Inter Press Service - June 19, 2001
Thalif Deen

Officials and non-governmental commentators alike expressed worry that insufficient attention had been paid to gender issues and that women's advocates and other civil society groups had been sidelined, reportedly at the behest of US delegates seeking to contain discussion of contraception and other subjects considered offensive by the conservative wing of President George W. Bush's Republican constituency.

Leaders from 30, mostly African, countries are expected to participate in the talks here.

"There is a direct correlation between women's status, the violation of their human rights, and HIV transmission," said Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Speaking in advance of the UN General Assembly's special session - scheduled for Jun. 25-27 in New York - Heyzer said gender inequality is not simply a matter of social justice, "it is just fatal."

Heyzer argued AIDS has escalated into a pandemic because inequality between women and men continues to be pervasive and persistent. "Too often," she said, "women and girls cannot say 'no' to unwanted and unprotected sex without fear of reprisal."

Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, the joint UN agency leading the battle against the disease, acknowledged the proportion of women living with HIV/AIDS has risen steadily in recent years. "Today, young women in the developing world are twice as likely to be infected as men," he said.

Last month, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of "a terrifying pattern that is emerging": Of all sub-Saharan Africans infected with the AIDS-causing virus, HIV, 55 percent are women. A decade ago, the majority were men.

Annan said that teenage girls are infected at a rate five or six times greater than their male counterparts "and in the world as a whole, at least half of all new infections are among women."

Surveys in 17 countries found that more than half of girls could not name a method of protection against HIV transmission, according to UNIFEM.

In a five-point 'Call for Action,' Heyzer said that any proposed plan to fight AIDS should guarantee women's equal access to prevention and treatment; make research gender sensitive; educate and inform; address gender inequality in all policy decisions; and address HIV transmissions in conflict situations.

"It is time for the AIDS community to join hands with the international women's community to hold governments accountable," she added.

For the past several months, the UN's 189 member states have laboured over a 'Declaration of Commitment on HIV-AIDS' to be adopted at next week's talks. A number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have complained the draft document marginalises the gender aspects of AIDS.

The Declaration, which is to be finalised during next week's three- day session, "is very short and has no teeth," said Aisha Satterwhite, programme director at Washington-based Africa Action. "The language is very, very vague," she added, noting there was no clear gender perspective in the declaration.

NGOs have been unable to influence the negotiations because they were shut out of the process. "All sessions were closed and even NGOs accredited with the Economic and Social Council were kicked out of the sessions and doors were locked," Satterwhite said.

According to several NGOs, the United States was primarily responsible for barring the groups, even as observers, from the negotiating sessions. US delegates were not immediately available for comment.

"This is a very bad precedent for the future and makes NGOs worry as to what will happen at the Special Session itself," said Carol Lubin of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres.

Ambassador Penny Wensley of Australia, one of the co-facilitators of the inter-governmental process responsible for the declaration, said that several "sensitive issues" emerged during discussion of the draft text.

These included pursuit of a wide range of "prevention interventions", including encouraging responsible sexual behaviour and expanding access to essential items such as condoms and disposable syringes.

There were also recommendations, mostly from NGOs, about crime reduction relating to drug use; increased access to voluntary and confidential counselling and testing; safe blood supplies; and early and effective treatment of sexually transmissible diseases.

Wensley said that some governments were sensitive about their own national laws and legislation relating to these issues while others felt very strongly about unilateral coercive measures. "We recognise that there are problems and we hope member states would show flexibility and find some accommodation," she added.

"The US delegation was influenced by the Religious Right," a spokeswoman for a Third World NGO complained. She said there was an attempt to get rid of all language relating to family planning, condom use, gender inequality, access to information about abortions, sex education, reproductive rights, "and anything that didn't promote abstinence."

"There is a fear of addressing real gender issues and there is a fear of providing information about sex and sexuality to young people," Satterwhite said. "What is emerging is an attempt to hold fast to patriarchal norms and the reinforcement of the belief that if you provide young people with condoms and information, you will be encouraging them to have sex," she added.

"By turning a blind eye to those most at risk by pushing for their erasure or their decreased visibility in the declaration, many member states are doing little to stem the rising tide of infection, and to support their calls of solidarity," she argued.

Several proposals never made it to the declaration because of strong opposition from member states. These included a call to reduce the vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS "through the elimination of all forms of discrimination, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful traditional and customary practices, including sexual abuse and rape, battering and trafficking in women and girls."
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