We need to ensure that the social, political and economic rights of women are enshrined in law and protected. 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.”
Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation

“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

“No result without accountability! This effort will help us to transform the response in sustainable ways”
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS

“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. Women matter, and it is time all governments acted on their commitments to protect women and girls from HIV/AIDS.”
Elizabeth Mataka, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa

“Often the most vulnerable people in our society are women living with AIDS, how accountable we have been to their needs will be the yardstick that future generations will measure us against.”
Gustaaf Wolvaardt, Acting Chairman, AIDS Accountability International

“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?”
Sigrun Mogedal, Norwegian HIV/AIDS Ambassador

“Gender is about the power relationship between men and women. A shift in power relationships requires true courage and deep insights. We need to look face to face to the gender imbalance in power within ourselves and in society to move towards freedom, dignity and justice for all”.
Khadija Moalla, Regional HIV/AIDS Practice Leader & Programme Coordinator for Arab States, UNDP HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States, Egypt

“There are important gaps in the information reported, for example, on human rights and gender issues: if a country can’t account for how women’s specific vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS are being addressed, we can’t claim to know whether a response is successful or not”
Professor Lars O. Kallings, Former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“Given the growing feminisation of the epidemic especially in Africa, the development of the women’s scorecard is timely. It should help focus the minds of both policy makers and civil society organisations about the needs of women and girls when it comes to HIV/AIDS.”
Leickness C. Simbayi, Prof. Human Sciences Research Council & Executive Director at SAHA South Africa

“Efforts to curb the spread of HIV in most countries cannot succeed unless the needs and specific vulnerabilities of women are addressed. This Scorecard shows that there is still a major gap between rhetoric and reality when it comes to funding an appropriate response for women”.
Ophelia Haanyama Orum, Senior Advisor, Noaks Ark and AIDS Accountability International

“Although the issue of Women and AIDS was identified as a crucial driver of the AIDS epidemics twenty years ago, it has neither received the attention, nor the priority it deserved in policies and programmes: lack of accountability was certainly a contributing factor. Let’s hope that the AIDS Accountability Scorecard will provide the leverage necessary to change this situation!”
Jacques du Guerny, Former AIDS focal point for the UN Division for the Advancement of Women and for UN FAO & Member of AAI’s Group of Nine

“Let those women who come after us appreciate that we once lived having done our part in dealing with the challenges HIV and AIDS bring before us.”
Gcebile Ndlovu, Regional Coordinator for Southern Africa, International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS & Member of AAI’s Group of Nine

“The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women is an essential step in ensuring that countries and donors focus specifically on the impact of HIV/AIDS interventions on women and girls around the world. Without a detailed analysis of the needs of women and girls and the programs designed to respond to them, we cannot hope to stop the scourge of global AIDS.”
Lisa Schechtman, Senior Policy Officer, Global AIDS Alliance & Member of the AIDS Accountability Expert Panel

“Accountability is not merely a moral obligation but a legal imperative. Gender discrimination is pervasive and can be direct or indirect. Gender blindness and neutrality in law, policy and practice is defeatist. To unearth and contend with the hidden gender inequities, a credible form of accountability is crucial, especially on gender, HIV and AIDS. Accountability can be financial, performance-based and political/democratic. The AIDS Accountability scorecard presents an opportunity to do this. Gender counts and must be counted!”
Rebecca Amollo, Doctoral Researcher, Community Law Center, University of the Western Cape & Member of the AIDS Accountability Expert Panel