The HIV/AIDS Pandemic and its Gender Implications

This is the report of an Expert Group Meeting on the gender implications of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic held in Windhoek, Namibia in November 2000. The report critiques the traditional portrayal of the pandemic as merely a public health problem and attempts to shed light on the various human rights and women's rights dimensions of the crisis. Issues addressed in the report include the effects of gender-based social and economic inequalities and power relations; the right to education and information; the intersection between religion/culture and rights/security; national and household food security; the right to participation and good governance; women as caregivers; violence against women; and special vulnerabilities caused by war and conflict. The report concludes by making a series of specific recommendations for policy changes by governments, international organizations and international financial institutions. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International]