Martin Savidge interviews Nazneen Damji, the program manager of gender equality at the United Nations Development Fund for Women, about the Scorecard on Women.

Damji discusses the growth of AIDS among women and looks at the countries where women are most vulnerable to the virus. She also discusses the Scorecard as a tool for dialogue on how to better address women´s needs in the HIV/AIDS response.

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“The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women is an important tool for holding governments accountable for their promises to those affected by HIV/AIDS. I am pleased to see a focus on the specific roadblocks that women and girls face in the epidemic. Empowering women and girls with the resources they need to protect themselves are critical to prevention and quality care for all.”

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH, President and CEO, CARE USA

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Scorecard on Women press launch on November 23 with Elizabeth Mataka, Sigrun Møgedal and Mo Ibrahim.

Elizabeth Mataka

“We are losing too many women to this disease by not focusing on the practical interventions that really help them protect themselves from HIV infection. Nor are we holding governments accountable for their lack of action,” said Elizabeth Mataka, the United Nations Secretary-General‟s Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa. “Women matter, and it is time all governments acted on their commitments to protect women and girls from HIV/AIDS.”

Mo Ibrahim

“We need to ensure that the social, political and economic rights of women are enshrined in law and protected,” said Mo Ibrahim, business leader and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an African initiative that aims to stimulate debate about governance. “Holding governments and other key players accountable for women‟s and girls‟ rights is essential to protecting them from HIV infection and getting them the health care they lack in so many of the world‟s countries.”

Sigrun Møgedal

Norwegian HIV/AIDS Ambassador Sigrun Møgedal said: “The findings of the Scorecard show that we know very little about what many countries are doing to reduce women‟s vulnerability to HIV infection or increase their access to essential services. Even more troublesome is the almost total absence of data on young girls, who are perhaps more vulnerable to HIV than any other population. Where is the accountability for them?”

Press release Scorecard on Women (pdf)

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The Scorecard on Women shows that we know far too little about what many countries are or are not doing to address women and girls’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. We know especially little about girls, a population for which virtually no data are being collected or reported to the UN.

The most troubling of the Scorecard on Women’s findings is that 75% of nations failed to report basic information to the United Nations about their domestic responses to the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on women. The Scorecard also found that countries with higher AIDS burdens are doing a far better job overall at reporting how their AIDS responses address the needs of women than are countries less severely impacted by the epidemic.

The map shows country reporting on UNGASS data specific to women.

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As World AIDS Day, 1st December, is approaching we at AAI would like to acknowledge some of the private sector initiatives that are happening around this day.

The Financial Times is launching a special report ‘Combating AIDS’  with contribution to Global Business Coalition. The supplement will be distributed in all global editions of the FT on Tuesday 1st December. ‘Combating AIDS’ will include an exploration of how corporations have responded to the AIDS crisis, including specific case studies as well as an examination of the scientific and pharmaceutical responses to AIDS, including a look at the latest developments in vaccines, drugs and diagnostic processes.
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SABCOHA is collaborating with the Sunday Times on a special insight on ‘Business and HIV’ on 29 November 2009. The profile will cover topics like workplace programmes and public-private partnerships.
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The Swedish Workplace HIV and AIDS Programme (SWHAP) organizes a Business Combating HIV/AIDS Conference in Stockholm. Invited participants represent company managements, trade unions, government agencies and international organizations. The keynote speaker is Mr Åke Svensson, President and CEO of Saab. The conference is a part of the official programme of the Swedish EU presidency. The Conference includes a price ceremony for the SWHAP Achievement Award for the best workplace programme.
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By: Johanna Löfgren, Business Ranking Coordinator, AIDS Accountability International

The European Development Days hosted by the European Commission and the EU Presidency Sweden, took place in Stockholm the 22-24 of October.

This yearly event brings together organizations from the development community, heads of state and leading world figures on EU´s commitments to development.

AAI co-hosted the EDD event “Global Health Challenges”, in collaboration with the Global Fund, UNAIDS, GAVI Alliance and Stop AIDS Alliance. The event aimed at discussing effective approaches to meeting the forthcoming deadline of Universal Access by 2010 and achieving the health related Millennium Development Goals.

The event panelists were: Jacki Davis- European Policy Centre, Julian Schweitzer- The World Bank, Baba Goumbala- International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Senegal, Michel Kazatchkine- The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Per Strand- AIDS Accountability International, Michel Sidibé- UNAIDS, Luis Riera-Figueras, European Commission, Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane- Zulu Parliament of South Africa, Kevin Cahill- Comic Relief, Joëlle Tanguy- GAVI Alliance, Sylvia Mathews-Burwell- Gates Foundation, Rosa Elcarte Lopez- AECID, Spain, Anders Nordström- Sida Sweden.

AAI’s Scientific Director Per Strand epmhasized the need for more information on how human and financial resources are being used, and to analyse to what degree countries are meeting the targets they have set for themselves in national policies and international commitments.

“We need better monitoring and transparent reporting of data in order to measure the impact of different approaches to the epidemic, promote best practices, reward effective efforts and adjust or stop ineffective interventions that draw needlessly on scarce resources.”

Read more about the Global Health Challenges event:

Global Health Challenges- event flyer

Read more on UNAIDS Website

It’s with great interest that AAI has noted that the SWHAP 2009 Achievement Award has been given to Atlas Copco SA (Pty) Ltd.

The aim of the SWHAP Achievement Award, introduced in 2008, is to “further commitment at the workplace level to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS and alleviate the effects of the HIV pandemic”.

The  award is granted to a workplace involved in the Swedish Workplace HIV/Aids Programme in Sub-Saharan Africa. The selection is based on a scoring card consisting of almost 30 variables relating to comprehensible workplace programme. The scoring card has been developed together with AAI as part of our business ranking initiative.

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By:Johanna Löfgren, Project Coordinator, AIDS Accountability International