In Africa, Aids Has a Womens Face
"In their daily search for clean water, women in rural sub-Saharan Africa literally and symbolically walk the social, economic, and geographic paths along which, scholars argue, the HIV/AIDS epidemic can be mapped."
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It was back in 2002 when Kofi Annan identified women as the backbone of Africa, and sounded the dire alarm that the combination of famine and AIDS was disproporationately impacting African women "who keep African societies going and whose work makes up the economic foundation of rural communities."
"For decades, we have known that the best way for Africa to thrive is to ensure that its women have the freedom, power and knowledge to make decisions affecting their own lives and those of their families and communities," Annan wrote in a New York Times article IN AFRICA, AIDS HAS A WOMAN'S FACE."At the United Nations, we have always understood that our work for development depends on building a successful partnership with the African farmer and her husband."
Study after study has shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not play a central role. When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, of whole countries.
But today, millions of African women are threatened by two simultaneous catastrophes: famine and AIDS. More than 30 million people are now at risk of starvation in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa. All of these predominantly agricultural societies are also battling serious AIDS epidemics. This is no coincidence: AIDS and famine are directly linked.
© Photo by Tyler Hicks, The New York Times, AIDS In Uganda
Women,HIV/AIDS & H2O Facts
*Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time fetching water, and it is generally women who are burdened with the task. (UK DFID)
*The weight of water that women in
Link
It was back in 2002 when Kofi Annan identified women as the backbone of Africa, and sounded the dire alarm that the combination of famine and AIDS was disproporationately impacting African women "who keep African societies going and whose work makes up the economic foundation of rural communities."
"For decades, we have known that the best way for Africa to thrive is to ensure that its women have the freedom, power and knowledge to make decisions affecting their own lives and those of their families and communities," Annan wrote in a New York Times article IN AFRICA, AIDS HAS A WOMAN'S FACE."At the United Nations, we have always understood that our work for development depends on building a successful partnership with the African farmer and her husband."
Study after study has shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not play a central role. When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities and, eventually, of whole countries.
But today, millions of African women are threatened by two simultaneous catastrophes: famine and AIDS. More than 30 million people are now at risk of starvation in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa. All of these predominantly agricultural societies are also battling serious AIDS epidemics. This is no coincidence: AIDS and famine are directly linked.
© Photo by Tyler Hicks, The New York Times, AIDS In Uganda
Women,HIV/AIDS & H2O Facts
*Households in rural Africa spend an average of 26% of their time fetching water, and it is generally women who are burdened with the task. (UK DFID)
*The weight of water that women in