Reference:
University of Pennsylvania's Summit on Global Issues in Women's Health (2005)
Annotation:
In this speech, the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa laments that the international responses to the AIDS epidemic do not sufficiently address the needs and rights of women. He describes some of the impacts HIV/AIDS has on women in Africa, discusses how women are underrepresented in the United Nations system, and lists a litany of womens rights and women's health issues that continue to be inadequately addressed. The speech concludes with three proposals for improving the situation of women: (1) a petition to African Heads of State and Ministers of Health urging them to request funding from the Global Fund on AIDS to compensate caregivers of AIDS orphans; (2) collaboration to develop a microbicide to protect women from infection; and (3) strong advocacy for reform at the UN to push for equal representation of women, along with a similar movement in Africa to compel African officials to engage with womens health issues. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International - Africa]