GLOBAL COALITION ON WOMEN AND AIDS STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING NOVEMBER 2006

Transcription

1 GLOBAL COALITION ON WOMEN AND AIDS STRATEGIC PLANNING MEETING NOVEMBER The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA) held its fourth Strategic Planning Meeting in Washington D.C. on November The principal aim of the meeting was to define GCWA objectives for 2007 with particular attention to developing joint messages and linking global advocacy to country and regional level action. 2. The meeting opened with a videoed address from the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot. Dr Piot identified gender inequality and discrimination against women as the main drivers of the AIDS epidemic. He called for greater synergies within the GCWA between the different action areas (suggesting that the group advocate on fewer issues) and a sharper focus on catalysing action at the country level. The Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, Deborah Landey, went on to highlight recent achievements of the GCWA in terms of its joint advocacy and the partnerships it has generated particularly with networks of women living with HIV. She outlined some of the challenges facing the GCWA specifically the need for a paradigm shift around convening and GCWA membership. 3. The Director of UNAIDS Policy, Evidence and Partnerships Department, Dr Purnima Mane, provided an update on the global AIDS environment. She gave an overview of the global indicators suggested for setting targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 at national level, noting that 70% of countries have already set their targets. Countries will report across 7 indicators in 2008, and a summary report will be compiled by UNAIDS for the General Assembly. For most indicators, sex disaggregated data was specifically called for. However, for several indicators, most notably HIV counseling and testing, sex disaggregated data was not specifically called for in the global guidance. IWHC and HelpAge International made specific interventions indicating the need for data on older adults (beyond the standard year old age range) and for a breakdown in the year old category. Partners agreed that the GCWA should throw its collective voice behind demands for sex and age disaggregated data. Dr Mane also provided information about a new tool: CHAT (Community Harmonization and Alignment Tool) a new mechanism to assist National AIDS Commissions (NACs) to assess participation of country partners and harmonization of international partners. This may help the GCWA monitor and stimulate greater involvement of women s organizations and networks of women living with HIV in national AIDS planning processes. 4. Jane Kalweo (UNAIDS Kenya) and Yolanda Simon (Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS) presented on how GCWA efforts have helped to advance women and AIDS action at country and regional levels. Jane expanded on the description of UNAIDS activities in Kenya and Malawi included in the meeting documentation and highlighted the usefulness of the GCWA Issues Briefs, whose format and references was easily adapted to country situation. She also noted that the Coalition s focus on specific outcomes for women, rather than on gender more generally,

2 and the use of HIV as an entry point, rather than just the gender machinery, had been helpful. She indicated that civil society groups in Kenya questioned the need for a National Coalition in Kenya, arguing that coalitions tend to be issue-based and disintegrate quickly. Instead they have opted for several joint products and joint recommendations. Yolanda expanded on information contained in the CD distributed at the meeting, calling for greater coordination and collaboration and for more consistent advocacy. She emphasized the need to identify entry points nationally but also regionally, particularly in regions like the Caribbean where regional efforts are strong. Both presenters identified a need to strengthen the capacity of women s groups and networks of women living with HIV, and particularly young women (the next generation of representatives) within these organizations, so that they are better able to participate in, and represent their members in AIDS fora. 5. Partners shared information about ongoing and upcoming opportunities for joint action at global level. YWCA will hold an International Women s Summit highlighting women s leadership on HIV and AIDS (Nairobi 5-7 July 2007). There will be an international positive women s forum in the same city on 4 July Efforts are under way to hold the next meeting of the GCWA Leadership Council in Nairobi around the International Women s Summit. WHO s guidelines for integrating gender into HIV programming will be published shortly. The guidelines focus on specific reccomendations to strengthen attention to gender in PMTCT, treatment, HIV testing, and care programmes and have been field tested in several countries. UNIFEM is conducting gender training for members of NACs in the Caribbean and West Africa, and finalising Transforming the National AIDS Response: Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Women s Rights into the Three Ones. A Coalition on Adolescent Girls is being launched by the UN Foundation and the Nike Foundation around the time of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Coalition on Adolescent Girls will call for greater investment from private and corporate foundations, the UN and NGOs around adolescent girls in 4 areas: child marriage, HIV and AIDS, economic empowerment, education. Several GCWA partners are involved and will keep the wider group briefed. Several organizations (ICW, ICRW, CEDPA, NMAC and UNAIDS) have received a grant from the Ford Foundation to build the institutional capacity of women s groups and networks of women living with HIV at country level, as well as to strengthen the leadership and advocacy skills of individual women so that they can participate more effectively in national, regional and global AIDS processes. CEDPA is the lead agency on leadership training for individual women and will hold several regional trainings over the next 3 years. GCWA Secretariat is taking the lead for institutional capacity building of networks of women living with HIV at country level. ICW and ICRW are working closely with both organizations.

3 At the request of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, the UNAIDS Secretariat will conduct a gender assessment of 3-5 national AIDS plans and compile gender guidelines. The review will be undertaken in collaboration with National AIDS Councils in the countries selected. Given the wide range of gender guidelines available, this effort will attempt to compile available gender guidelines, evaluate their use at country level, and make recommendations on gaps in guidance to strengthen AIDS services for women and men ActionAid will launch a new Global Campaign on Violence against Women and HIV on International Women s Day Several GCWA partners are already collaborating with ActionAid. GCWA Secretariat and partners will explore ways in which GCWA might complement this effort The Report of the Secretary General s High Level Panel on Coherence: Delivering as One, released on 9 November, calls for a gender equality and empowerment entity combining the functions of UNIFEM, OSAGI and DAW, headed by an Under-Secretary General, which would champion gender mainstreaming across the UN as well as manage women-specific programming at country, regional and global levels. This proposal has been endorsed by the Secretary General s Office and will be taken up for further discussion by the General Assembly over the coming few months 6. GCWA partners enjoyed a presentation from Nomi Fuchs-Montgomery on PEPFAR s work on gender and AIDS. PEPFAR was the first programme to require all reporting on programming targets (2 million on treatment prevent 7 million HIV infections care for 10 million people affected by HIV) to be disaggregated by sex. PEPFAR programmes in FY2005 reported that women and girls constituted 60% of those on ARVs, 69% receiving VCT, 52% of orphans and vulnerable children receiving support, and that 4.5m women to accessed PMTCT. PEPFAR has identified 5 priority strategies for addressing gender: increase gender equity in HIV programmes, address male norms and behaviours, reduce violence and coercion, increase women and girls access to productive resources, particularly orphan and vulnerable girls, and increase women s legal rights. GCWA can assist PEPFAR efforts to be gender transformative by (i) providing more actionable, programmatic guidance, and (ii) working collaboratively in selected countries. 7. An open brainstorming session identified three joint advocacy priorities for GCWA action in 2007: (i) a major push on women s leadership and meaningful involvement in AIDS processes at national, regional and global levels (ii) a concerted effort to advocate for women and girls access to essential HIV services, in the context of the push towards universal access (iii) increased effort to influence and sensitize convening agencies and major partners shaping the AIDS response on GCWA calls to action. Small group work refined next steps for each of the 3 priorities:

4 increased participation and women s leadership a two year initiative to empower women and women s organizations, particularly networks of women living with HIV, to participate more effectively in fora which shape AIDS policies and plans. The initiative will include a major advocacy campaign, will link with regional and national partners and processes (such as efforts to increase civil society participation in the Three Ones), and campaign will encourage investments in women s organizations and networks to strengthen their institutional capacity and build a critical mass of skilled women leaders. Lessons will be learnt from the GIPA experience to advance meaningful participation. Indicators of success will be identified, and efforts will be made to build on existing capacity building initiatives. access to services the aim is to build on the national target setting processes around universal access and advocate that strategies to increase women and girls access to critical services such as PMTCT, HIV counseling and testing, reproductive health care are part of national AIDS frameworks and operational plans. Joint efforts to monitor targets in selected countries could help to highlight barriers to access, ensure programmatic guidance to address the barriers, and encourage investments from national goverments and funders such as PEPFAR and GFATM to ensure that women s access actually improves. To influence funders and programmers, advocacy must specifically link to outcomes around HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Next steps: small group to be convened to shape this concept in more detail. influencing GCWA convenors and partners increase efforts to ensure that convening agencies and other major partners include a strong gender focus in all of their AIDS programming. This includes efforts to influence the UNAIDS Secretariat itself, given its access to the broader UN system through the UNAIDS partnership and the UN country teams, In addition, the GCWA should try to influence the agenda and investment patterns of the GFATM, PEPFAR and European Union, as well as embrace NGOs working on priority GCWA issues such as Action Aid. 8. Kathleen Cravero offered a history of the goals and operating structure of the GCWA. She described the Coalition as a loose movement of agencies and champions who came together to (i) highlight how AIDS was affecting the lives of women and girls, (ii) advocate for actions to address many of the underlying gender inequalities that fuel the epidemic based upon an improved evidence base of what works, where, why and how, (iii) strengthen and expand the partnership network of groups working on women and AIDS across 8 action areas, and (iv) use the evidence base, advocacy and partnership networks to support action at country and regional levels. She observed that the existing operating structure was fairly ad hoc, and grounded in a philosophy of equal partnership and responsibility. The Coalition was envisioned to provide a strong unified advocacy platform under which the many agencies already working on gender and AIDS could operate more effectively. Operating structures were kept

5 loose to allow maximum flexibility. As the GCWA grows, however, some additional structure may be required. The group discussed various options for expanding and formalizing GCWA membership, including the idea of an expanded, annual partnership meeting with a smaller, rotating advisory body (possibly comprising 2 UN agencies, 2 NGOs and representation from a network of women living with HIV) to advise the GCWA Secretariat and UNAIDS on managerial and operational issues.. Summary Action points: Launch major advocacy initiative in 2007 on (1) increasing the involvement / participation / and empowerment of women s organizations in the AIDS response; and (2) advocating for increased access to services for women and girls. Action: (a) a small group to produce an initial outline for the participation/empowerment initiative which will then be shared with other convenors in early February. (Sarah Russell, Charlotte Bunch, Anna Forbes, Natalie Fisher, Nazneen Damji, Beri Hull, Adrienne Germain, Jane Kalweo, Lori Schroeter and Annmarie Leadman); (b) GCWA Secretariat will convene a small group to work on a concept for the initiative to scale up access to services Coordinate and scale up GCWA demands for sex and age disaggregated data. Action: Convenors to help develop or refine indicators that measure gender inequality more precisely or that feed into global guidance on national target setting. GCWA Secretariat to coordinate convenor input with UNAIDS M&E Team. Coordinate with ActionAid on their campaign on violence against women to ensure coordination between GCWA and ActionAid messages and where GCWA can add value. Action: GCWA Secretariat together with convenors around VAW. Coordinate GCWA partner lobbying in support of the new UN gender entity by ensuring that briefs to the SG Transition Team from UN partners consistently offer endorsement as well as highlight the efforts of the GCWA. Action: Convenors with GCWA Secretariat support. Draw up internal communications strategy to raise awareness within GCWA partner organizations and within major AIDS organzations about the Coalition objectives and calls to action. Action: GCWA Secretariat and convenors. Review GCWA operational structures to address the role and responsibilities of convening agencies, strategies to embrace and involve new partners, and issues of GCWA governance. Action: GCWA Secretariat to convene a small working group to produce a draft options paper for review by all convenors and then presented to UNAIDS and the incoming GCWA Director.