1. XVII International Conference on AIDS
International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)
Empowering African women living with HIV in reproductive rights advocacy Marie Khudzani Banda, ICW-Malawi and Maria de Bruyn, Ipas
It is my pleasure to talk to you today about work that ICW and Ipas have been doing to empower women living with HIV in advocacy on reproductive rights.
Satellite session
XVII International Conference on AIDS
Mexico City, Mexico
7 August 2008

2. Ipas-ICW project history
Fulfilling reproductive rights for women affected by HIV/AIDS
A tool for monitoring
progress toward three Millennium Development Goals
2006
In 2005 and 2006, ICW collaborated with Ipas to pilot a monitoring tool to assess progress in achieving women’s reproductive rights in relation to three Millennium Development Goals:
MDG 3 on empowering women and achieving gender equity
MDG 5 on improving maternal health
MDG 6 on addressing HIV/AIDS.
ICW branches in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland participated in the project. Key findings included that HIV-positive women do not receive adequate family-planning information, that there is insufficient follow-up of women after they receive ARVs to prevent perinatal transmission, that many women do not have access to emergency contraception and safe abortion care in relation to unwanted pregnancies, that many women are stigmatized and discriminated against in the health-care sector, and that very many women do not realize they have any reproductive rights.
Discussions with the program officer from Namibia who carried out the project there, Jennifer Gatsi Mallett, led to the formulation of a new project to enhance the ability of HIV-positive women leaders in Africa to address reproductive rights issues. 2

3. Project objectives
Participants gain sufficient skills to offer skills-building workshops in their own countries
Participants gain knowledge of their reproductive rights, especially regarding unwanted pregnancy and abortion
Participants develop ideas for possible reproductive rights advocacy actions that can be carried out with local ICW and community members
The project had three main objectives:
The participating women would become better able to offer skills-building workshops in their own communities.
The women would gain knowledge about their reproductive rights, with special attention being given to rights related to unwanted pregnancy and abortion, a topic that is often neglected.
The participants would offer workshops at home and talk with community members and fellow ICW members about possible small advocacy projects they could do.

4. TOT training in Windhoek
Participants from:
Botswana
Kenya
Malawi
Namibia,
Swaziland Tanzania
Uganda
In the first part of the project, 13 women participated in a training-of-trainers workshop in Windhoek, Namibia. We came from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda. Most of us had not met before.
Some of the women had never facilitated a workshop before so they learned new skills. Others were able to review and improve skills they already were using. We did this by learning to offer two different workshops.
We also participated in values clarification exercises regarding unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Even though most of us knew of women who had such experiences, this topic is usually neglected in training and programs that deal with health issues for HIV-positive women. 4

5. Problem tree analysis
The first workshop we participated in was called: “Gender or sex: who cares?” It helps people understand the difference between gender and sex and how gender influences our sexual and reproductive health.
It is a very participatory workshop that was originally developed for young people but is now also used with many adults.
One exercise helps people analyze the root causes and outcomes of a sexual or reproductive health problem.
Other exercises let people learn about gender bias by reviewing proverbs from different countries or looking at media advertisements. There are also exercises involving drama skits and group discussions.

6. Community members participated enthusiastically!
After we participated in the workshop, we practised it and then offered it ourselves to men and women from the Katatura community in Windhoek.
They participated very enthusiastically and said they would recommend the workshop to other people because they learned to think about men’s and women’s roles and lives in a different way.

7. Then practice began for the reproductive rights workshop
During the second week of the TOT, we participated in a workshop on understanding and claiming reproductive rights. This workshop was a bit more difficult because the subject matter is a little dry.
We learned about which sexual and reproductive rights exist, how to recognize rights violations in specific cases, what Treaty Monitoring Committees do, and ways to report and prevent rights violations.
This training also includes a couple games to keep people alert and interested.

8. Reproductive rights workshop at University of Namibia
After practising the exercises, we offered the rights workshop to students at the University of Namibia.
Here you see one of the games in the rights workshop – it makes people laugh but also helps get across the idea that we have to listen to what people say and not just make assumptions. We also have to think for ourselves and not just follow others blindly.

9. Reproductive rights workshop at University of Namibia
We were honored to have a member of Parliament, the honorable Elma Ndienda, also participate in the rights workshop. She learned some things and was able to answer questions from students, too.
The students gave us a good evaluation, which was very encouraging for us!
The Honorable
Elma Ndienda, MP

10. Follow-up in Malawi
Combined workshop on gender and reproductive rights
When I returned to Lilongwe from the TOT workshop, with help from Ipas I prepared a one-day workshop that combined parts of the gender and reproductive rights workshops.
I offered it in December 2007 to 16 women living with HIV from community-based organizations and home-based care groups. The participants also included teachers from the Ministry of Education.
The women liked the exercises that help explain what gender is and how it affects our thinking. When I introduced the concepts of human rights and HIV, it turned out that some of the women knew about international rights treaties such as CEDAW. A few remarked that many women do not have enough information on unwanted pregnancies and safe abortion.

11. Follow-up in Malawi
Combined workshop on gender and reproductive rights
At the end of this workshop, the women said we need to advocate with policy-makers, Parliamentarians, and hospital administrators to form committees where cases could be presented if one’s rights are violated, especially concerning HIV/AIDS. This is because of the stigma & discrimination which are the main barriers to effectively combating the epidemic.
They also felt that women at all levels and from all walks of life should be involved in activism, but that women at the grassroots level lack information. They said there is a need for mechanisms to ensure they get the relevant education and information.

12. National-level workshop for ICW members 19 July 2008
Guest speakers
Martha Mondiwa, Registrar of the National Nurses Council
Dorothy Nyasulu, Malawi Human Rights Commission
Plans for local-level follow-up
On the 19th of July, we held a national-level workshop with ICW representatives from throughout the country. The workshop focused on gender, HIV and reproductive rights and we were fortunate to have the participation of Martha Mondiwa, Registrar of the National Nurses Council, and Dorothy Nyasulu of the Malawi Human Rights Commission. The open dialogue with these resource people and the other participants allowed women to share personal experiences and reflect on how rights apply to their lives.

13. Next steps
Produce a strategic plan to identify key issues and concerns and understand them as a group
Sensitize community members about the Malawi patient bill of rights in urban and rural hospitals
Build alliances with other groups, including legal personnel
Strengthen support groups in various districts
The ICW members will take what they learned at this workshop and discuss with community members what kinds of small advocacy actions we take at the local level to make sure reproductive rights are respected. We agreed to produce a strategic plan to guide us in carrying out our activities. This will help us identify key issues and concerns and understand them as a group.
One already planned activity is to sensitize community members about the Malawi patient bill of rights in urban and rural hospitals. We also intend to build alliances with other groups, including legal personnel and to strengthen support groups in various districts.

14. Follow-up in Namibia and Uganda
Workshop for ICW members and staff of NGOs
Focus groups with clients at two ARV clinics
Gender and rights workshops for ARV clinic clients
Plans for follow-up
Advocacy and follow up done in Namibia:
Two community workshops in the northern part of the country
Community workshops in Windhoek
Project on violence in one Northern community
Project to create a health ethics committee in one Windhoek community
House-to-house survey by community members on access to care, treatment and support at 2 clinics and attitudes regarding unwanted pregnancy, baby dumping and abortion
Education and advocacy training for secondary school and university students in Windhoek on reproductive rights
Follow-up has also taken place in Uganda, where the ICW officer is carrying out similar activities to ours.
In Namibia, several women have offered community workshops. One is working with adults and adolescents to address the issue of domestic and sexual violence. Another is working with the community to set up a clinic ethics committee and a third group is working on the issue of unsafe abortions and improving access to safe legal abortions.

15. Thank you!
This joint ICW-Ipas project is touching on serious issues that have a real impact on the lives of women living with HIV. But we have also enjoyed working on the project and want to make sure that we keep that element of enjoyment in the work we do with communities so that they are more motivated to keep working with us.
Thanks for listening and I would be happy to answer your questions!