AIDS conference in Kenya
Source: Norwegian Church Aid - Norway
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
"This conference places women's
leadership in focus. This is extremely important as it is always women who are hardest hit by the epidemic, says NCA's Anne-Marie Helland.
Helland is Norwegian Church Aid's special advisor for social and political rights. She also sits as a permanent deputy representative on teh board for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria.
She is currently in Nairobi attending the first international conference on women's leadership, HIV and AIDS which opens today. Over 1500 women and men are expected to attend the event, including many of the world's leading experts on the topic. Exeutive director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, church leaders and representatives from a large number of grassroots organisations will be present.
"Women are infected more easily than men, and they are the ones that carry the burden of caring for the sick. This is why it's so important that women are involved in the process to decide the direction in which we shall continue in the fight against HIV and AIDS, says Helland.
One of the topics to be addressed by the conference is the question: if women really are so important, where, then, is the leadership and the money?
"The international commmunity has been saying for years how important women are, and yet a large number of women's organisations that work with both the infected and the affected are struggling to gain funding for their projects," says Helland.
Helland is to lead a panel debate on religion and HIV, during which the question will be raised as to how the church can include HIV-positive individuals in their management.
The conference is called "Hear, learn, lead" and is being arranged by the Kenyan YWCA. Norwegian Church Aid is one of the conference's sponsors, and general secretary Atle Sommerfeldt is among the participants.
For more information, contact:
In Kenya:
Helland is Norwegian Church Aid's special advisor for social and political rights. She also sits as a permanent deputy representative on teh board for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria.
She is currently in Nairobi attending the first international conference on women's leadership, HIV and AIDS which opens today. Over 1500 women and men are expected to attend the event, including many of the world's leading experts on the topic. Exeutive director of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, church leaders and representatives from a large number of grassroots organisations will be present.
"Women are infected more easily than men, and they are the ones that carry the burden of caring for the sick. This is why it's so important that women are involved in the process to decide the direction in which we shall continue in the fight against HIV and AIDS, says Helland.
One of the topics to be addressed by the conference is the question: if women really are so important, where, then, is the leadership and the money?
"The international commmunity has been saying for years how important women are, and yet a large number of women's organisations that work with both the infected and the affected are struggling to gain funding for their projects," says Helland.
Helland is to lead a panel debate on religion and HIV, during which the question will be raised as to how the church can include HIV-positive individuals in their management.
The conference is called "Hear, learn, lead" and is being arranged by the Kenyan YWCA. Norwegian Church Aid is one of the conference's sponsors, and general secretary Atle Sommerfeldt is among the participants.
- Visit the conference's homepage here.
For more information, contact:
In Kenya:
- Atle Sommerfeldt, general secretary, Norwegian Church Aid, mobile: (+47) 917 55 112
- Anne-Marie Helland, special advisor, social and political rights, mobile: (+47) 932 42 459
- Astrid G. Handeland, press officer, mobile: (+47) 932 42 457
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
