After a journey of approximately 21.5 hours I touched down at Benito Juarez Aeropuerto on Saturday the 2nd of August at about 8pm Mexican time and 2 am GMT. I finally battled my way through customs, baggage collection and porters to arrive safely at my home for the next week, the Camino Real.
On Sunday I went to Centro Banamex the location of the conference to pick up my name badge, and attend some of the pre-conference activities. Who did I bump into whilst walking through the expanse of Centro Banamex (in a slight state of confusion and bewilderment) but Lucy Mensah from WUAGG, one of the grantee partners whose attendance at Mexico was sponsored by AWDF. Lucy was with her new friend Phoebe from SWAN (Sudanese Women's Aids Network). They met at the airport and hit it off because they both work on HIV/AIDS issues.
I attended a pre-conference session organised by the International AIDS Women Causus which had a variety of very interesting speakers including Nyaradzayi Gumbovonda, the Secretary General of the World YWCA, Neelanjana Mukhia, International Women's Rights Policy and Campaign Coordinator for ActionAid, Meena Seshu from SANGRAM and Stephen Lewis from the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
The Stephen Lewis Foundation is one of the supporters of AWDF's HIV/AIDS fund and Stephen opened up the session by pointing out that promises made in Beijing regarding women's rights have not been kept and listed 6 key issues which I shall paraphrase here as I think they were important:
1. The feminisation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 61% of the 22.5 million affected are women, 75% are in the 15-24 age group. 80% of governments pretend to support women in their HIV/AIDS strategy but only 40% of governments actually give funding to support women.
2. Sexual and Reproductive Health were left out when the Millennium Development Goals were initially drafted and is an astonishing indictment on the men who crafted these goals. After intense lobbying by women's rights groups, Sexual and Reproductive Health was included into the review of the MDGs. Stephen also expressed the hope that 'when Barack Obama becomes President' the $30-$35 million denied through US policy will be changed.
3. UNAIDS report studies show that the higher the level of education, the lower the level of prevalence
4. Although the UN agreed that 95% of 15-24 target group will have knowledge about HIV/AIDS many young women still do not have adequate knowledge of the epidemic.
5. Young girls under 15 suffer severely from a lack of sexual autonomy which is most compromised in the Congo, particularly East Congo. In June 2008, 2000 women were raped in North Kivu. (This is only the reported statistic, it is important to remember that rape is a grossly under reported crime.) In December 2006, driven by recognition of sexual violence the UN Secretary General drafted the strongest resolution on sexual violence but in January of the following year granted an amnesty to men who had committed rape in Congo as part of the peace process. The result? An increase in rape! On the 19th of June the Security Council declared sexual violence a matter of International Peace and Security.
6. In the fall of 2006, a high level panel of experts recommended a new international agency for women to do for women what UNICEF does for children ( At this point in time I am thinking why hasn't UNIFEM been able to perform that role) and a new agency for women may be formed with a budget of $1 billion. The agency will have its own Secretary General.
Stephen ended by saying the '... single most important battle on the planet is the battle for gender equality'.
Look out for more blogs from Mexico...If there is anything specific you would like me to report on from Mexico, let me know and I shall do my best to oblige.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communication
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