Strategies from the South

2008-09-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

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CONFERENCES

2008-09-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

9^th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali, Indonesia, 9 – 13 August, 2009

:· The 9th ICAAP, with the theme of “Empowering People, Strengthening Networks”, was held at the Bali International Convention Center (BICC) in Bali, Indonesia from August 9th to 13th, 2009. Representatives of many of the networks from the Asia Pacific region that participate in the international advocacy project “Strategies from the South” attended and jointly organized a number of important events at the Congress. [download report]

:· Mabel Bianco’s presentation, “Strategies from the South: Building Synergies Across Movements”, from the satellite session “Deal Makers and Breakers: Learning from HIV/AIDS Networking and Partnership Building Initiatives”. Held in the framework of the ICAAP, the session was co-organized by: Strategies from the South, APCASO, Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), GAYa NUSANTARA, Laos Youth Action Programme (LYAP) and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO). [download presentation]

42^nd Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) in New York, 30 March – 3 April 2009

:· Project participants attended the 42nd Session of the CPD in representation of Strategies from the South, where they distributed the advocacy paper: “ICPD Contributions to Universal Access for Women and Girls”. They were: Alessandra Nilo of LACCASO/GESTOS and Alejandra Scampini of ActionAid from Latin America and the Caribbean; and Meena Seshu of SANGRAM/APNSW, Rodelyn Marte of APCASO and Sivananthi Thanenthiran of ARROW from Asia Pacific. [download report]

:· Strategies from the South Advocacy paper distributed during the 42^nd Session of the CPD. [English] [Español]

11th International AWID Forum on Women’s Rights and Development - "The Power of Movements" - Cape Town, South Africa - 14-17 November 2008

:· This meeting was held from November 14 to 17, 2008, at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) in Cape Town, South Africa. Mabel Bianco participated in the Forum representing FEIM, where she carried out the different activities narrated here. [download report]

XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico

:· At the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City from August 3-8, 2008, the international advocacy project “Strategies from the South” coordinated the “Hot Topics Networking Zone N°427” in the Global Village, called “Hot Issues Corner: To Discuss, Gossip and Network”. [see report]

:· Poster presented at Mexico 2008 "Improving International/Regional Advocacy through Collaboration among Networks" [see poster]

:· En la XVII Conferencia Internacional de Sida en México DF, desde el 3 al 8 de Agosto de 2008, el proyecto internacional de abogacía "Estrategias desde el Sur" coordino la Zona de Trabajo Nº427 "Temas Calientes" en la Aldea Global, llamada "Rincón de temas calientes: para discutir, chismear y enredarnos". [ver informe]

:· Poster presentado en México 2008 "Mejorando la Abogacía Internacional/Regional a través de la Colaboración entre Redes" [ver poster]

SFTS in UNGASS

:· HIV/AIDS and SRH: Civil Society Movements and Policy-Makers Working Together. Presentation about the project “Strategies from the South: Building Synergies in HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights” at the Pre-UNGASS Meeting “Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Challenges for the UNGASS/AIDS Commitments” held on 6 June 2008 at the Ford Foundation in New York, NY, organized by GESTOS and the Foundation for Studies and Research on Women (FEIM). The project’s publication was officially launched at this meeting.

:· Report on the Pre-UNGASS Meeting “Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Challenges for the UNGASS/AIDS Commitments”. At the Ford Foundation in New York on June 6th, 2008, FEIM and GESTOS held the presentation of the report “Monitoring the UNGASS Goals on Sexual and Reproductive Health” prepared by NGOs in 16 countries...

:· Strategies from the South Advocay paper distributed during the 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS.
[English] [Español]

NEWS

2008-09-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

:· 19.10.09 Sex Work and Human Rights in Asia--2009. Video by the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW) with interviews from the APNSW Human Rights workshop in Bangkok in July 2009, covering the key issues for sex workers' human rights in Asia. [see video].

:· 26.06.09 Vice President Biden Announces Appointment of Withe House Advisor on Violence Against Women. Vice President Biden, the author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act, announced today the appointment of Lynn Rosenthal as the new White House Advisor on Violence Against Women. Ms. Rosenthal is one of the nation’s foremost experts in domestic violence policy, and has worked at the local, state and national levels to create an environment where violence against women is not ignored and perpetrators are held accountable. This is a newly created position at the White House, dedicated specifically to advising the President and Vice President on domestic violence and sexual assault issues. Download: English - Español

:· 2009 ILGA Report on “State-Sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults”. ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association publishes the third edition of its report on State Sponsored Homophobia based on research by Daniel Ottosson. The report is a collection of legislation criminalizing consensual sexual acts between persons of the same sex in private over the age of consent. Download: English - Español

:· 08.05.09 Survival of Infants Born to HIV-Positive Mothers, Uganda Case Study, Data comparing survival of formula-fed to breast-fed infants in programmatic settings are limited. We compared mortality and HIV-free of breast and formula-fed infants born to HIV-positive mothers in a program in rural, Rakai

District Uganda. Download: English - Español

:· 08.05.09 The Rio Declaration: Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys on Achieving Gender Equality, Presentation We come from eighty countries. We are men and women, young and old, working side by side with
respect and shared goals. We are active in community organizations, faith-based and educational
institutions; we are representatives of governments, NGOs and the United Nations... Download: English - Español

:· 05.03.09 “Women, HIV and Human Rights – the crisis of criminalization”, Presentation by Alice Welbourn, PhD at the Meeting on Women and AIDS, The House of Commons, Westminster, 4 March 2009. Download: English - Español

:· 02.03.09 AIDS and gender equality: a time for new paradigms. Michel Sidibé's speech at the Opening of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Fifty-third Session, United Nations. Download: English - Español

:· 02.03.09 Statement on Criminalization of HIV Transmission and Exposure. This statement by the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights is issued to support the recent documents and their recommendations against overly broad criminalization of HIV exposure and/or transmission. These documents recognize that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, applying criminal law to HIV transmission or exposure does more harm than good. Download: English - Español

:· 05.01.09 Recommendations Brief to Michel Sidibe UNAIDS Executive Director. On paper, the place of human rights in the response to HIV is well established. Under the leadership of Jonathan Mann and Peter Piot, WHO’s Global Programme on AIDS and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS) have highlighted the essential role of human rights in the response. However, for many reasons, now more than ever, the UNAIDS Executive Director and UNAIDS need to devote even greater attention to human rights in the response to HIV. Such increased attention is necessary to attain universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, itself a human rights imperative. Download: English - Español

:· 01.12.08 Malaysian AIDS Council and Malaysian Positive Network (myPlus). Mandatory HIV testing does more harm than good. Today on World AIDS Day, as we reflect on how to simultaneously prevent more people becoming infected with HIV and meet the needs and protect the human rights of people living with HIV, we call for renewed leadership in eradicating stigma, discrimination and human rights violations associated with HIV. [download pdf]

:· 19.09.08 Proceedings from the second day, 19thSeptember 2008, in the matter of Naz Foundation (India) Trust v. Government of NCT, Delhiand Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 7455 of 2001 being heard by the Delhi High Court. [download pdf]

:· 12.09.08 LETTER TO MS. JAMESINA KING, CHAIRPERSON, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SIERRA LEONE. The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) is the only international network of women living with HIV/AIDS with membership in Africa, including West, East, and Southern Africa. We are writing today, with the support of our allies, to express our concerns about Sierra Leone’s Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS Act of 2007 (HIV and AIDS Act) as it pertains to women and girls. [download pdf]

XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico 2008

2008-09-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

:· Poster presented at Mexico 2008 "Improving International/Regional Advocacy through Collaboration among Networks" [see poster]

:· Poster presentado en México 2008 "Mejorando la Abogacía Internacional/Regional a través de la Colaboración entre Redes" [ver poster]

Report on the Pre-UNGASS Meeting “Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Challenges for the UNGASS/AIDS Commitments”

2008-06-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

June 6th, 2008
Ford Foundation, New York

At the Ford Foundation in New York on June 6th, 2008, FEIM and GESTOS held the presentation of the report “Monitoring the UNGASS Goals on Sexual and Reproductive Health” prepared by NGOs in 16 countries. The report on the project “Strategies from the South: Building Synergies in HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights” was also launched and was distributed in both Spanish and English.

Barbara Klugman, Senior Program Officer in Education, Sexuality and Religion at the Ford Foundation, gave the welcoming and made a brief introduction highlighting the new challenges that have arisen in the field of sexual and reproductive health upon incorporating HIV/AIDS।

Alessandra Nilo, Executive Director of GESTOS in Brazil and member of “Strategies from the South” as a member of the LACCASO’s Executive Committee, spoke about the need to eliminate sexual and reproductive health gaps in national AIDS plans. She made reference to the main findings in the study carried out in 16 countries: 9 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 3 in Africa, 3 in Asia and Ukraine, under GESTOS’ coordination. She urged that this be one of the advocacy issues during the UNGASS meeting.

Later, Mabel Bianco, President of FEIM and Coordinator of the project “Strategies from the South”, spoke about the strengths and potentials of the alliance between sectors that do not traditionally work together: the women’s movement and HIV/AIDS activists. She also shared experiences of working jointly with different areas of the government and Civil Society. This was emphasized as a key factor, in order for Civil Society to become involved in both the design and monitoring of programs and the UNGASS process.

Dorothy Aken’ova, Executive Director of the NGO INCRESE in Nigeria, member of the international network AMANITARE and the African Regional Coordinator for the project “Strategies from the South”, spoke of the main challenges for joint advocacy work in Africa, outlining the principal problems.

Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, spoke of how United Nations agencies have made efforts to work alongside community groups of women and PLWHA, in regards to how to guarantee these rights, especially for Women Living with HIV. She specifically mentioned the advances made last year after a meeting with GNP+ group worldwide.

Neelanjana Mukhia, Coordinator of the International Campaign “Women Won’t Wait. End HIV & Violence Against Women. NOW!” and International Women's Rights Policy and Campaign Coordinator for ActionAid International, made a presentation on the state of the art of violence against women and national AIDS plans, raising the main advocacy issues for UNGASS and later at the national level.

Near the end of the meeting Peter Piot, Director of UNAIDS, referred to the importance of the High Level Review Meeting and of Civil Society’s commitment. He celebrated the importance and the contribution of both projects to HIV/AIDS and work in Sexual and Reproductive Health. Later, a space for dialogue was opened up to those present, especially about what we were hoping would come out of the Review Meeting and about possible ways to strengthen alliances between the different Civil Society groups and United Nations agencies in order to sustain and reinforce that the governments and conservative groups hope to undermine it.

We would like to emphasize the significant regional diversity as well as the diversity in the areas of work of the participants.

Buenos Aires, June 2008

International Dialogue

2008-06-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

This is the report of an exploratory meeting to foster cross-issue collaborative action between major activist networks from Africa, Asia and Latin America seeking more effective international advocacy on issues of HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and human rights. The Dialogue concluded that a shift in the current HIV/AIDS discourse is necessary to put power and sexuality issues back on the table, within the broader framework of respect for human rights.

2008-06-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

A Background to “Stategies from the South”

GOAL:
To promote a dialogue between Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights, GLTB, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS activists about sexuality and sexual rights and health as related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This South-South dialogue will bring together representatives of networks from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. This project will encourage a proliferation of this dialogue on a regional level as participating network representatives advance this approach and advocacy collaboration in local arenas.

OBJECTIVES:
1. To develop a working relationship between the activists and researchers of these movements.
2. To come to an agreement about the approaches (including the prioritized advocacy strategies, target groups and research topics) which will lead to effective activism, study, and advocacy on behalf of women and youths, the most vulnerable populations.
3. To develop an approach for dealing with the HIV/AIDS vulnerability of specific groups encompassed by these topics: children, adolescents and adult women’s: housewives, heterosexuals, and others.
4. To come to a partnership between the participants movement and network representatives so that they can share approaches to carry out advocacy, activism and research and create a basic plan for the dissemination of this approach in their own constituencies and throughout regional dialogues.
5. To articulate a theoretical framework that incorporates all these visions and publish this framework in a report.
6. In cases of disagreement, to specify the problems, the differences, and the accords that will lay out the basis for future advocacy, activism, and research.

The project has been developed by FEIM and coordinated by a group of three women’s health and HIV/AIDS activists, one from each region: Asia, Africa, and Latin America/Caribbean. They are:
• Dr. Mabel Bianco, Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer – FEIM, Argentina
• Meena Saraswathi Seshu, Sampada Graneen Mahila Sanshta –SANGRAM-, Sangli, India
• C. Dorothy Aken ‘ova, International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights –INCREASE − and member of Amanitare Steering Committee, Nigeria