What is the purpose of the Scorecard on Women?

The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women presents an analysis of the degree to which countries are fulfilling their commitments to respond to the needs of women in the context of the AIDS epidemic.

What commitments have countries made to women in the context of HIV/AIDS?

In adopting the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, all United Nations Member States committed to a set of time-bound targets and targeted actions to empower women to protect themselves from HIV infection and to promote and protect their rights. The goals agreed to be met by 2010 include a global reduction in HIV prevalence among young women by 25%, and ensuring that at least 95% of young women have access to the information, education and services needed to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.

Progress towards these goals should form part of the regular monitoring and reporting on national responses to AIDS. In reality, however, country reports fail to capture many of the interventions required to address women’s needs in the context of AIDS.

What is the Scorecard on Women?

The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women includes assessment of six key elements required for an effective national response for women, based on the latest data on progress reported by countries against the core indicators used for monitoring the United Nations 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. It also analyzes the additional information provided by governments in their narrative reports. A Women Reporting Index then rates countries according to the overall quality and completeness of their reporting of relevant data on women across both the six key elements and the narrative reports. Read more

How was the Scorecard on Women developed?

The Scorecard has been developed through a consultative process involving globally acknowledged experts from civil society, UN agencies, and research and public health institutions. It follows on from AAI’s first Scorecard, the AIDS Accountability Country Scorecard, which was the first independent global rating of country performance in the response to AIDS.

What data is used the scorecard?

The Scorecard on Women is based on latest data on progress reported by countries against the core indicators used for monitoring the United Nations 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Read about UNAIDS Country Progress 2008

How are scores calculated?

Under each scorecard element, countries are given a score for reporting sex-disaggregated data on women and responding to relevant questions in the UNAIDS monitoring tool, selected to measure the quality of their response in that area. These scores are then aggregated and expressed in grades, from A (very good) to E (very poor). Countries that fail to submit the required data for one or more of the constituent indicators or questions for an element receive a lower score for that element. If countries report none of the relevant data for an element, this is noted as ‘no data’. The Scorecard takes into account differences in reporting requirements for countries depending on their epidemiological type.

The Women Reporting Index provides an additional qualitative characterization of the composite scores generated by countries. Countries receiving an A or B grade are characterized as responsive, to the extent that they have reported the data required to implement an effective response to the needs of women in the context of AIDS. Countries receiving a C or D grade are characterized as aware, to the extent that the quality of their reporting shows an awareness of the need to monitor and report data specific to women, even if in practice they do not always do so systematically. Countries receiving an E grade are characterized as unfocused on women’s needs: these countries have either failed to acknowledge women’s particular vulnerabilities to HIV infection and the obstacles that many experience in trying to  access treatment, care and prevention services, or have failed to report on these aspects. Countries that have not reported on any aspects of their AIDS response are noted as having provided ‘no data’ (ND).

Why does country X get such a poor rating on element Z when everyone knows the country has a good response?

This can have three explanations:
- The first is that country X did not report some or any of the data required for element Z, or they reported incorrectly. In some cases it is not clear why; in others, the narrative reports submitted by countries offer explanations as to why the required data are unavailable.
- The second reason may be that the questions that countries are asked to respond to in the UNAIDS questionnaire fail to capture certain qualities of the response for women.
- The third and, perhaps, more controversial reason may be that ’everyone’ was wrong – country X does not have as strong a national response as it claims or as is generally believed. The lower-than-expected rating may be quite accurate. We must remember that the response to AIDS is steeped in politics. The fact that countries may have unexpected ratings or do not report as well as they have promised to do should lead to a healthy debate on different claims about the response to women in the context of AIDS. Gaps in country reporting signal a need for greater accountability.

Why a Scorecard on women?

- Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, and are disproportionately affected by AIDS in the global context. This is why they must be given much greater priority in the global response to AIDS.

- Globally, HIV is the leading cause of death and disease in women of reproductive age. Some 50% of adults living with HIV are women, the vast majority of who are in sub-Saharan Africa. In the most severely affected countries, three young women are infected for every young man.

- While there are biological reasons why women are at greater risk of HIV infection than men, the major drivers of increased risk for women are social and cultural factors, in particular the inequality and disempowerment that come from being female in different contexts.

- The majority of women who become infected with HIV do not voluntarily engage in high-risk behaviour. Instead, they are vulnerable as a result of the behavior of others, or because they lack the tools, information and resources needed to protect themselves.

- The 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS acknowledges that women are disproportionately affected by AIDS in the global context and must be given priority in the response.

Are men not vulnerable too?

Yes, they are. The concept of ‘gender’ refers to norms within a society about appropriate male and female attributes, behaviour, and roles, which in turn define how men and women interact with each other.

Gender inequality’ exists where men and women’s opportunities, influence, rights and responsibilities are unequal and depend on their sex. In the context of AIDS, such inequality may, for example, deny women the opportunity to negotiate safe sex, or force women and girls into abusive transactional sexual relationships in order to obtain food and other necessities. Other dimensions of gender such as norms that define masculinity, or the human rights and public health needs of people with different sexual orientations, are also central to an effective response to AIDS.

For this Scorecard, however country responses to the AIDS epidemic can be said to have a ‘gender dimension’ if policies are formulated on the basis of an understanding of women’s and girls’ specific vulnerabilities, and if government actions seek to counter such inequities by helping women gain control of their lives and set the conditions of their sexual relationships.

What will AAI do to capture gender dimensions that the Scorecard on Women is not covering?

In 2010, AAI will be launching a new gender rating initiative focused on sexual diversity.

Why a scorecard on women and not on women and girls?

Because of the almost total lack of data on girls’ vulnerabilities and their access to treatment, care and prevention services, this is a scorecard on women, and not on women and girls.

How will better reporting improve the situation for women?

Governments have committed to prioritizing women in the AIDS response, but we still lack a clear picture of whether they are meeting their promises to women or not. Without better reporting and greater accountability, we cannot be sure that funds are being well used or that women are getting their fair share of attention and support. Nor will we be able to say whether we have reached the global AIDS targets for women in 2010 and beyond. Holding governments and other key players accountable for women and girls is essential to protecting women from HIV infection and getting them the health care they lack in so many of the world’s countries. It is therefore crucial to have access to all the information in a transparent way, to truly know the epidemic and what is still missing to address the gender - and women specific perspectives. This will help transform the response in sustainable ways for women.

Does it really matter that countries that do well in the response to women, do not report well?

Yes. For example, a number of high-income countries score poorly because of their failure to report through the global HIV/AIDS monitoring system. While the effectiveness of some of these countries’ responses is recognized, they nevertheless fail to live up to a central tenet of the Declaration of Commitment, namely the commitment to report on progress and the need to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability. Poor reporting against agreed global indicators arguably represents a failed commitment at the level of political leadership.  It is also crucial at a global level, to share good practices experiences and clarify what responses work well to address the needs and vulnerabilities of women, and particularly of young women.  The HIV/AIDS response is, and needs to be a global effort and a joint responsibility to improve the situation women and girls around the world.

How can I use the data to compare countries?

AAI has provided all of the data in an easy-to-use searchable online database. You can select the countries of interest, and the indicators and elements of interest to you and generate your own scorecards. Create your own Scorecard