In preparation for the 16th International AIDS Conference taking place in Toronto from Aug. 13 - 18th, 2006, (and to help inform both myself as a conference delegate and other DAWN members) I've assembled some information on Women and HIV/AIDS (outlined below) from the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC).

Please note that portions of the AIDS 2006 Conference will be available for viewing on the Internet at no cost and with no registration... Webcasts and transcripts, along with additional coverage, will be accessible at a later date. You can now sign up now to receive a daily update email during the week of the conference, providing summaries of each day's developments and direct access to all of the online coverage. Sign up at www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2006.

For those of you living in or near the Greater Toronto Area, please note that there are a number of women's events that will be held in the Global Village at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. These are open to the general public (free of charge) as well as to conference delegates.

Here is the link to the Programme available online: www.aids2006.org/PAG/ProgrammeAtAGlance.aspx. Any event marked with GV as the venue is scheduled to take place in the Global Village and does not require a conference badge to attend.

As an example, here are 2 events scheduled at the Global Village (which I am anxious to attend):

1. An interactive session hosted by Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

Where's the Money for Women's Rights and HIV/AIDS?
AWID will share its 'hot off the press' research on resources for women's rights organizations and HIV/AIDS. Come share and learn if women are being short-changed and become part of the strategies to mobilize more resources for women's rights. For more info, contact awid@awid.org.

When: Sun. Aug. 13, 2006 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Where: Global Village, Main Stage, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

2. Hosted by the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW), International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) and AWID:

In Her Own Words: Violations of Women's Human Rights and HIV
Moderated by Charlayne Hunter-Gault (CNN-Johannesburg)

This panel will expose rights violations that have led to the growing number of women who are now living with HIV, calling for greater respect and promotion of women's rights within the HIV/AIDS response. Panelists from different parts of the world -- HIV+ women activists and policy analysts -- will identify where appropriate policy or program interventions might have made the difference in terms of HIV status, treatment and community response. For more info, contact Cami Hilsendager at chilsendager@iwhc.org.

When: Mon. Aug. 14, 2006 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Where: Global Village, Main Stage, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Women and HIV/AIDS info added to the DAWN Ontario website includes: (source: IWHC)

Women and HIV/AIDS: Select Facts

Women are increasingly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. 
Young people, especially young women, are disproportionately at risk.
Women and girls do not have access to comprehensive information and services.
The biggest HIV/AIDS risk for many women and girls is marriage.
Sexual coercion and violence lead to a greater chance of infection.

Read More at http://dawn.thot.net/women_hiv_aids_facts.html

With Women Worldwide: A Compact to End HIV/AIDS

Outlines priority actions for making global HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care strategies work for women. Developed by a group of women advocates for use in 2006 negotiations on HIV/AIDS and beyond.

Read More at http://dawn.thot.net/women_hiv_aids2.html

Women and HIV/AIDS: Women's Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS: An Overview

The Context: Women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS Worldwide
In January 2002, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that for the first time, women represented half of HIV-positive individuals worldwide, and more than half in sub-Saharan Africa, the region of the world hit hardest by the epidemic. HIV/AIDS had become a generalized epidemic in many African countries, moving from high-risk groups such as sex workers and injection drug users to the general population, largely because of pervasive gender inequality. The combination of social and political inequalities and severe poverty is lethal to women in the developing world, rendering them disproportionately vulnerable to the virus. ...

Read more at http://dawn.thot.net/women_hiv_aids1.html#1


The Commitment: Addressing Women's Realities
Despite women's disproportionate vulnerability, few programs aimed at curbing the pandemic's spread target them or reflect the realities of their lives. If we want to stop HIV/AIDS—in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, in Eastern Europe, and in Canada and the United States — we must do two things: ...

Read more at http://dawn.thot.net/women_hiv_aids1.html#2

Colleagues: Empowering Women on the Ground
IWHC's colleagues worldwide are providing young people with the information, skills, and strategies to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS, and advocating for policies that mandate the gender-sensitive comprehensive sexuality education that will enable future generations to reach adulthood in good health. They are also working to erode the gender inequalities that fuel the epidemic's spread by advocating for women's sexual and reproductive rights and focusing attention on the realities of women's lives. For example: ...

Read more at http://dawn.thot.net/women_hiv_aids1.html#3

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