Byanyima: Women’s injustices aren’t acts of nature

Summary:

• UNAIDS Director Winnie Byanyima urges countries, including Uganda, to protect women’s rights for HIV prevention on International Women’s Day, emphasizing the need to combat gender-based violence.

Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, has urged countries, including Uganda, to safeguard women’s rights in order to protect their health. She emphasizes the importance of leaders combating all forms of gender-based violence to ensure the protection of women and girls against HIV/AIDS.

Byanyima highlights the heightened risk faced by the 600 million women and girls living in conflict-affected regions, where sexual violence is prevalent. She also draws attention to the impact of the debt crisis on investment in education, health, and social protection, particularly affecting women and girls in the world’s poorest countries.

In her message marking International Women’s Day, Byanyima expresses concern that the world is far from achieving the gender equality and HIV targets outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.

International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8th, carries the theme “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” for 2024, focusing on addressing economic disempowerment. The campaign theme, “Inspire Inclusion,” underscores the importance of diversity and empowerment across all societal sectors.

UNAIDS emphasizes the need to protect women and girls’ health and rights on this International Women’s Day, as it believes doing so will contribute to ending AIDS and addressing the inequalities driving it.

Byanyima reveals alarming statistics, including the estimated timeframes to end child marriage, achieve gender parity in leadership positions, and attain equal representation in national parliaments. She also highlights the prevalence of gender-based violence globally, along with the barriers faced by millions of girls in accessing vital information to protect their health, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds.

Byanyima denounces the coordinated attacks on women’s rights worldwide, noting that the most marginalized women are the primary targets. She emphasizes that the injustices faced by women are not natural disasters but rather man-made, implying they can be addressed through concerted efforts.

She views the fight to end AIDS as a feminist and rights-based endeavor, stressing the importance of supporting community organizations, civil society groups, and women’s organizations as frontline defenders of women’s rights.