Recent activities

Skills building

• Women and Children’s Collaborative Fund for Treatment Literacy in Africa.
  

The Tides Foundation/Collaborative Fund invited ICW to coordinate a new fund of US$225,000 for treatment literacy initiatives for women and children in Africa. Our regional coordinators, Lillian and Gcebile, organised a treatment preparedness skills building workshop focusing on Women, Families and Children 28th – 30th November 2005 – Kampala – Uganda. Groups were invited to submit grants and they have now beenselected and the money distributed.

Young women's dialogues

• YWD in South Africa

A Young Women’s Dialogue was held in South Africa from 16th – 20th October 2006 to launch a national forum for HIV positive women between the ages of 18 and 30. The programme aims to promote advocacy and activism among young women living with HIV, to identify priority issues and develop an advocacy agenda.

• The Young Women's Dialogue, Swaziland, was held: 24 Oct - 29 October.

In the first national forum for HIV positive women in Swaziland, 19 Swazi women between the ages of 18 and 30 came together for a 5 day workshop to develop an advocacy agenda. The key issues raised by the women were sexual and reproductive rights, access to care, treatment and support, and the meaningful involvement of young positive women in decisions that affect their lives. More information

• Young Women’s Dialogue, South Africa, April, 2004
  

This dialogue brought together young women living with HIV and AIDS from eight countries, namely Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The dialogue provided a safe space for young women to share experiences about the challenges of HIV and AIDS and to develop advocacy campaigns for highlighting the gender and human rights-based challenges faced by participants in each of their countries. The dialogue was followed by a one-day consultation involving young women’s dialogue participants and other women living with HIV and AIDS from South Africa. The key objective was to share information on the WHO 3 by 5 Initiative, the implications for women, and the role of women in this and other treatment initiatives, and to identify solutions to ensure that women’s access to treatment is guaranteed.

Adovcacy  

 

• Linking HIV positive women and Parliamentarians.

The Parliamentarians for Women's Health (PWH) project activities ended in December 2007. A final workshop bringing together project participants from all four countries was held in Nairobi in September 2007. Parliamentarians, CSO representatives and women living with HIV from Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya as well as project staff and management from ICRW, ICW, CSA and RR:EGI attended the workshop. Workshop participants all took part in presentations or interactive sessions to examine, reflect on and take forward the experiences of this ground breaking project. The project brought MPs closer to the reality of women’s health issues on the ground and connected them with positive women’s networks and other civil society actors in the arena of HIV and AIDS, as well as their grassroots constituents through a series of workshops, networking efforts and community assessments, among other activities. These interactions have brought about greater understanding about the barriers, stigma, and violence affecting women’s ability to access health, and heightened the MPs ability to represent women’s health issues in policy- and programme-making environments. One MP from Botswana said “it’s that kind of direct exposure to reality that I will never forget”.

Building advocacy agendas

• Workshop on Human Rights and HIV/AIDS oorganised by ICW Latin America and the Caribbean, 6-11 of November, 2006, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  

More than 60 women living with HIV/AIDS, from 17 countries in Latin America took part in a meeting to agree on national and regional strategies to fight the social problem of HIV/AIDS. Declaration from the meeting.

• Mapping of advocacy and policy opportunities and targets, and training in advocacy for positive women
  

ICW joined forces with the POLICY project and 40 HIV positive women from Swaziland and South Africa to develop an advocacy agenda on sexual and reproductive health rights, and access to care, treatment and support for women living with HIV/AIDS. The process began with an assessment of the concerns and experiences of HIV positive women and the policy and institutional environment in both countries. Staff from ICW and POLICY and the 40 women from Swaziland and South Africa then met in Durban in June of this year to identify priority issues for our advocacy training and strategy. The training and advocacy planning took place in August 2005, with the same 40 women. We explored the steps involved in advocacy, examples from the participants of how they have made change as well as advocacy opportunities in the two countries. The final day consisted of defining goals, objectives and strategies.

Monitoring change

• Positive women monitoring change
  

Action Aid and ICW worked together on a project that aimed to contribute to strengthening the national response to HIV/AIDS in Swaziland and Lesotho. This was achieved through expanding the involvement of women living with HIV/AIDS, including monitoring political commitment and promotion of gender mainstreaming. Workshops to prepare a monitoring tool were held in the two counties in February 2005. The tool has been used in several ICW projects since then and has been used by Women in Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) to conduct four training workshops in Swaziland on using the tool and is currently being used by Interact Worldwide in Uganda. The tool is available on the ICW website.

Research

• PARTICPATORY RESEARCH ON VAW, SRHR AND ACTS IN UGANDA

Supported by interact worldwide, ICW used our monitoring tool - Positive Women Monitoring Change, a tool developed by positive women in Lesotho and Swaziland - to interview HIV positive women about their experiences including access to services. Service provides were also interviewed to determine the appropriateness of services offered and policy makers were asked about their commitment to positive women’s rights. Among other issues the report highlighted the connection between rights violations and access to appropriate treatment and care and also the impact of negative attitudes of service providers on the health-seeking behaviour of HIV positive pregnant women. ‘When he learns that I went to the health centre for medication, he beats me saying that I am embarrassing him…..that I am showing everybody that we are sick. Now I fear going for services. I cannot take with me things given in the basic care package because he will ask me where I got them from.’ (HIV positive woman, Masindi) ‘We encourage HIV positive women not to get pregnant again. Actually we do not chase them when they become pregnant again……usually when they come back, they feel embarrassed so when I see such clients, I ask my colleague to attend to her…….others simply do not come back.’ (Service Provider, Busia) Report due soon.

• Silent Voices project
  

The aim of Silent Voices was to research internationally and collate information on drug related subjects such as the availability of clean syringes and relevant paraphernalia, especially as this information relates to women. We aimed also to assess current ways of understanding and analysing drug use and risks, particularly for women. Report available.

• Mapping of women’s experiences of access to care, treatment and support through civil society organisations.
  

WHO supported ICW to map positive women's experiences of access to care and treatment in three countries (Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania). We hope that the findings will contribute to advocacy for increased political support and resources for CSOs providing access to care, treatment and support. The project complements a mapping and database of CSOs providing treatment being produced by SIDACTION. Reports available.

• Understanding Women’s Health Issues

The Parliamentarians for Women’s Health project in Namibia got its country-specific activities underway with three regional community assessments on women’s health compromising workshops with HIV-positive women, negative and untested women, community leaders and service providers. The assessments also took in site visits to a major hospital, community clinics and traditional health providers. The assessment established a framework for community members to identify priority care issues, barriers to accessing health services and possible solutions that will be put forward to the committee of 15 parliamentarians in Namibia who are engaging with the project. The PWH project team in Kenya also completed the first stage of a women’s health community needs assessment, being carried out in five areas of the country.

• PARTICPATORY RESEARCH ON VAW, SRHR AND ACTS IN UGANDA

Supported by interact worldwide, ICW used our monitoring tool - Positive Women Monitoring Change, a tool developed by positive women in Lesotho and Swaziland - to interview HIV positive women about their experiences including access to services. Service provides were also interviewed to determine the appropriateness of services offered and policy makers were asked about their commitment to positive women’s rights. Among other issues the report highlighted the connection between rights violations and access to appropriate treatment and care and also the impact of negative attitudes of service providers on the health-seeking behaviour of HIV positive pregnant women. ‘When he learns that I went to the health centre for medication, he beats me saying that I am embarrassing him…..that I am showing everybody that we are sick. Now I fear going for services. I cannot take with me things given in the basic care package because he will ask me where I got them from.’ (HIV positive woman, Masindi) ‘We encourage HIV positive women not to get pregnant again. Actually we do not chase them when they become pregnant again……usually when they come back, they feel embarrassed so when I see such clients, I ask my colleague to attend to her…….others simply do not come back.’ (Service Provider, Busia) Report due soon.

Voices and Choices

• Positive Women: Voices and Choices Francophone Africa: Workshop On Sexual And Reproductive Rights And Experiences Of Women Living With HIV/AIDS, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, September 1 to 7, 2003
  

ICW and the Responsibility, Hope, Life Association (REVS+), based in Bobo Dioulasso, organised this workshop that brought together HIV positive women from Francophone African countries: Burkina Faso, Benin, Burundi, Cameroun, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Senegal, Chad, Togo. The workshop enabled us to gather together different specific, real, lived experiences, and make recommendations for advocacy on sexual and reproductive rights. Workshop reports written by Helene Essome Sengue, Beatrice Humarau and Sheena Crawford available from ICW.

• Voces Positivas – Central America and the Caribbean, November 2003
  

HIV positive women from 12 countries in the region participated in a innovative process of empowerment and training which they now replicate in their home countries. For more information see ICW News Issue 25.

• Positive Women: Voices & Choices Zimbabwe and Voices and Choices Thailand
  

A project led by positive women to explore the impact of HIV on their sexual behaviour, well being and reproductive rights, and to promote improvements in policy and practise. The Voices and Choices project is a participatory research and advocacy project of the International Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS in conjunction with country partners, The Women and Support Network (WASN) in Zimbabwe, and The Power-of-Life and the Mahidol University Institute for Population Research in Thailand. The objective of the project is to document positive women's distinctive experiences of sexual and reproductive health: sexual relationships, contraceptives, pregnancy, childbirth and abortion and use the findings for advocating to improve the situation of HIV positive women in these areas. More information. Reports from both projects are available on the publications page.

International Conferences

• The 16th International AIDS Conference - Toronto, August 2006

ICW was again a co-sponsor of the largest international AIDS conference in the world. In Toronto, ICW was determined that the voices of HIV positive women would be heard loud and clear. Our ‘5 Key Challenges’ pinpoint the real-life stories behind the slogans – GIPA, ACTS, SRH for example - and can be found in full in ICW News 34. Issue 35 of ICW News looks back at our experiences in Toronto and highlight how we survived and what we gained.

• The 15th International AIDS Conference - Bangkok, July 2004
  

ICW was very visible at Bangkok, through the ICW Conference office, the ICW Booth and Media Booth, and a number of ICW events. Many of the ICW members at the conference gave media interviews. For more information see ICW News 27

• 11th International Conference of HIV Positive people, Kampala, Uganda, October 2003
  

As well as attending many of the sessions, ICW representatives interviewed women conference participants and ran a workshop based on A Positive Woman's Survival Kit. Conference report back

Other activities

• July 2002, ICW at Barcelona International AIDS Conference
• May 2002, Panama Training
• July 2000, ICW, with International AIDS Society, ICASO and GNP+, co-sponsors the XIVth International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, in July 2000. ICW members serve on all of the planning committees, presented on their work, chaired sessions and were active members of the audience. ICW also co-organised the Women at Durban series of workshops.
• August, 1999, ICW co-organised the 9th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe (Poland) with the Global Network for Positive People (GNP+). Key outcomes of the Conference were increased skills and knowledge of the participants, and the establishment of the Polish Positive Women's Network and the birth of the Russian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. ICW also held HIV positive women only workshops at the Conference.
• May 1999, Positive Women’s African Empowerment Training: Uganda 25 –30. The 6-day training was the first event of its kind organised by and for HIV positive women in Africa. It was designed to integrate skills development and capacity building, outreach, information exchange and advocacy. Its overall goal was to improve the quality of life for women living with HIV and AIDS and reduce their fear and isolation, by sharing information and developing practical skills to enable positive women to support others effectively in their home countries. Report written by Mandy Macdonald.
• In March 1999, ICW launched "The Positive Woman's Survival Kit". The Survival Kit provides education, support and resources by and for HIV positive women, targeting women in developing countries who have little to no access to printed materials. The Survival Kit covers issues such as relationships with family and children, grief and loss, nutrition, staying healthy, safer sex, pregnancy and breast-feeding.
• In January 1999, ICW participated in the LIGA hosted the "First Training for Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America". This intensive 5-day workshop was the first time ever that 35 positive women from 19 Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America and Caribbean came together and shared experiences and knowledge and planned projects on "Vulnerability, Empowerment, Access to Treatment and Reproductive Health and Rights" for positive women in Latin America. The women decided it was important not to lose the momentum of this historic event and established an independent "Movement of Positive Women in Latin America".
• In July 1998, ICW was a co-sponsor of the International AIDS Conference in Geneva, where more than 100 positive women were involved with 15,000 researchers and other participants to address the AIDS epidemic globally.
• In November 1997, ICW organised a two-day workshop for more than 250 HIV positive women and co-sponsored with the Global Network of Positive People (GNP+) the 8th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
• In 1997, ICW implemented the first international reproductive health and sexual rights research project, "Positive Women: Voices and Choices", run by and for women with HIV, which will focus on six countries. In 1998, the project was implemented in Zimbabwe and Thailand and in the beginning of 1999, Cote D'Ivoire.
• In 1996, ICW successfully facilitated the "First Regional Meeting of Positive Women in Asia and the Pacific". This inspiring workshop was the first opportunity for positive women in Asia to come together and to develop a voice. Strategies identified enabled positive women to become more involved nationally and internationally. We reached isolated HIV positive women in Asia, whom since have developed support groups and organisations and are influencing local and national policies. The workshop is a model for our regional skills-development workshops for positive women.
• From 1994 - 1996, ICW successfully completed an European Commission sponsored "Needs, Services and Policies ? Assessing Provision and Strengthening Networks: Women Living with HIV and AIDS in Europe" A significant long-term outcome of the project is that it stimulated self-sustaining ongoing work in all focal countries.
• In 1995, ICW organised a pre-conference for 200 HIV positive women in Cape Town, South Africa.
• In 1994, ICW collaborated with world leaders and governments in developing the 'Greater Involvement of People with AIDS' (GIPA) policy at a Paris summit.
• Since 1994, ICW members have served on the governing body of UNAIDS Programme Co-ordinating Board (PCB).
• In 1993, ICW organised a conference for over 50 HIV positive women in Hamburg, Germany.