Author: African Women's Development Fund

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT FUND (AWDF) LAUNCHES A SOUTHERN AFRICAN SATELLITE OFFICE

On the 7^th of October 2010, Madam Graca Machel will launch the Southern African satellite office of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) at The Rosebank Crown Plaza Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. AWDF’s Guest of Honour for the occasion will be Her Excellency Joyce Banda, Vice President of Malawi.

AWDF has grown phenomenally in its 10-year history of grant-making, technical assistance and capacity building to African women’s rights organizations. In order to further strengthen its support to women’s rights organizations, AWDF will be establishing satellite offices with the first satellite office based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Southern African satellite office seeks to support and strengthen the work of grantee partners in the sub-region and contribute to strengthening the women’s movement as a whole. AWDF’s Head Office will remain in Accra, Ghana. Ahead of the official launch of the Southern African office, AWDF will hold a convening with its grantees and development partners in Southern Africa to strategise on achievements, challenges, and future work required to develop women’s rights organizations and the women’s movement in the Southern African sub-region. This convening will inform the strategic work to be undertaken by AWDF ‘s satellite office.

According to AWDF’s Executive Director, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, ‘AWDF is pleased to announce the imminent launch of its Southern African satellite office. I am also pleased to introduce the AWDF Southern African board members who are Professor Sesae Felicity Mpuchane, Patricia Nozipho January Bardill, Namane Mileah Maga Magau, Angie Makwetla, Tina Thiart, Dr Hilda Tadria, Joana Foster, Yvonne Mhinga and Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi. Together we look forward to supporting the work of African women’s rights organizations in Southern Africa’

ENDS

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organizations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. AWDF through institutional capacity building and program development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.

The vision of AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women’s human rights. To this end, our mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, which will lead to the achievement of this vision.

 

Press Enquiries

 

South Africa

Myesha Jenkins (AWDF Southern Africa Consultant)

Tel: + 27 827 648 208

Email: myeshaj@mweb.co.za

Website: www.africlub.net/awdf

Ghana

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (Programme Officer for Communications)

Tel: +233 302 521 257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Website: www.africlub.net/awdf[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

Pour diffusion immédiate

Le Fonds Africain de Développement de la Femme (AWDF) LANCE UN BUREAU SATELLITE en AFRIQUE AUSTRALE

Le 7 Octobre 2010, Madame Graca Machel lancera le bureau satellite de l’Afrique australe du Fonds de développement des femmes africaines (AWDF) à The Rosebank Hôtel Crown Plaza, Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud. L’invité de AWDF d’honneur pour l’occasion sera Son Excellence Joyce Banda, vice-président du Malawi.

AWDF a connu une croissance phénoménale dans son histoire de 10 ans de l’octroi de subventions, d’assistance technique et de renforcement des capacités pour les organisations de femmes africaines de l’homme. Afin de renforcer encore son soutien aux organisations des droits des femmes, AWDF sera la création de bureaux satellites avec le premier bureau satellite basée à Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud. Le bureau satellite de l’Afrique australe vise à soutenir et renforcer le travail des partenaires bénéficiaires de subventions dans la sous-région et de contribuer à renforcer le mouvement des femmes dans son ensemble. Siège de AWDF restera à Accra, au Ghana. Avant le lancement officiel de l’Office de l’Afrique australe, AWDF tiendra une convocation avec ses bénéficiaires et les partenaires de développement de l’Afrique australe à élaborer des stratégies sur les réalisations, les défis et les travaux futurs nécessaires pour développer les organisations des droits des femmes et le mouvement des femmes de la sous de l’Afrique australe -région. Cette convocation informera le travail stratégique à entreprendre par bureau satellite de l ‘AWDF.

Selon le directeur exécutif de l’AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, ‘AWDF est heureux d’annoncer le lancement imminent de son bureau satellite de l’Afrique australe. Je suis également heureux de vous présenter les membres de l’Afrique australe AWDF du conseil qui sont le professeur Sesae Felicity Mpuchane, Patricia Nozipho Janvier Bardill, Namane Mileah Maga Magau, Angie Makwetla, Tina Thiart, Dr Hilda Tadria, Joana Foster, Yvonne Mhinga et Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi. Ensemble, nous sommes impatients de soutenir le travail des organisations de femmes africaines de l’homme en Afrique australe ‘

ENDS

Le Fonds de développement des femmes africaines (AWDF) est une fondation d’octroi de subventions qui soutient des organisations locales, nationales et régionales en Afrique travaillent à l’autonomisation des femmes. AWDF à travers le renforcement des capacités institutionnelles et le développement de programme vise à construire une culture de l’apprentissage et des partenariats au sein du mouvement des femmes africaines.

La vision de AWDF est pour les femmes africaines de vivre dans un monde dans lequel il ya la justice sociale, l’égalité et le respect des droits humains des femmes. À cette fin, notre mission est de mobiliser des ressources financières pour soutenir les initiatives locales, nationales et régionales dirigées par des femmes, ce qui mènera à la réalisation de cette vision.

 

Demandes de la presse

Afrique du Sud

Myesha Jenkins (AWDF Southern Africa Consultant)

Tel: + 27 827 648 208

Email: myeshaj@mweb.co.za

Website: www.africlub.net/awdf

Ghana

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (Programme Officer for Communications)

Tel: +233 302 521 257

Email: nana@africlub.net/awdf

Website: www.africlub.net/awdf[/tp]

21^st September 2010, at my desk, Oak Plaza Hotel, Accra, Ghana

My day began at 4am when the Akina Mama onsite coordinator called my room to let me know that I have to be ready for my TV interview and that Sister Darkoa was going to chauffeur myself and Solome to GTV (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) at 5:00am for the Breakfast show. Now, this was something I had been fretting about since my arrival at the hotel the day before, so as could be imagined I continued my drama – I was imagining being asked a question and being tongue-tied aka muumuu. The worst my imagination conjured up was that I would probably run off the set. Funnily enough as all these images run through my mind I was physically extremely calm (ask Sister Darkoa).

At GTV, I had to come to terms with the ridiculous amount of make up the “make up artist” had to put on my face. At the end of the pancake smear on my face, it was time for the interview, which lasted about 3 minutes, and to my surprise I was calm, collected and I was able to answer all the questions. Though the first question caught me of guard, by the end I was thinking…is that all? It’s that simple!

After breakfast, it was time to meet the participants who were from different countries in the sub-region. Different accents and different personalities from West Africa all in the same room. Here, again I was surprised at my self; I found myself starting conversations with other participants and actually sustaining a conversation, walking up to participants to have conversations, smiling and waving; I think I did quite well. Isn’t it funny when ever you mention the name of your organisation everyone asks if they could come for a grant? Anyways I answered yes and they could drop a proposal and so far I have two proposals for the AWDF!!

The opening ceremony; had a keynote speaker in the name of Angela Dwamena-Aboagye who spoke eloquently on the topic ‘Women’s leadership in Africa: The magic bullet?’ What struck me about her speech was that the “personal is political”- the private person cannot be disassociated from the public person, these two personalities make up the same person and that the mark of a true leader is character.

The greatest part of my day was receiving a call from my grandmother who was screaming on the other end of the call because she had seen me on TV and had called an assembly of her tenants to watch me on TV.

And that was my first day at the AWLI!!!

By: Thelma Owusu-Boakye

Programme Assistant

African Women’s Development Fund

P.S: The AWLI is an innovative leadership programme for young African women run by AWDF grantee, Akina Mama wa Afrika

A two-member team from AWDF and a documentary crew were in Liberia from the 3^rd of August to the 7^th of August to document the work and impact of AWDF in Liberia. In all the activities of 7 organisations and the testimonies of three women leaders in Liberia were recorded. The three women leaders included her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Hon Varbah Gayflor, Minister of Gender and Development, Liberia and Hon Olubanke King-Akerele, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Liberia. Beneficiaries of the various projects also testified about the impact of AWDF’s grant-making, technical assistance and capacity building.

Some Outcomes

All grantees and personalities interviewed spoke about the uniqueness and the relevance of the work of AWDF. The results of AWDF’s funding and capacity building activities were evident in all the organizations visited.

– AWDF supported the active participation of women in the peace negotiations of the various warring factions and stakeholders during the conflict in Liberia

– AWDF have supported the building of women’s leadership skills for effective involvement in the reconstruction efforts in Liberia

– Young women have been trained and are being mentored to take up leadership positions in Liberia. These young women are also equipped to help build and maintain peace in their communities. One of the young leaders who graduated from WIPSEN’s young women’s leadership programme is presently the first deputy speaker of the Liberia Children’s Parliament

– AWDF has strengthened the organisational capacity of some women’s initiatives to provide critical services to the populace especially women living in deprived areas outside the capital, Monrovia. Services rendered include vocational training in hairdressing, dressmaking, catering and computer skills. Some beneficiaries also received micro finance and are presently running vibrant businesses that are catering for their needs and the needs of their families. These interventions have brought hope and joy to families especially children who can now benefit from proper growth and education. Many of these young women who benefit from these interventions are teenage mothers with no education or skills, many would have joined the teeming population of idle young people with no idea of what they can do with their lives.

– Through the support of AWDF, some market structures have been renovated and are presently in use. Women now have the congenial atmosphere to do their business and no longer have to bear the consequences of the vagaries of the weather. Consequently children who accompany their mothers to the marketplace have a healthier environment in which to play and grow

– Organisations such as the Angie Brooks centre has also trained a core group of women and men who are solidifying peace in their communities by promoting peace and subduing early warning signs of conflict within their communities. With readily available peace educators, mediators and negotiators, communities are learning to resolve conflict amicably and readily.

Outcome of Training in Resource Mobilisation Course

– As a result of the GIMPA Resource Mobilisation course that a staff member of WONGOSOL attended, it was agreed at their last board meeting that the board should hold a special retreat to deliberate on the important recommendations that the staff member made after attending the course. The board therefore set up a committee that was tasked with ensuring that the retreat takes place and makes the most out of the opportunities presented. The board has agreed to review and revisit their resource mobilization strategies as well as their systems and structures. It is expected that the retreat will take place in the month of September 2010. WONGOSOL is a network of NGOs in Liberia.

– For the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre, the Resource Mobilisation course provided the skills and the knowledge to strategise and to be able to visualize all opportunities for mobilizing resources. For example during the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development Peace and Security (7^th-8^th March 2010), the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre using some graduates of its training centre made clothes and sold them to conference participants. They also launched an individual giving campaign starting from the streets and the market places of Monrovia and its environs out of which they got some money to purchase land and to commence the construction of an office complex that houses their offices and skills training centre. They have taken their income earning projects seriously and currently bake bread for sale. They have acquired a stall in the business area where they display their bread for sale. Their other income generating projects include tie & dye and sewing. They have also launched a campaign to get women to support initiatives for women. Again, the trainee has been sharing the knowledge and skills acquired with other women’s organisations in the country.

Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom (Grants Manager)

P.S: This post is the introduction to an internal report on AWDF’s M&E visit to Liberia

The African Women’s Economic Summit, held in Nairobi on the 19^th and the 20^th of March 2010, at the initiative of New Faces New Voices (NFNV), in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), resulted in the following conclusions and actions.

For Africa to succeed and compete in the global economy, and reach the growth rates required to achieve the millennium development goals, it needs to bring women centre stage in the financial sector.

As we re-think Africa’s financial system in response to a global call for financial sector reform and rising protectionism, we must draw on the potential of women as leaders in finance and business, and as a growing and profitable market for financial services. Moreover, building more inclusive financial systems that reach women will lead to more businesses and increased income levels for women and Africans, in general.

The time is now to finance women-owned businesses. The time is now to ensure women have access to affordable and appropriate financial services. The time is now to groom women as leaders in the financial sector. Africa will be successful if we achieve this.

The Summit agreed to two bold goals:

• Massively increase the access of women to a variety of financial services
• Fast track women’s leadership in the financial sector

To achieve this, the Summit participants agreed to collectively address the following:

• An enabling environment that will lead to inclusive financial systems that meet the financial needs of women

• Governance and leadership that will bring about change in the financial sector with respect to women and finance

• Establish and identify platforms to make sure Africa and African women’s voices are heard with respect to the discussions and decision on global financial sector reforms

• Economic integration through-out Africa to create bigger markets for Africa’s goods and services, to facilitate the flow of finance and capital, and creating economic opportunities for women

The following actions, in the short to medium-term are proposed:

• Launch a fund to finance innovations in finance for women

• Engage Ministers of Finance, Governors of Central Banks, and CEOs of major banks in Africa to become “drivers of change”

• Establish national and sub-regional networks of women in finance to drive this agenda forward

• Put women on the G20 agenda on access to finance

• Ensure availability of information and data to make financial markets work for women

• Encourage regional bodies to build inclusive financial systems for women as a priority

• Strengthen the voice of African professional organizations of women entrepreneurs, women in business and women in finance

The Summit participants made specific pledges that will be followed up by NFNV and agreed to meet again in two years time. These pledges are summarized in Annex 1.

The Summit participants thanked Mrs. Graҫa Machel and Dr. Donald Kaberuka for making the Summit possible. Special thanks went to the African Development Bank for its commitment and partnership in ensuring women take centre stage in the financial sector.

 

 

Annex 1

Summary of Actions and Pledges made at the

African Women’s Economic Summit: Investing Differently in Women

 

African Development Bank Pledges:

• Hold a Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Forum as a side event at the upcoming Bank’s General Annual Meetings in May 2010 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; with the goal of raising greater awareness and deepening commitments among policy makers;
• Continue to provide technical and financial support to the African Women’s Economic Summit;
• Ensure that the operationalization of the proposed Africa Guarantee Fund (AGF) , with a total commitment of USD 300 million, is accelerated; the main goal of the AGF is to increase African SMEs long-term finance and capacity-building with loan guarantee products;
• Strengthen the mainstreaming of gender equality in Bank’s programming;
• Submit the conclusions of this summit to the next meetings of the Committee of Ten (C10) and the heads of multilateral development banks;
• Increase the number of professional women joining the Bank and in top managerial positions.

 

Other Development Finance Institutions

• IFC to target 25% of its lending portfolio to reach women.
• NFNV to become a member in its own right of the Global Banking Alliance.
• Increase Gender mainstreaming in projects and programmes, e.g. measure trade results, report on women in business.
• Assist with research, that would be accessed via a portal, that will map and track all the various initiatives on women in finance in Africa. ILO and IFC will start this effort.
• Support an initiative to celebrate the leadership of women in financial sector.
• Use WEF as a platform to raise issues on women in finance. Initially at the WEF Africa meetings in Tanzania (5-7 May 2010), and from that to follow up at Davos in 2011.
• ILO will extend support to NFNV in a number of areas to be agreed, around training, an initiative to celebrate leadership of women in the financial sector, as well as research and mapping of efforts in this area.
• Support NFNV membership of the African Unity Caucus, with 40 member organisations.

 

Financial Institutions:

• ABSA will increase lending to women in Small Business by 10% in respect of volume and value from current baseline.
• Standard Bank will increase home-loan and secured lending to women by 10% from the current base, and by 25% in the unsecured lending space. They are also committed to mentoring women at different levels within the bank to ensure their career growth.
• Other financial institutions at the Summit made pledges on the following themes:
  • Launch new financial products targeted at women.
  • Increase provision of financial services to women.
  • Find innovative ways to address collateral.
  • Implement programmes to develop financial literacy/education for women.
  • Engage on social and cultural impediments for the advancement of women within financial institutions.

Regulators and Policy Makers :

 

• Create a task force with support of NFNV and AfDB to identify legal and policy impediments to access of women to finance.
• Identify initiatives for a public campaign on financial education for women.
• Review options to assist women to seek careers in the financial sector, and identify and support promising women.
• Identify mechanisms (e.g. Leadership Award) to celebrate leadership of women in the financial sector.

Expanding the work of New Faces New Voices

 

NFNV should focus on Advocacy, Knowledge Sharing and Networking in support of women’s access to finance. These efforts should address increased access to finance in terms of availability of products, appropriateness of these produces in meeting demand, and affordability, as well as financial literacy. NFNV efforts should raise the issues on capacity and process of financial institutions in meeting the needs of women as retail users of finance and business users.

To address this, some of the following areas of focus for advocacy, knowledge sharing and networking were identified:

• Women leadership in financial institutions and intermediaries
• Capacity building for financial institutions and development finance institutions in this area
• Monitoring change. Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) agreed to fund a monitoring framework, and fast track implementation of pledges made at the Africa Women’s Economic Summit, March 2010.
• Tripartite alliances between SMME’s, development institutions (DFIs and donors) & financial institutions
• Capacity building for DFI’s themselves (including better governance and monitoring functions)
• Leadership awards for banks making a difference

The participants agreed on a number of immediate actions to establish country task teams and expand the structure of NFNV.[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]The African Women Leaders’ Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health was launched in Lweza, Uganda to coincide with the 15^th General Assembly of the AU Heads of States Summit in Kampala, Uganda in July 2010.

The Network seeks to strengthen women’s collective voice by providing leadership to reposition sexual and reproductive health and in particular, family planning on the continent. The network consists of women ministers, parliamentarians, civil society leaders, renowned artistes and musicians from all over Africa who firmly believe that sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental human right and should be located firmly within women’s ability to choose and control their sexual decision making in a safe way.

The Network was launched to register our dismay that women’s lives, including young women and adolescents, continue to be lost in Africa to preventable maternal deaths. The devastation these deaths causes to families, communities and to the prosperity of our nations is totally unacceptable. Whilst we recognize some strides have been made towards improving sexual and reproductive health including family planning, the Network is concerned at the slow progress resulting in the alarmingly high rates of maternal deaths on the continent.

Despite governments’ commitments to address the high level of unmet need for contraception; enhance access to information amongst young people; reduce maternal deaths, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions’ implementation of these commitments and resource allocations remain dismal. Maternal deaths are preventable and despite the availability of affordable cheap technologies to prevent them, they continue unabated.

The Network is focused on scaling up advocacy efforts and raising the profile of family planning as a simple method of preventing maternal deaths and empowering women, as well as continued prioritization of overall sexual and reproductive health at national, regional and international levels.

We welcome the recent developments at international and regional levels. Specifically the Continental Framework on Sexual and Reproductive Health Maputo Plan of Action 2007- 2010, The Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in 2009 and the ongoing AU summit whose theme is Maternal, Infant and Child Health Development in Africa. In order to accelerate action and transformation, we urge our governments to:

• Reprioritize family planning and reproductive health through increased resources with specific budget line item and integrate gender responsive budgeting.
• Ensure comprehensive reproductive health programmes and services for adolescent and young people.
• Ensure provision of services that meet women’s sexual and reproductive health and needs.
• Implement agreements, protocols and policies such as the Maputo Plan of Action, Maputo Protocol, that uphold women’s SRHR.

We look forward to working alongside these processes to mobilise greater political commitment and action in order to address this critical development deficit.[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Le réseau africain des femmes leader pour la santé sexuelle et reproductive a été lancé a Lweza, Ouganda afin de coïncider avec la 15e Assemblée générale des chefs d’États de l’UA à Kampala, en Ougand en Juillet 2010.

Le Réseau vise à renforcer la voix collective des femmes en offrant un leadership pour repositionner la santé sexuelle et reproductive et en particulier, la planification familiale sur le continent. Le réseau se compose de femmes ministres, des parlementaires, des dirigeants de la société civile, des artistes de renom et des musiciens de toute l’Afrique qui croient fermement que la santé sexuelle et reproductive est un droit humain fondamental et doit être situé résolument dans la capacité des femmes de choisir et de contrôler leur prise de décision sexuelle d’une manière sûre.

Le réseau a été lancé pour enregistrer notre consternation face à la vie des femmes, notamment les jeunes femmes et les adolescentes, continuent d’être perdue en Afrique à cause des décès maternels évitables. La dévastation que ces décès provoque aux familles, aux communautés et à la prospérité de nos nations est totalement inacceptable. Alors que nous reconnaissons certains progrès ont été accomplis en vue de l’amélioration de la santé sexuelle et reproductive, y compris la planification familiale, le Réseau est préoccupé par la lenteur des progrès résultant des taux alarmants de décès maternels sur le continent.

Malgré les engagements des gouvernements pour faire face au niveau élevé des besoins non satisfaits en matière de contraception; améliorer l’accès à l’information parmi les jeunes; réduire la mortalité maternelle, les grossesses non désirées et la mise en œuvre de ces engagements et les allocations de ressources avortements dangereux de rester lamentable. Les décès maternels sont évitables et, malgré la disponibilité des technologies à bas prix abordables pour les prévenir, ils se poursuivent sans relâche.

Le réseau est axé sur l’intensification des efforts de plaidoyer et de rehausser le profil de la planification familiale comme une méthode simple de prévenir les décès maternels et de l’autonomisation des femmes, ainsi que la poursuite des priorités de la santé sexuelle et reproductive globale aux niveaux national, régional et international.

Nous nous félicitons des récents développements aux niveaux international et régional. Plus précisément, le Cadre continental sur la santé sexuelle et la santé reproductive Plan de Maputo d’action 2007- 2010, la campagne pour la réduction accélérée de la mortalité maternelle en 2009 et le sommet de l’UA en cours dont le thème est maternelle, infantile et le développement de la santé des enfants en Afrique. Afin d’accélérer l’action et de la transformation, nous exhortons nos gouvernements à:

Redéfinir les priorités de planification familiale et de santé génésique grâce à l’augmentation des ressources avec une ligne spécifique du budget et d’intégrer la budgétisation sensible au genre.
Assurer que les programmes et services de santé reproductive complets pour les personnes adolescentes et les jeunes.
Assurer la fourniture de services qui répondent aux besoins de santé et sexuelle et reproductive des femmes.
Mettre en œuvre des accords, protocoles et politiques tels que le Plan d’action de Maputo, Protocole de Maputo, qui soutiennent SDSR des femmes.
Nous sommes impatients de travailler aux côtés de ces processus pour mobiliser un plus grand engagement politique et l’action en vue de combler ce déficit de développement critique.[/tp]

Today was the finale for the XVIII International Aids Conference and an appropriate time to reflect on all that I have learnt, seen and heard over the past week. This is the second International Aids Conference I have attended; I remember feeling very impressed when I attended the previous International Aids Conference that took place in Mexico. ‘How well organized’ I thought, ‘so many learning opportunities’…

3 new things I learnt at this year’s conference:

Sero-Discordant Couples Exist

As the Chair of one of the panels on sero-discordant couples said, discordant is not really the appropriate word to refer to relationships in which one person is HIV+ and the other is HIV- because many of these relationships (like other types of relationships) are harmonious. For some reason I had never conceptualized relationships in which people would consciously choose to be with a person who happens to be HIV+, maybe a sign of my own prejudice… People in sero-discordant (I don’t know what other term to use) relationships can protect themselves by using barrier methods during sex – the same way any other couple should protect themselves. It was interesting to find out that some people choose to have unprotected sex even thought they know that their partner is HIV+. Reasons given varied including intimacy, love, etc. I was struck by how some people are HIV- despite long-term exposure to the virus. The only reason I was given is that some people appear to have a gene that makes them immune to the virus.

Sex Workers

I went to a panel on sex work because I have been trying to understand why anyone will choose to engage in sex work. I can understand participating in ‘survival’ sex, I can understand that some people get addicted to drugs and engage in sex work in order to feed their habit but I have struggled to understand why anyone would willingly choose to be a sex worker so after sitting through a panel and finding my question unanswered I was the first one to jump up when the floor was opened for questions:

Q: “So why will anyone choose to be a sex worker”

I got a range of responses:

A: “No one asks anyone else why they choose the jobs they do”

A: “You need no capital to start sex work”

A: “As a trans woman its a way of affirming my gender identity. Men find me attractive and are willing to pay to have sex with me”

A: “I like sex”

A: “I got raped as a child”

A: “It’s a way of running my own business – I work when I want to. I am my own boss”

CAPRISA 004

This was the most exciting news of the conference! The first microbicide trial to show a statistically relevant result and had resulted in 54% protection against HIV for those who had taken the vaginal suppository as instructed > 80% of the time. CAPRISA 005 is a Tenofovir (TFV) gel that is ART (Anti-retroviral therapy) based. The TFV gel is inserted 12 hours before sex and 12 hours after sex. CAPRISA 004 now becomes the benchmark for protection/prevention where future trials are concerned.

All in all it was an interesting, useful and educational conference. Roll on AIDS 2012!

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Programme Officer

Fundraising & Communications

A couple of images I took today at the XVIII International Aids Conference in Vienna, of AWDF’s grantee partners.

Nana Sekyiamah

Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)

A young, energetic graduate responds to a call to volunteer her time and skills as an HIV peer educator and it becomes a life saver even though it did not appear so at that time.

Then 27 years old and newly married, Ihe Nkeiru had just completed the University and was ready to undertake her national youth service. During the orientation UNICEF appealed to the “Corpers”, as these service persons are nicknamed, to volunteer to be trained as HIV&AIDS peer educators. Ihe heeded the call and volunteered to be trained as an HIV&AIDS peer educator. After the training, the peer educators were asked to undergo voluntary counseling and testing as a way of knowing their status and to be able to convince people about the importance of knowing one’s status through voluntary counseling and testing.

It was this gesture that saved her health and life however devastating the news was at that time, Ihe tested positive to the HIV virus. She was devastated and did not know what to do or how to handle the situation. Luckily for her the counselor who had counseled her during the voluntary counseling and testing process was Doris Brenda the ardent HIV&AIDS activist and founder of “Heal the Land”, an HIV&AIDS support group.

Doris applied to the National Youth Service Corps and requested for Ihe to serve her time with “Heal the Land” as a peer educator. With counseling and support from Doris and the support group at “Heal the Land”, Ihe was able to learn strategies to live positively. Ihe completed her National Service with “Heal the land” and gained employment with the organization as an accountant, having graduated with a Bsc Accounting from the University.

Ms Ihe Nkeiru was one of 10 “Corpers” who won awards in Akwa Ibom State in 2008 for working assiduously on the prevention of HIV&AIDS and training secondary school students on HIV&AIDS issues. As a national service person she used her service allowance to purchase multi vitamins which she donated to people living with HIV&AIDS accessing health care services at the University of Oyo teaching hospital.

With her husband living outside the country at the time she tested positive Ihe had not disclosed her status to him or to any other person outside ‘Heal the Land”. When her husband visited about a year and a half after she had tested positive she had the task of disclosing her status to him. It was so difficult that she had to call her counselor and mentor Doris to help her with the disclosure. Upon disclosing her status to her husband he appeared to have received the news calmly was initially supportive until she fell ill a month later with TB. That was the beginning of her woes, her husband’s attitude changed towards her and he finally abandoned her at home and never came back. Then the tough issue of disclosing her status to a family member arose. With the support of her counselor again, Ihe broke the news to her brother who was very understanding and supportive. Her brother travelled for miles to see her when she suffered a partial stroke and had nobody with her, he asked the hospital where she was receiving treatment to transfer her to a bigger hospital near his home where she received the best of care. When she got better her brother took her to his home and nursed her till she was well enough to go back to work.

Today Ihe is well and helping to run “Heal the Land”, a support group of about 50 women living with HIV&AIDS, as well as undertaking outreach programmes to very remote villages in the State of Akwa Ibom of Nigeia where she provides much needed information on HIV&AIDS as well as caring for those living with HIV&AIDS.

Ihe is determined and passionate about touching and saving lives. She believes that women should equip themselves to face life. In her mind’s eye, young women especially need to equip themselves to face the future especially with all the advancement and turbulence being encountered in the world now.

AWDF supports “Heal the Land” to provide skills training to women living with HIV&AIDS as well as deepen awareness around HIV&AIDS issues. With the support of AWDF, “Heal the Land” has trained treatment literacy/adherence counselors, two of whom are permanently stationed at the St. Luke’s hospital and formed an HIV&AIDS club at one of the project Communities, Mbo in the Oron local government Area of the State of Akwa Ibom to provide continuous HIV awareness in the community.

By: Beatrice Boakye Yiadom

Grants Manager, AWDF