTER. The Global Alliance approach is all about PARTNERSHIP, and how we can achieve much more by working together.

The second banner highlights our key 'added value'. National Society volunteers mobilise the community, usually the community where they live. The 'Partner' theme captures the spirit of this mobilisation work. The main job of National Societies is to support these volunteer change agents to DO MORE and DO BETTER. The Secretariat needs to advocate more strongly and convince donors and governments of the value of this work, and of the need to fund community systems strengthening.

The 3rd banner represents the foundation of our HIV work, partnership with PLHIV.

UNAIDS and IFRC will this month sign a new three year UNAIDS Collaborating Centre Agreement, to partner with the Global Network of PLHIV (GNP+) to reduce stigma and discrimination. The agreement includes work to improve how the needs of PLHIV are met in humanitarian situations. To maximise co-ordination, the Secretariat focal point person for this Collaboration will be co-located in the Principles and Values Department with the Gender expert. This, combined with Secretariat support to the newly formed network of Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers living with HIV, and the Human Resources Department's HIV in the Workplace programme, will mean we move closer to keeping our promise to make IFRC a better home for PLHIV.

HIV is something that touches us all, personally and professionally. We can DO MORE and DO BETTER, and by our actions show real leadership in the global HIV response.

Thank you for all you do to help the Federation to deliver its promises. I hope today that you feel proud to be part of this collective effort. You make the difference - thank you!

A message from Alyson, our HIV and AIDS advisor

Dear Colleagues,

Today, 1 December 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. In a report by UNAIDS it is clear that since 1988, efforts made to respond to the epidemic have produced positive results. However, there are still huge outstanding needs and consequent efforts required by all of us to reduce HIV. Please take the time to read through this message today and consider what we can do to make a difference.

This year’s theme is “Lead – Empower – Deliver”. Designating leadership as the World AIDS Day theme for 2007 – 2008 highlights both the political leadership needed to fulfill commitments that have been made in the response to AIDS – particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 – and celebrating the leadership that has been witnessed at all levels of society.

This year WAD activities are being held across the Territories, for example:

• South East Territory are holding a conference to launch their HIV project where workshops will be held on Anti stigma, HIV awareness and Sexual health .The conference will also include personal statements from young people.
• Northern Territory is running a number of events up to and during WAD week. This includes a Universal Children’s day conference where peer educators raised awareness of their work throughout the year, through displays and discussions. The Mayor of Liverpool and Hollyoaks stars, will join young British Red Cross volunteers and Liverpool school children to celebrate Universal Children’s Day and gain awareness of HIV and AIDS

Many of the National Societies that we are working with are holding different events with their volunteers, staff and partners across their countries. This aims to demonstrate their commitment to increase awareness of HIV and reduce discrimination.

Some key facts on the AIDS epidemic which we should consider in planning and implementing our work:

• An estimated 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007. There were 2.7 million new HIV infections and 2 million AIDS-related deaths last year.
• The rate of new HIV infections has fallen in several countries, but globally these favourable trends are at least partially offset by increases in new infections in other countries.
• Globally, women account for half of all HIV infections—this percentage has remained stable for the past several years.
• The global percentage of adults living with HIV has levelled off since 2000. In virtually all regions outside sub-Saharan Africa, HIV disproportionately affects people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and sex workers.
• Prevention
• In the last two years, good progress has been made in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, but more work is urgently required with only 33% of pregnant women living with HIV receiving antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission in 2007.
• The scaling up of HIV prevention programmes globally is paramount.
• For people most at risk, since 2005 we have seen a tripling of HIV prevention efforts focused on sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs.
• The number of new HIV infections continues to outstrip the advances made in treatment numbers—for every two people put on antiretroviral drugs, another five become newly infected.

Treatment

• Nearly 3 million people were receiving antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries at the end of 2007. This represents 31% of estimated global need and a 45% improvement over 2006.
• Globally, treatment coverage is higher for women than men.
• But children are not benefiting equally as adults. In sub-Saharan Africa, children living with HIV are about one third as likely to receive antiretroviral therapy as adults.
• Increases in treatment have been extraordinary in many countries.
• After decades of increasing mortality, the annual number of AIDS deaths globally has declined in the past two years, in part as a result of greater access to treatment.
• The cost of providing HIV treatment will continue to increase – as some of those on treatment currently need to access second and third line treatment regimens, and as delayed access makes disease management more complex for the estimated 30 million HIV-positive people worldwide who have never been on treatment.
• Most countries have policies providing free antiretroviral drugs—however many patients have to pay ‘out-of-pocket’ costs such as diagnostic tests, treatments for opportunistic infections and transportation, items which can be quite considerable depending on local contexts.

Tuberculosis and HIV

• Tuberculosis remains a leading cause of death for people living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries.
• While tuberculosis incidence has declined globally in recent years, the number of cases continues to increase in areas heavily affected by HIV or drug-resistant TB.
• Despite the availability of affordable treatments for tuberculosis, only 32% of TB cases in people living with HIV received both antiretroviral and anti-tuberculosis drugs—the greatest need for dual treatment is in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat tuberculosis must be scaled up in HIV care settings

Source: Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2008, August 2008 (UNAIDS/WHO next plan to publish an AIDS Epidemic Update in 2009).

Many regards,
Alyson

World Aids Day: 1st December 2008

• UNAIDS launches AIDS Outlook: a new report that provides perspectives on some of the most pressing issues that will confront policymakers and leaders as they respond to the challenges presented by AIDS in 2009.
• The World AIDS Day calendar;
  
• A press release from this morning;

  National HIV prevention programmes can become more successful using combination prevention approaches—this will help make the money work effectively during tough economic times

• From the Federation website: HIV still with us, not defeated yet...
• As in previous years, the World AIDS Campaign has produced a wide variety of campaign materials to be used by individuals and organizations that want to campaign on World AIDS Day and host commemorative events.
  

See after the jump for a list of related events.

• The Cara Trust: World AIDS Concert with Choir from London Gay Men’s Chorus
  Date: Saturday 29th November
  Time: 12.45pm-1.30pm
  Place: St Pancras Church, Upper Woburn Place, Euston
  RSVP: 02072436147 E: mail@caralife.com
• Steering the response to HIV through the changing global financial environment - leadership and collaboration
  Date: 1st December 2008
  Time: 2.45pm to 5pm
  Place: Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD
  RSVP on ODI website.
  Chair: Simon Maxwell, Director, ODI
• The Food Chain - Feeding the Fight against HIV: 20th Anniversary and World AIDS Day reception
  Date: 1st December
  Time: 5pm
  Place: The South African High Commission, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DP
  RSVP: (limited places) info@foodchain.org.uk 020 7354 0333
• The Cara Trust: World AIDS Day Evensong
  Date: 1st December
  Time: 5pm
  Place: Westminster Abbey
  RSVP: 02072436147 E: mail@caralife.com
• Where next for New HIV Prevention Technologies? Briefing and Drinks reception
  Date: 2nd December 2008
  Time: 3-5pm
  Place: Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG
  RSVP: whalleya@interactworldwideorg
• HIV & Health Systems Strengthening: Opportunities for Achieving Universal Access by 2010.
  Date: 4th December
  Time: 12-2pm Place: Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, House of Commons
  Chair: Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Vice-Chair of The All Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS
  RSVP: katy@aidsconsortium.org.uk