Facing the future together: extracts from the Report of the UN Secretary-General's Task Force on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa."I don't want to die before I'm 110 with great grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . I don't want to die before I turn 25. I refuse to sit down and watch my generation fall to pieces. I am going to make a difference. Will you?" asks Rumbidzai Grace Mushangi, 15, of Zimbabwe. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If we can stop the spread of HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. among women and girls in southern Africa
tr.v. in·fect·ed, in·fect·ing, in·fects 1. To contaminate with a pathogenic microorganism or agent. 2. To communicate a pathogen or disease to. 3. To invade and produce infection in. almost as soon as they start having sex. The findings of the United Nations Secretary General's Task Force on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa show that gender inequality fuels HIV infection because many women and girls cannot negotiate safer sex or turn down unwanted sex. The findings also demonstrate that HIV/AIDS deepens and exacerbates women's poverty and inequality because it requires them to do more domestic labour as they care for the sick, the dying and the orphaned or·phan n. 1. a. A child whose parents are dead. b. A child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted. 2. A young animal without a mother. 3. . Although the problems are complex, the Task Force has identified key actions in relation to its six focus issues, which can make an immediate difference: 1. Prevention among Girls and Young Women We must collapse the bridge of infection between older men and younger women and girls. Many girls have sexual partners who are five to ten years older than them, and these men are more likely to be infected than boys and younger men. Relationships with older men are more likely to be based on unequal power relations, leaving girls vulnerable to exploitation. 2. Girls' Education We must protect female enrolment figures. AIDS may be taking girls out of school. Although gender parity has largely been achieved in educational enrolment in southern Africa, we need more information on the impact of the epidemic on the education of girls, particularly orphans. 3. Violence against Women and Girls We must protect girls and women from the direct and long-term risks of HIV infection as a result of violence. Girls and women who have been sexually assaulted are at increased risk of HIV infection, through direct transmission and because of the long-term effects of sexual violence on risk-taking behaviour. 4. Property and Inheritance Rights We must protect the rights of women and girls to own and inherit To receive property according to the state laws of intestate succession from a decedent who has failed to execute a valid will, or, where the term is applied in a more general sense, to receive the property of a decedent by will. inherit v. land. In Southern African countries there are but a handful of small initiatives by determined organisations that provide women and girls with legal education and advice or assistance to prevent dispossession The wrongful, nonconsensual ouster or removal of a person from his or her property by trick, compulsion, or misuse of the law, whereby the violator obtains actual occupation of the land. Dispossession encompasses intrusion, disseisin, or deforcement. or restore taken property. 5. Women and Girls as Care Givers We must put in place a Volunteer Charter articulating the rights and responsibilities of women and men who provide care and support to the sick and orphaned. Communities, families, governments and development partners cannot continue to rely on 'women's resilience' to provide safety nets for the sick and orphaned. 6. Access to Care and Treatment for Women and Girls We must address gender norms, violence, stigma and discrimination as potential barriers to women's access to care and treatment. Although women may have greater access than men to anti-retroviral treatment through public health systems, they may miss out on treatment opportunities because of fear that their partners will discover their HIV status. (This report was complied by a taskforce consisting of 27 eminent persons drawn from nine Southern African countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. , Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mocambique and Zimbabwe. The Namibian representatives on the Taskforce were Dr Libertina Amathila Libertina Appolus Amathila (born 1940) is a Namibian physician and politician. She is currently the deputy Prime Minister, which she became in 2005. In 2000, she was the President of the General Assembly of the World Health Organization. (Minister of Health and Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales ) and Ms Maria Nangolo-Rukoro (National Social Marketing Programme). The full report can be found at http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000839/index.php) |
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