June 25, 2010
News from the South Asia Initiative on Women and HIV/AIDS
In an earlier ENEWS from the Center, we reported on our 2009 South Asia Initiative on Women and HIV/AIDS Policymaking, which the Center conducted with the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). Click here to learn more about the Initiative.
We are proud of the stunning leadership of the South Asia Initiative participants who came together here in Washington to build sustainable partnerships – across borders and sectors -- to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls and to work as sisters to promote woman-centered HIV/AIDS policies and programs and to raise public awareness of the issues through the media. DONATE NOW to support the Center’s GlobalPOWER® programs on Women and HIV/AIDS!
Today, we are highlighting the activities of a few of the participants in our December 2009 program – and will continue to share progress reports from the Parliamentarians, NGO leaders, and journalists who are our partners in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. We are honored to be engaged with these remarkable women leaders and we welcome your thoughts about the way forward from all of you, our readers and supporters. Click here to share your ideas.
Teresa Rehman, journalist and media consultant in India, has published numerous stories that bring attention to the crises that women in India face that increase their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Click on the following links for Teresa's stories:
http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4318&mod=1&pg=1§ionId=21&valid=true
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167/2010/04/5-134544-1.htm
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167/2010/05/16-150100-1.htm
Zannatul Bakiya, Senior Reporter with channel i in Bangladesh, has filmed this report on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Bangladesh. Click here to see her video.
Rekha Saha, Director of Steps Toward Development in Bangladesh, submitted a report on the activities and outcomes of the South Asia Initiative on Women and HIV/AIDS Policymaking to Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Women’s and Children’s Affairs. Rekha also has advised Minister Chaudhury of the plans developed by the Bangladesh delegation to the South Asia Initiative to focus on education as means to target the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Yasmeen Rehman, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, has been appointed as Advisor to the Ministry of Women’s Development by the Prime Minister. In this capacity, and as the Founding Member of Pakistan’s Parliamentary Forum on HIV and AIDS, she continues to advocate for women’s human rights policies and for efforts to reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
DONATE NOW to support our 2010-2011 programs on the global impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls!
Please share your ideas for our future work on the linked global crises for women of HIV/AIDS and access to reproductive rights and health crises. Click here to send an email to the Center’s president.
