Click here to download the full report.
On behalf of the Mobilizing for RH/HIV Integration Initiative, the Global AIDS Alliance is pleased to release a new report, Make or Break? 2010: A Pivotal Year for Scaling Up RH/HIV Integration and Accelerating Progress Towards MDGs 5 and 6.
In the context of the five-year countdown to the Millennium Development Goals, missed targets on universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care, and the Third Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the report details the unique demand-creation model used by the Mobilizing RH/HIV Integration Initiative during the Global Fund's Rounds 8 and 9. By identifying countries interested in submitting HIV/AIDS proposals to the Global Fund that integrated reproductive health services and health systems strengthening, working with RH and HIV/AIDS civil-society organizations as implementers and advocates, and supporting countries in producing high-quality, innovative, technically-sound proposals, the Mobilizing for RH/HIV Integration Initiative helped to demonstrate the breadth of RH- and MDG 5-related interventions eligible for support from the Global Fund as a strategy for most efficiently and effectively improving HIV/AIDS outcomes.
This new report highlights the model used and the Initiative's successful outcomes at the global and national levels, and makes recommendations to donors, national governments, the Global Fund and its technical partners, and other stakeholders in successful Global Fund proposals and in meeting the internationally agreed-upon targets of MDGs 5 and 6.
The Mobilizing for RH/HIV Integration Initiative was an international partnership of six steering committee organizations: Friends of the Global Fund Africa, Global AIDS Alliance, Interact Worldwide, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Regional Office, and Population Action International. Active in the Global Fund's Rounds 8 and 9, the Initiative worked with partners in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia.
For more information on the Mobilizing for RH/HIV Integration Initiative, go to http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/1402.
For more information on the Global AIDS Alliance's work on the integration of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, go to http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/355.
Today's hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health highlighted the necessity of fully funding US commitments to fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, a leader in the HIV/AIDS research community who was instrumental in the implementation of one of the largest PEPFAR funded programs in Uganda, offered a powerful description of how US flat funding of PEPFAR and Lantos-Hyde has affected people in need of life-saving HIV/AIDS treatment. Said Dr. Mugyenyi, "Currently, my institution, which pioneered antiretroviral therapy in Africa and treats a large proportion of AIDS patients in Uganda, is not taking new patients due to lack of funding. We are forced to turn away desperate patients daily-often 15 to 20. And most of those who come to us will have been turned away from a number of other clinics."
It is imperative that Congress act to fix the administration's budget request through the appropriations process in order to continue the lifesaving work and protect the investment of PEPFAR and Lantos-Hyde. US investments to combat HIV/AIDS have been instrumental in fighting the disease and we cannot afford to squander this opportunity to solidify the gains made over the past decade.
The US must also lead globally by contributing our fair share to the Global Fund. Dr. Joanne Carter, executive director of RESULTS, said that with proper investment the Global Fund "could virtually eliminate vertical (or so-called "mother-to-child") transmission of HIV, eliminate malaria as a public health threat in many endemic countries, and contain the spread of multi-drug resistant TB" by 2015. She continued, "These are audacious goals, but they are worthy of our support and achievable if we are willing to make the right investments."
The following are testimonies from today's hearing:
Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, director and founder of the Joint Clinical Research Center
Dr. Joanne Carter, executive director of RESULTS
Debra Messing, Global AIDS ambassador of Population Services International
Background Resources:
PEPFAR Five-Year Strategy Analysis and Recommendations
posted by Lisa Schechtman, GAA's Policy Director
For 100 years, we have celebrated International Women's Day, observed since 1975 on March 8. Begun as a recognition of the women's rights and suffrage movement and a response to women demanding improved work conditions in the United States, International Women's Day has become an opportunity to take stock of progress on women's rights, opportunities for advancing equity, and persistent barriers to a world where women are able to use their power and live with dignity for the good of all. We have made progress, of course. In many countries, girls can go to school and women can seek advanced degrees, in career fields of all sorts women are represented among the highest ranks, and the international community has agreed that women's rights are human rights. But there is still a long way to go before we will never again have to ask the questions: why are more women living in poverty than men?; why are fewer girls in school than boys?; why are women more affected by HIV than men? One answer to each of these questions is violence against women and girls (VAW/G).
This year, this 100th year of International Women's Day, we have a real vehicle for doing something to change the answers to these questions, even to change the questions themselves. The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) would improve the efficiency and efficacy of many US foreign assistance programs by ensuring that an analysis of the role of VAW/G is built into health, education, economic development and social change efforts around the world. In other words, IVAWA would mandate the US government to ask our key questions about the experiences of women and girls and, where one of the answers is violence against women and girls, to do something about it.
It seems like such an easy answer, doesn't it? Violence against women and girls is a human rights catastrophe of the first order. The UN has for years reported that one in three women will experience physical, sexual or emotional violence in her lifetime. VAW/G is not merely a human rights violation; is a form of torture, stripping women of choice, opportunity, well-being, and happiness in ways big and small-but in ways that are never insignificant. In many cases, this loss of power means women cannot negotiate condom use or refuse sex because they are afraid, cannot seek health care because they do not control their families' resources (and are therefore afraid), cannot protect their children, send them to school, even get enough food to keep them healthy because so often the men make the decisions (and, you guessed it, they are therefore afraid). If all women and girls not only knew they have the right to be safe, healthy, educated, and able to choose, but also had the means to safeguard these rights for themselves and their loved ones, maybe we'd have fewer tough questions to ask about the lives women and girls lead in this world. But, unfortunately, after 100 years of International Women's Day, we are still asking these questions.
Violence against women and girls is unambiguously morally wrong. Ask anyone on the street and they will almost certainly agree; there is simply no justification for beating, raping, stalking, or otherwise terrorizing anyone, especially not because of long-held baseless notions of gender and power. Even our policy-makers see no gray area here; that is why so many members of Congress are supporting IVAWA, why our Vice-President and our Secretary of State supported IVAWA when they were members of Congress.
Just as we know VAW/G is an unambiguous issue, so too is the fact that it's unacceptable that we are still asking questions about the status of women and girls in our world. IVAWA gives us a way to change the answers, to change the questions, to show that the 100 years of honoring women have actually given us a hook to hang our hats on, a way to mark the progress made by and for women and girls.
When IVAWA was introduced on February 4 in both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support, a colleague from the Democratic Republic of Congo told the audience that IVAWA is an act of compassion and solidarity. And, after all, isn't being compassionate a major part of what the United States is all about? Let's make sure the 100th International Women's Day will mark a real turning point, the triumph of compassion over politics, justice over fear. Together, let's make sure 2010 is the year the International Violence Against Women Act is signed into law, the year the United States shows leadership in answering those tough questions, the year International Women's Day advances from a day of identifying problems to a day of celebrating solutions.
Please call your Members of Congress today and tell them that you support IVAWA. And then tell everyone you know.
March 5, 2010, Washington, DC — Today, final details of the White House budget proposal for family planning and reproductive health were made public. The Obama administration is proposing $715.7 million for bilateral and multilateral international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) assistance — a $67 million or a 10 percent increase above FY2010.
The Global AIDS Alliance is encouraged by the Obama administration's announcement of the highest funding levels ever requested for international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs. This commitment demonstrates a shift toward a women-centered approach to health, which is essential for the fight against global HIV/AIDS and a gap that must be filled if we are to improve our efficiency and efficacy in responding to global health needs.
While the funding level announced is higher than previous commitments, evidence-based needs indicate that in order to meet global need the US must meet its obligations by providing at least $1 billion in FY2011. We look forward to working with the Congress and the administration to meet this important funding benchmark.
The United Nations estimates that $30.7 billion in 2011 will be needed to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and family planning services as agreed upon in the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development).
For far too long, women and girls around the world have lacked access to these critical health services. The President's reinvigorated commitment shows great potential if it is funded at a level commensurate with the global need.
International Violence Against Women Act
Violence Against Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS
Violence against women demands action, The Baltimore Sun, February 19, 2010
Violence against women is a global struggle, The Boston Globe, February 6, 2010
US lawmakers target global violence against women, AFP, February 4, 2010
International Violence Against Women Act Reintroduced in Congress, Ms. Magazine, February 4, 2010
US Bill Pledges a Billion Dollars to Fight Gender Violence, IPS, February 4, 2010
International Violence Against Women Act Addresses the War Against Women, RH Reality Check, February 4, 2010
Protection for women a top foreign policy priority, Politico, February 4, 2010
The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) has been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill, which was also introduced in the House and the Senate during the last Congress, has been reintroduced by 25 Senators and by 25 Representatives from both sides of the aisle. We now have a new opportunity to build support for the I-VAWA and make a difference in millions of women's lives.
Violence against women is a human rights violation and a worldwide pandemic - approximately 1 out of every 3 women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime increasing her exposure to HIV/AIDS. I-VAWA supports innovative approaches to ending violence against women globally by promoting services for survivors, holding perpetrators accountable and challenging public attitudes that condone such violence.
Show your support for the original cosponsoring Senators and Representatives commitment to women's rights by urging your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor International Violence Against Women Act. Begin reaching out now - ask your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor I-VAWA. Take action at: http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/speakout/IVAWAIntroductio.
Look at what the passage of I-VAWA would mean to women around the world:
• Increased efforts to prevent violence against women during conflict and in humanitarian settings
• Legal reform and commitment to finding perpetrators and bringing them to justice
• Strengthened capacity of women's organizations to help survivors
• Increased opportunities for women, free from violence, to seek testing or treatment for HIV/AIDS
• Expanded economic and educational opportunities that would help women who are abused flee their abuser or reduce their risk for sexual exploitation
Speak out against the horrors women suffer around the world. Urge your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor International Violence against Women Act. Take action now at http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/speakout/IVAWAIntroductio.
To address RH/HIV integration, the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) has partnered with Population Action International and other advocates since 2007 to promote increased investments in RH/HIV integration through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international financing mechanism focused on supporting country-driven responses to these three diseases. Specifically, the Mobilizing for RH/HIV Integration Initiative seeks to:
The advocacy of GAA and its allies have produced significant results:
GAA submits questions for Clinton's Capitol Hill testimony and comments on Administration's Global Health Initiative
February 24, 2010 - Washington, DC - The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) calls on the Obama Administration to fully fund its development priorities and to continue US Leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS as an integral part of President Obama's Global Health Initiative. GAA submitted questions to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs in preparation for Secretary of State Clinton's testimony on Capitol Hill. Secretary Clinton's testimony is scheduled Wednesday and Thursday, respectfully.
"The Obama Administration has identified ‘Development' as a pillar of its 3-D national security policy (Development, Diplomacy, & Defense), but policy without robust funding is no policy at all," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of GAA. "The U.S. cannot flatline funding for key programs and squander this opportunity to solidify the gains made in fighting AIDS, TB and malaria. The administration must live up to its own priorities by fully funding ‘Development' and by making the role of violence against women and girls, pediatric HIV/AIDS and access to basic education integral to its approach in improving health and breaking the cycle of poverty."
Ensuring that global health programs are fully funded and that "Development" becomes an equal partner -- alongside "Defense" and "Diplomacy" - will go a long way towards improving people's lives overseas and increasing national security at home. In order to eliminate havens of instability and terrorism, the US government must ramp up effective investment in eradicating poverty. President Obama took office committed to changing the role of the US in the developing world. Fully funding foreign development assistance is critical to this changing role; and crucial to national security.
Earlier this week, the Global AIDS Alliance submitted its comments to the Obama Administration's Implementation of the Global Health Initiative: Consultation Document. The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) welcomes the principles of the Global Health Initiative - especially the need for improved coordination of health partners, country ownership and leadership in building health systems and the women- and girl-centered approach reflects the reality of the health behaviors of communities.
Call for Congressional Action: GAA has a number of concerns and questions the alignment of the President's budget request to Congress, the enacted Lantos Hyde Bill (P.L. 110 -293) which authorized $48 billion including robust contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the additional activities proposed in the President's Global Health Initiative. It is critical that the Administration ensure that programs are not duplicative, enhance the participation of civil society at the inception of public health programs and recognize the impact that women can have on breaking the cycle of poverty.
GAA's questions to Secretary Clinton testimony on Capitol Hill
GAA's comments to "Implementation of the Global Health Initiative: Consultation Document"
WHEN : Tuesday, February 23, 2010 3pm-5pm
WHERE : Building I-200, 1850 I Street, Washington DC NW
Open to the Public
Rick Rowden, an expert in international economic development, will present his new book, The Deadly Ideas of Neoliberalism (Zed Books, November 2009). In his book, Rowden explores the history of and current collision between two of the major global phenomena that have characterized the last 30 years: the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases of poverty and the ascendancy of neoliberal economic ideas. He argues that IMF and World Bank macroeconomic policies have restricted public investment needed for economic development, with harmful consequences for domestic health financing and particularly HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
"Rick Rowden has written a highly accessible volume that clearly links economic policies to poor health outcomes in developing countries. His clarion call to health activists to get involved in economic debates is an urgent one." - Howard Stein, University of Michigan
NGO Commentator - Brook Baker, Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy; Chair of Board, Health GAP
IMF Commentator - Sanjeev Gupta, Deputy Director of Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF
World Bank Commentator - Peter Berman, Lead Economist of the Health and Nutrition Department at the World Bank
Moderator - Aldo Caliari, Director, Rethinking Bretton Woods Project, Center of Concern
The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) has been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill, which was also introduced in the House and the Senate during the last Congress, has been reintroduced by 25 Senators and by 25 Representatives from both sides of the aisle. We now have a new opportunity to build support for the I-VAWA and make a difference in millions of women's lives.
Violence against women is a human rights violation and a worldwide pandemic - approximately 1 out of every 3 women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime increasing her exposure to HIV/AIDS. The I-VAWA supports innovative approaches to ending violence against women globally by promoting services for survivors, holding perpetrators accountable and challenging public attitudes that condone such violence.
Show your support for the original cosponsoring Senators and Representatives commitment to women's rights by urging your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor the International Violence Against Women Act.
Begin reaching out now - ask your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor I-VAWA. Take action at: http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/speakout/IVAWAIntroductio.
Look at what the passage of I-VAWA would mean to women around the world
Speak out against the horrors women suffer around the world. Urge your Senator and/or Representative to cosponsor the International Violence against Women Act. Take action now at http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/speakout/IVAWAIntroductio.
Washington, DC (February 4, 2010) - The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) commends the bi-partisan congressional leadership that it has taken to introduce the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) today. Violence against women has a major impact on the ability of women and girls to access healthcare globally. I-VAWA provides an essential tool in the United States foreign assistance approach, one that will address an insidious and pervasive challenge to the ability of women and girls to become healthy, productive members of their communities.
We want to thank Senators Kerry (D-MA), Boxer (D-CA), Snowe (R-ME), and Collins (R-ME) and Chairman Delahunt (D-MA), Congressman Poe (R-TX), and Congresswoman Schakowsky (D-IL) for their extraordinary work on behalf of women around the world. This legislation has been introduced in previous years without congressional action; therefore, GAA urges strong majority and committee leadership to ensure consideration and passage this year.
"Violence against women and girls is a human rights abuse that transcends national boundaries and has a profound impact on the education, health, and well-being of women and girls, particularly their ability to negotiate safe sex and seek health services or information, including HIV testing, treatment, and care," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of GAA and a physician with experience working with people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, India, and South America. "The commitment that I-VAWA makes to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls worldwide is a step toward gender equality; it signals that combating violence is key to effective foreign policy and expresses U.S. moral leadership. We call on the 111th Congress to enact I-VAWA because we cannot wait another year to make this a reality."
I-VAWA makes preventing and responding to violence against women and girls a priority in U.S. foreign policy by addressing violence through a multi-sectoral lens-linking the response to violence with other foreign assistance programs, such as development assistance, humanitarian aid, global health, and peacekeeping. Given that women who are abused are at greater risk of acquiring HIV, the connection between I-VAWA and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is especially significant, because it allows for scale-up of coordinated, integrated programs that expand supports and services for survivors of violence.
"Violence is both a cause and a consequence of HIV/AIDS. Unless we address global violence against women and girls, our multi-billion dollar fight against AIDS is sure to fail," noted Lisa Schechtman, Policy Director of GAA.
RESOURCES:
I-VAWA Fact Sheet
Scaling Up for Zero Tolerance (GAA Report, 2008)
GAA Statement for the Record for October 1 Senate Hearing
GAA Statement for the Record for October 21 House Hearing
Will Work With Administration and Congress to Increase Funding for Proven, Effective AIDS and Health Programs
(New York, February 1, 2010)-amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, on Monday welcomed proposed funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while urging Congress to expand on these and other AIDS and health funding levels to meet the need.
The President's proposed budget allocates $32.089 billion for the NIH, an increase of about $1 billion, or just about 3.2 percent, over the FY2010 budget. Of this, $3.2 billion would be committed to HIV-related research.
"We are pleased to see proposed growth in NIH funding in such a tight budget year," said Chris Collins, amfAR's vice president and director of public policy. "NIH has been nearly flat funded for many years, forcing the Institutes to forgo investment in promising scientific opportunities. AIDS research is essential to ending the pandemic, and our country has an enormous interest in maintaining its global leadership on scientific research. We will work with Congress to make sure the final budget numbers provide additional AIDS and health research funding."
In the global health arena, the Administration's vision of a Global Health Initiative that will broaden and better integrate global health programming is very promising if it is adequately funded, said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. He added, though, that greater increases in global HIV/AIDS funding are necessary to continue urgently needed scale-up of HIV/AIDS services.
"This year 2.7 million people will be newly infected with HIV, adding to the 33 million who are already living with HIV around the world," Frost said. "The modest proposed budget increase in global HIV/AIDS programs fail to reach Congressional authorization levels and do not keep pace with the growing pandemic. We've seen huge returns on our investments in AIDS and global health, which advance both our diplomatic and security goals. These investments make as much sense in this budget year as in any."
About amfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world's leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $307 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 1, 2010-President Obama's proposed FY '11 budget underfunds and jeopardizes global HIV/AIDS, women's, maternal and child health, and tuberculosis and malaria programs, and falls far short of what the experts have identified as essential investments. The Obama Administration's much anticipated Global Health Initiative, which was released in draft form today, is the beginning of a laudable effort and could be hobbled by insufficient resources unless Congress acts, the group said.
"We recognize that this is a difficult budget year, but by adding relatively small amounts in some areas like maternal and child health while cutting others like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, this budget fails to live up to the promise of the Administration's Global Health Initiative," said Ann Starrs, president of Family Care International. "The wellbeing and security of nations is based on the health and productivity of their citizens. Failing to scale up successful health programs, which are vital to the prospects of economic and social improvement for local communities, undermines human security."
"This moment of economic insecurity for millions in developing nations is exactly the wrong time to pull back from this Administration's pledges to build programs which could save millions of lives that now hang in the balance," said Matthew Kavanagh of Health GAP. "These programs lie at the heart of effective diplomacy. The Administration and Congress can't afford not to fully fund maternal health, AIDS, malaria, health systems strengthening, tuberculosis and other health priorities."
The President's 2011 budget request includes both increases and decreases in the six global health initiative priority areas including approximately (from existing information):
Fully funding the GHI would ensure:
"The GHI has some notable strengths on paper," said Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). "It recognizes the links between HIV/AIDS and reproductive, maternal and child health, and stresses a human-rights based policy approach-all critical components to effectively addressing global health issues. However, without funding levels that reflect the global need and a U.S. fair share, the potential effectiveness of the initiative is compromised. We have the opportunity to make significant progress towards beating HIV/AIDS, and creating some much-needed diplomatic capital. We can't squander that."
About the Global Health Initiative Working Group
In October 2009, 25 leading global health organizations released The Future of Global Health, which called for robust increases to each of the six key priorities in the Global Health Initiative. These increases would enable the Obama Administration to come closer to achieving its promises of a new approach to the health needs of impoverished countries, rather than simply shifting funding from one category of spending to another.
The bottom line: "Through the appropriations process, the Congress has an opportunity and must work to get the Obama administration on the right track by fully funding PEPFAR, malaria, and TB programs, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and to tackle other diseases laid out in the President's Global Health Initiative," asserted Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance.
The Global Health Initiative reflects a genuine improvement in the U.S. approach to global security and development. But the funds requested will not fully implement the Global Health Initiative. In fact, this is a minimalist approach to Global Health. "I expected more from this administration," noted Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals. "The President campaigned with wonderful words, pointing out that development is part of the path to global security. But he's not following through on those words with real programmatic work ... This is a blunder. Somebody at OMB just doesn't realize what's happening on the international scene."
The need to fill in the gap between rhetoric and action is urgent. Human lives and global security hang in the balance. The U.S. already aggressively employs Defense and Diplomacy in its approach to national security. To put our full weight behind a comprehensive and effective approach to security, it is imperative that Development be fully funded. "If only 4% of military spending is put toward a developmental approach, it will be an unhappy world, and a dangerous one," said Dr. Sachs.
Foreign development assistance is crucial to our national security. In order to neutralize environments that cultivate instability and terrorism, we must invest in eradicating poverty, lessen disease and expand access to education around the world. "In the administration I served in, we were clear about the absolutely critical role development played in our national security strategy. I'm encouraged by President Obama's approach with regard to policy, but to not fund it is a mistake," said Scott Evertz, former Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy in the George W. Bush administration.
• Supporting vaccine and immunization campaigns strengthens the social fabric of villages, countries and vulnerable regions, increasing their stability and security. Providing access to medicines and bolstering health systems helps communities and countries to stabilize - and does so more effectively than nearly any other investment.
• The global financial crisis is having a devastating impact on low economic and middle income countries around the world. U.S. supported programs like PEPFAR, PMI the Global Fund to Right AIDS, TB and Malaria are critical. Obama's FY11 request for bilateral HIV/AIDS is $5.223 billion — $2.027 billion less than the $7.25 billion authorized by the Lantos-Hyde bi-partisan legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR.
• The U.S. provides one-third of the funding to the Global Fund; reflecting our "fair share" in the world economy. Obama's request is $50 million less than the amount Congress enacted last year. The American public supports an increase in global efforts.
The time is now. Every dollar, every day, every hour counts. To demonstrate true leadership and progress in this global crisis, President Obama's commitment to global health must be increased. The President's Global Health Initiative leaves behind millions, including at least ten million mothers, children, family members, and orphans in need of lifesaving AIDS treatment.
If President Obama had proposed full funding for the Global Health Initiative, including bilateral HIV/AIDS, in FY2011, up to:
• 1.3 million more people around the world could receive treatment for AIDS.
• 3.9 million more women could receive services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
• 36 million more people could access programs to prevent sexual transmission of HIV.
• 2.5 million more orphans and other children affected by HIV/AIDS could receive care and support services.
Despite the continuing economic recession Americans support spending on global health aid. In an October 2009 opinion poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, two-thirds of those polled noted that U.S. spending was too low (34%) or at about the right amount (32%) for efforts to improve health in developing countries.
Even at a time of economic distress here at home, Americans reach into their pockets when they know they can make a difference to human lives. Americans' contributions to Haiti's earthquake recovery efforts have already topped $200 million.
Paul Zeitz co‐founded the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) and has served as its Executive Director since January 2001. In that role, he has taken the lead on GAA's advocacy across a range of issues, including universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care, children's well‐being, integration of HIV and reproductive health services, universal basic education, global AIDS funding, and the links between HIV/AIDS and the broader Millennium Development Goals. In addition, Paul has established strong relationships with key stakeholders, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Education for All-Fast Track Initiative, UNAIDS, UNICEF, and World Health Organization, as well as with key decision‐makers in the U.S. Congress, United Nations, and other G8 governments.
Paul is an accomplished media spokesperson, appearing frequently on television and radio news programs and publishing op‐eds in The New York Times, Boston Globe, and elsewhere. In addition, he helped create and currently chairs the board of directors of Global Action for Children.
Paul's role as an effective advocate reflects his background as a public health specialist with nearly two decades of experience working in developing nations, including Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and Zambia. He has designed and implemented large‐scale programs in HIV/AIDS, child survival, reproductive health, health systems development, and support for orphans and vulnerable children.
During four years in Zambia, he worked with UNAIDS, USAID, and the Zambian government and helped create the regional "Debt for AIDS Activity" program, which now operates throughout Africa, and led the design team for the five-year, $100‐million Zambia Integrated Health Program, which scaled up the delivery of cost‐effective HIV/AIDS and other health interventions.
Paul has taught a course on advocacy at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, and previously worked for the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He earned his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed an M.P.H. and a preventive medicine residency at Johns Hopkins University.
May 2007 DO Magazine article
December 1, 2006, op-ed in The Boston Globe
November 2006 Bethesda Magazine article
November 2003 Newsweek commentary by Paul Zeitz
The President's proposals reflect a genuine improvement in the US approach to global security and development. However, without sufficient funding for implementation, the President's good intentions are relegated to mere rhetoric. As long a gap persists between discourse and dollars, so too will the disparity exist between need and investment in global development initiatives. This only serves to exacerbate global destabilization. The result: a devastating impact on countless lives around the world and national security here at home. The US already aggressively employs Defense and Diplomacy to achieve national security. It is imperative that President Obama's commitment to full deployment of Development be funded if we are to create a meaningful solution to this problem.
On February 1, 2010, in response to President Obama's Global Health Initiative FY 2011 Budget Request, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Honorary Chair of the Global AIDS Alliance Advisory Council and Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, said the following, "The poor and the vulnerable of the world are deeply thankful for the past generosity of the United States and when the United States stands behind its words with investments that significantly drive development, as we will begin to see the kind of progress that is desperately needed by countless children, mothers, families and orphans around the world. For their sake, the U.S. must increase its financial commitment to global health. In so doing, they will find that they are also working toward their own national security."
Events
PAST: Media Call for Journalists: Monday February 1, 2010 at 2 pm EST
Policy Positions
Civil Society Defines Global Health Initiative
A Global Fund for Health MDGs?
Media Accountability
War on AIDS Hangs in Balance as U.S. Curbs Help for Africa
Media Accountability on President Obama's Global Health Initiative
St. Petersburg Times Political Fact Check: The Obama-meter
Press Releases
amFAR Responds to President Obama's FY 2011 Budget
Global AIDS Alliance Responds to President Obama's FY 2011 Budget
Global Health Initiative Coalition Responds to President Obama's FY 2011 Budget
Global AIDS Alliance Responds to the State of the Union
Global Health Initiative Coalition Responds to State of the Union
Links
Testimony Calls for Full Funding of US Global Health Programs
Comments by Professor Jeffrey Sachs on President Obama’s FY 2011 Budget Request on the Global Health Initiative (GHI)
Transcript of the Media Call for Journalists
President Obama's Global Health Initiative FY2011 Budget Request
Global Health Initiative Coalition
Funding Background One-pager
Talking Points on Budget Shortfall
Fact Sheet on Obama's Broken Promises
This press release was produced by the Global Health Initiative Working Group, of which the Global AIDS Alliance is a member.
WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2010 — The Global Health Initiative (GHI) Working Group, a coalition of expert advocacy and service organizations working on global health priorities, today applauded President Obama's mention of the importance of global health, and his six-year global health initiative. However, the coalition warned that the GHI's potential to save millions of lives could be largely missed without bold targets, aggressive changes to US foreign policy and assistance, and twice the currently proposed funding.
In reference to the GHI, the President stated, "We are helping developing countries to feed themselves, and continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS. And we are launching a new initiative that will give us the capacity to respond faster and more effectively to bio-terrorism or an infectious disease—a plan that will counter threats at home, and strengthen public health abroad."
Building on a report the group released last year, The Future of Global Health, the coalition called on the President and Congress to make the potential of this effort into a reality for people living in poverty around the world.
The group's statement charged, "The Global Health Initiative could position the United States to help save lives, build economies, and strengthen human security through addressing the world's major health crises. But the success of this initiative will rest on whether the President sets bold, US-specific targets, develops strategic and effective policies, and delivers a budget that will fully fund the program. We need to ensure that we move into a new era of accountability for results, and the President and Congress need to assure the 2011 budget supports that."
The Global Health Initiative Working Group is calling on the Obama Administration to:
Increase funding levels to $16 billion in 2011: The evidence of commitment will be whether the Obama budget adds significant new resources across each of these priorities or whether it moves already planned increases from one priority to another. 2011 will already be the third year of a six-year initiative. Without significant new financing, health outcomes for those living in poverty will show only marginal improvement.
Set measurable, US-specific targets to ensure accountability, results-based funding: If the US is serious about building on what works, setting bold targets for which leaders will be held accountable is key to a new vision of health aid. According to the group's report, The Future of Global Health, a bold US initiative could ensure:
About the Global Health Initiative Working Group
The GHI Working Group is an independent coalition of 25 civil-society organizations with expertise in the GHI's six priority areas. In October, the coalition released its report, The Future of Global Health: Ingredients for Bold and Effective Initiative, at an event in Washington, DC, featuring members of Congress and experts and community members from the US, Africa, and the Caribbean. Click here to read the report.
Every minute that goes by is a missed opportunity to save a life and make the world more secure. During just the first hour of the President's State of the Union address, more than 200 people died from HIV/AIDS because they could not get lifesaving treatment.
"The need to fill in the gap between rhetoric and action is urgent. Human lives and global security hang in the balance. The US already aggressively employs "Defense" and "Diplomacy" in its approach to national security. To put our full weight behind a comprehensive and effective approach, it is imperative that President Obama's commitment to "Development" also be fully funded," stated Dr. Zeitz.
The facts are clear. Fully funding foreign development assistance is crucial to national security. In order to eliminate havens of instability and terrorism, the US government must ramp up effective investment in eradicating poverty, controlling epidemic diseases, and expanded access to education around the world.
• The support of vaccine and immunization campaigns strengthens the social fabric of villages, countries and vulnerable regions, increasing their stability and security.
• Providing access to medicines, family planning, and bolstering health systems helps communities and countries to stabilize—and does so more effectively than nearly any other investment.
While many of the President's policies reflect an important shift towards including development, his rhetoric tonight stuck to a tired old script. While Defense and Diplomacy are vital elements of America's national security strategy, Development is equally as vital and was given short shrift tonight.
"The global AIDS pandemic has not only undermined education, health systems, and economic growth, it has adversely affected policing, military capabilities and political legitimacy, all leading to destabilization. It's time for this administration to do more than offer platitudes. It's time to match intention with investment by fully deploying a robust investment in "Development" stated Dr. Zeitz.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver a major speech Friday, January 8, 2010 to mark the 15th year of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Secretary Clinton will announce the U.S. Government's renewed support for and dedication to reaching the ICPD goals and other related UN agreements, including the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015.
The speech will be live streamed on www.icpd2015.org starting at approximately 2:30 pm ET. A transcript and video of of the speech will be posted on this site following the event.
At the 1994 ICPD held in Cairo, Egypt, 179 nations reached consensus on actions needed to achieve universal access to education, especially for girls; reductions in infant, child and maternal mortality, and universal access to reproductive health over the next 20 years.
Many United Nations conferences and international meetings have reaffirmed the ICPD "Cairo Consensus", including the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, that established the Beijing Platform for Action, and the 2000 Millennium Summit, that established the Millennium Development Goals. These mutually reinforcing commitments are the cornerstones of population and development policies for the international community.
Recent polls show that a majority of Americans across the ideological spectrum strongly support the principles in the worldwide consensus reached at the ICPD, including providing voluntary family planning and reproductive health services.
Millions of lives have been improved and saved through effective and affordable reproductive health programs, which have proven to prevent the deaths of women and children, reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, grow economies and preserve natural resources.
Though successful programs exist, far more progress needs to be made. To achieve the ICPD's goals in the next five years, a sustained, long-term commitment is needed by both the public and private sectors.
Please forward this email to your friends and colleagues.
Take this opportunity to view Secretary Clinton's speech, host viewing parties and take action to support ICPD 2015 throughout the new year.
Visit www.icpd2015.org for more information.
Many Thanks,
ICPD 2015 Planning Group:
Peggy Clark, David Devlin-Foltz, Lisa Molinaro and Rosann Wisman, Aspen Institute
Ketayoun Darvich-Kodjouri, CEDPA
Kathy Bonk, Beth Fredrick, Airlia Gustafson, Michele Manatt, Dianne Ross Bock and Nicole Tidwell, CCMC
David Olson, Global Health Council
Sneha Barot, Susan Cohen and Joerg Dreweke, Guttmacher Institute
Ellen Marshall, GoodWorks Group
Jeff Meer, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Suzanne Ehlers, Michael Khoo and Caroline Behringer, Population Action International
Sarah Craven and Rachel Seelig, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund
Jess Bowers, Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Kathy Hall, Tamara Kreinin, Helen Luryi, Ingrid Madden, Leah Meadows and Yolanda Taylor, United Nations Foundation
"Call for Interest" from individuals wishing to apply for membership of the UNITAID-WHO Proposal Review Committee ("PRC").
UNITAID is a global health initiative, established to provide sustainable, predictable and additional funding to significantly impact on market dynamics to reduce prices and increase the availability and supply of high quality medicines, diagnostics and related commodities for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, primarily for populations in low-income and lower-middle income countries.
This is a transparent "call for interest" from individuals wishing to apply for membership of their Proposal Review Committee ("PRC"); an independent, impartial team of experts tasked with providing technical expertise to UNITAID on proposals and related projects submitted to UNITAID for funding.
Details of how to submit an application are at http://www.unitaid.eu/en/Requests-for-proposals-RFP.html with individual TORs and expertise criteria.
We have a long way to go to ensure that all children are able to realize their human rights to a basic education. Right now there are more than 75 million primary aged children worldwide who have no access to schooling. (To put that number in perspective, there are 75 million children under the age of 17 in the United States.) Further, 226 million adolescents will never attend secondary school: the cumulative effect of this is that there are an estimated 776 million adults worldwide who are illiterate.
Education is perhaps the most leveraged single development investment that country in the global north can make, creating outcomes that are essential to the protection of human rights everywhere. We know that it promotes quality of life and employability for individuals; fosters strong, stable democratic governments; paves the way for growth of GDP; and in doing so, helps assure regional and global security for all nations.
We also know that education save lives in many ways: African children of mothers who complete primary school are 50 percent more likely to live beyond the age of five. Women who are educated marry later and have fewer children who are healthier, including better-spaced pregnancies that reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. When girls are in school, the onset of sexual activity and marriage is often delayed, giving them better life skills and more confidence to say no to sexual activity.
During his campaign for the Presidency, Mr. Obama acknowledged the importance of basic education and committed, if elected, to establish a Global Fund for Education with a U.S. contribution in year one of at least $2 billion. This is a promise he broke in his FY10 budget and looks poised to break in his FY11 budget request (due in February 2010). In Ghana, he again demonstrated his short-sighted approach to the economic crisis in Africa when he completely omitted education from his speech on development and governance. [See GAA fact sheet on Obama's broken campaign promises, linked below.]
2010 is a critical year. It is the last year to get all kids into school if the world is going to achieve Millennium Development Goal #2 by 2015, which calls for ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
President Obama still has the opportunity to make his mark to meet that goal. By following through on his commitment to establish a Global Fund for Education and providing $2 billion in his next budget, the U.S. could reinvigorate the global compact on education. By backing up strong words with financing, President Obama would be able to leverage significant new dollars from other G8 and G20 countries for this initiative.
A well-resourced Global Fund for Education in 2010 will bring the world one giant step closer to assuring human rights for all.
Washington, DC (December 10, 2009 - International Human Rights Day) -- Today is International Human Rights Day, commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states (in Article 26): "Everyone has the right to education [and] education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages."
The following is a statement by Global AIDS Alliance executive director, Dr. Paul Zeitz:
We have a long way to go to ensure that all children are able to realize their human rights to a basic education. Right now there are more than 75 million primary aged children worldwide who have no access to schooling. (To put that number in perspective, there are 75 million children under the age of 17 in the United States.) Further, 226 million adolescents will never attend secondary school: the cumulative effect of this is that there are an estimated 776 million adults worldwide who are illiterate.
Education is perhaps the most leveraged single development investment that country in the global north can make, creating outcomes that are essential to the protection of human rights everywhere. We know that it promotes quality of life and employability for individuals; fosters strong, stable democratic governments; paves the way for growth of GDP; and in doing so, helps assure regional and global security for all nations.
We also know that education save lives in many ways: African children of mothers who complete primary school are 50 percent more likely to live beyond the age of five. Women who are educated marry later and have fewer children who are healthier, including better-spaced pregnancies that reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. When girls are in school, the onset of sexual activity and marriage is often delayed, giving them better life skills and more confidence to say no to sexual activity.
During his campaign for the Presidency, Mr. Obama acknowledged the importance of basic education and committed, if elected, to establish a Global Fund for Education with a U.S. contribution in year one of at least $2 billion. This is a promise he broke in his FY10 budget and looks poised to break in his FY11 budget request (due in February 2010). In Ghana, he again demonstrated his short-sighted approach to the economic crisis in Africa when he completely omitted education from his speech on development and governance. [See GAA fact sheet on Obama's broken campaign promises, linked below.]
2010 is a critical year. It is the last year to get all kids into school if the world is going to achieve Millennium Development Goal #2 by 2015, which calls for ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
President Obama still has the opportunity to make his mark to meet that goal. By following through on his commitment to establish a Global Fund for Education and providing $2 billion in his next budget, the U.S. could reinvigorate the global compact on education. By backing up strong words with financing, President Obama would be able to leverage significant new dollars from other G8 and G20 countries for this initiative.
A well-resourced Global Fund for Education in 2010 will bring the world one giant step closer to assuring human rights for all.
Resource:
GAA Fact Sheet on Obama's Broken Promises
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/-/PDFs/Broken_Promises_Factsheet_May_2009.pdf
"...it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive." —President Barack Obama
Washington, DC (December 10, 2009, International Human Rights Day)—At his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, this morning, President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of health and access to medicines for all people as a prerequisite to security. The President said:
"It is undoubtedly true that development rarely takes root without security; it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive. It does not exist where children cannot aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family. The absence of hope can rot a society from within."
GAA calls on the President to fully fund PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief at the levels his promised during his campaign, to fully fund the U.S. government's fair share contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and to make the first down payment on a Global Fund for Education - as promised during his campaign for the Presidency. [See fact sheet on broken campaign promises, below.]
"In the absence of increased funding for prevention, care, and treatment now, millions of people will die needlessly in the coming decades," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "Scaling up prevention and treatment programs now will save lives, and assure the long-term security of dozens of those countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Education goes hand in hand with that, because we know that increased levels of education improve health and well-being," he said.
"There is growing discontent in the President's decision to flat line support for global AIDS programs. Just in the past few days, both conservative and progressive media have called attention to the President's moves to scale back and decentralize PEPFAR's pre-eminent role as the largest single source of funding for global AIDS," said Zeitz. "At a time when the World Health Organization is revising its AIDS treatment guidelines to extend life-saving medications to more people in order to save more lives, Mr. Obama's decision to flat line PEPFAR and the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund is both irresponsible and not aligned with scientific evidence that anti-retroviral treatment given to people earlier in the course of their disease progression is the right thing to do."
Sources for this story:
Summary of Recent Media Coverage Criticizing Obama AIDS Policies
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/-/PDFs/GAA_MediaSources_ObamaCriticized_121009.pdf
President Obama's World AIDS Day 2009 Report Card: D+
http://www.healthgap.org/press/documents/WADreportcard.pdf
GAA Fact Sheet on Obama's Broken Promises
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/-/PDFs/Broken_Promises_Factsheet_May_2009.pdf
We have the opportunity to change this.
In September 2008, Barack Obama pledged to create a Global Fund for Education with at least $2 billion. A Global Fund for Education would ensure that there are sufficient resources and the political resolve needed to put every child in school. Education is one of the most cost effective investments the world can make to save lives, reduce poverty and foster long-term security.
GAA is participating in a National Day of Action where we are calling on President Obama to fulfill his pledge of $2 billion to fund a Global Fund for Education. Will you speak out for the 75 million children who have been left behind?
Join thousands of people across the U.S. by taking action today.
Washington, DC (November 30, 2009)—On World AIDS Day 2009, the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) calls on President Obama and his advisors to reflect on two recent alarming reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that the AIDS pandemic continues to be of catastrophic proportion, affecting shockingly high numbers of people around the globe. These reports show, for example, that there are 33 million people worldwide living with HIV; that AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of childbearing years worldwide; and that globally, less than one-third of people who needed antiretroviral treatments for HIV infection in 2008 received them. Now, new treatment guidelines issued by WHO on November 30, 2009, increase United Nations estimates of the number of people eligible in 2010 to receive antiretroviral treatment (ART) from 13.7 million to as many as 18.7 million, making the need and urgency for scaled up US responses even greater on this World AIDS Day.
The following is a statement from Dr. Paul Zeitz, GAA's executive director:
GAA has joined with other global health advocates in today issuing a World AIDS Day report card on the President's performance on the global AIDS crisis, giving him an overall minimally passing grade of D+.
President Obama's 2010 budget presented to Congress earlier this year virtually flat-lined HIV/AIDS funding, ignoring the staggering medical and epidemiological evidence that we need more, not less, to prevent and treat AIDS around the world. Mr. Obama's inaction is affecting America's ability to meet its commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and to sustain the momentum of the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) begun by President George W. Bush. When PEPFAR was reauthorized in 2008, funding levels were authorized that would have paid for the treatment about 40% of medically-eligible people globally, with most of those in Africa.
Going forward, newly-released treatment guidelines from the World Health Organization expand the definition and numbers of those who are medically eligible to include up to five million additional people, for a total of up to 18.7 million people who are in need of treatment. Those newly eligible for ART include persons with CD-4 counts under 350 (instead of the former limit of 200), and HIV-positive women who breastfeed their infants, both of which have been an existing standard of care in the global north, thereby eliminating a double standard for people living with HIV depending on where they live.
Under these new treatment guidelines, and with projections of continued flat-lining of US support for global AIDS, GAA estimates that the projected 2010 US budget for global AIDS will provide ART for only 16% percent of those who are medically eligible to receive it.
The President needs to understand that this epidemic is far from over. Every year, almost three million people become infected with HIV, and two million die from AIDS related diseases. The US government is not fulfilling its promises and moral obligations to help prevent those new infections and AIDS deaths.
We are joined by US faith leaders in our call on the Administration to not just reflect, but act on, the reality of AIDS as it considers its 2011 budget plans and its new Global Health Initiative. We look forward to reviewing the President's new five-year PEPFAR strategy, which has been announced for release this week, to determine if it meets the reality of the AIDS epidemic as we know it.
Background Materials
New Who Treatment Guidelines (11/30/09)
U.S. Faith Leaders’ Open World AIDS Day Letter to President Obama
Global Health Advocates’ Report Card on President Obama’s AIDS Response
UNAIDS 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update
WHO 2009 Report on Universal Access
Fact Sheet on President Obama’s Broken Campaign Promises
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All photos must be credited Erick Forster www.peach.co.za
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DAY 1 (Tuesday October 20th): LAYING THE FOUNDATION
Session 1: Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) Overview I Download
Session 2: CEPA National Advocacy Action Plans (NAAPs) I Download
Session 3: CEPA Global Advocacy Action Plan (GAAP) I Download
Session 4: Dialogue with Global & Regional Partners I Download
DAY 2 (Wednesday October 21st): OPTIMIZING THE IMPACT OF THE CAMPAIGN
Session 5: CEPA Advocacy Workshops I Download
Session 6: Review and Revision of CEPA National Advocacy Action Plans (NAAPs) & GAAP I Download
DAY 3 (Thursday October 22nd): DEFINING THE CEPA AGENDA
Session 6: Review and Revise CEPA National Advocacy Action Plans (NAAPs) & GAAP I Download
Includes the Graca Machal Speech
Session 7: Synthesis and Wrap-Up I Download
The end to the travel ban is a critical step in removing the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. As a global leader, the U.S. policy gave credence to other countries' similar policies on restricting travel for those with HIV. This travel poses no public health concern, yet as of today, 67 countries have travel restrictions on people with HIV/AIDS. GAA opposes all restrictions on travel due to HIV status and hopes that this decision by the U.S. will lead to other countries ending such stigmatizing restrictions.
Lifting the ban signals an end to institutionalized spreading of misinformation that leads to discrimination. At a signing ceremony for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, President Obama recognized the flawed policy as being "rooted in fear rather than fact." The new regulations will be published in the Federal Register Monday and take effect following a 60-day waiting period.
Lifting this ban frees from restriction the approximately 33 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis does not equal a death sentence, and with access to antiretroviral medications, people living with AIDS are able to live full and productive lives that should include the freedoms of traveling internationally. U.S. commitment to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic requires universal access to treatment. Zeitz said, "GAA looks forward to the President's continued leadership on full funding for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis with the launch of round 10 in early 2010."
Witnesses for the House hearing included actress Nicole Kidman in her role as Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM; Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer; Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL); and Mallika Dutt, founder and executive director of Breakthrough and the Ring the Bell Campaign, which raises awareness of domestic violence in India and has shown great results in shifting a culture of silence and tolerance for VAW. (Witness testimony is available at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/subcommittees.asp?committee=6&sec=hearings and a hearing transcript will soon be available at the same link. GAA's statement for the record is attached.)
Chairman Delahunt held an open hearing, meaning that any Member who wanted could come. As a result, a range of Members from both sides of the aisle joined the hearing and asked questions of the witnesses. Chairman Delahunt and Congresswoman Schakowsky committed to introducing the I-VAWA soon. Chairman Delahunt also highlighted a number of exciting efforts around global VAW, indicating his sense that we have a unique opportunity at this time to make VAW a key component of US foreign assistance; he said "there is no reason why we should not be commemorating the first anniversary of the I-VAWA next year." Ambassador Verveer and Ms. Kidman both made reference to the links between VAW and HIV/AIDS in their testimony.
Ranking Member Rohrabacher (R-CA) expressed great support for addressing international VAW in the context of universal human rights and indicated his desire that it become a priority of US diplomatic relations. Reps. Carnahan (D-MO), Ellison (D-MN), Delauro (D-CT), Burton (R-IN), Poe (R-TX) and Royce (R-CA) also participated by asking questions of witnesses.
Following the hearing, GAA co-hosted a press availability event and reception with other members of the NGO coalition leading work on the I-VAWA. The Congressional host committee for the event included Reps. Delahunt and Rohrabacher, and the Congressional Women's, Global Health and Human Rights Caucuses. Along with press who went to the hearing, the event had a number of media outlets, along with many staffers from Congressional offices, representatives from the Embassies of Australia, Italy and Afghanistan, and a few spouses of sitting Members of Congress. Chairman Delahunt and Ranking Member Rohrabacher both made statements, along with Congresswomen Sheila Jackson-Lee and Gwen Moore, and Congressman Ellison. In addition, Helene Gayle of CARE, Ritu Sharma of Women Thrive Worldwide, and Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, among other NGO leaders, were on site to lend their voices of support to the I-VAWA. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, Ms. Kidman was unable to join the press event.
The hearing and press event-along with the I-VAWA-received a great deal of media coverage the following day. Much of it focused on one statement Ms. Kidman made at the hearing, in response to a question from Mr. Rohrabacher about the role of Hollywood in perpetuating the objectification of women, but most stories also highlighted the reasons she was testifying. Coverage received ranges from The Guardian to several Australian papers, to several TV networks in the US and abroad, to AFP and AP releases; the AP piece has been picked up by NPR and the Huffington Post among others. See below for links to some of the better stories.
Both the House and the Senate are committed to introducing the I-VAWA in the very near future, and the momentum-especially in the House-is palpable. As Chairman Delahunt said, there is no reason we shouldn't be celebrating the first anniversary of the I-VAWA next year!
AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ihYo1g9OBhtoTU6vivBGPdiEEudA
The Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-21/kidmans-new-cause/?cid=hp:justposted1
The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26247836-16947,00.html
Entertainment Tonight: http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/10/79997/
Washington Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-2232-Fresno-TVMovieDVD-Examiner~y2009m10d21-Nicole-Kidman-says-Hollywood-may-contribute-to-violence-against-women--pictures
News Channel 8: http://www.news8.net/news/stories/1009/670721.html
Hello again from Johannesburg, South Africa. Skip Moskey blogging from the CEPA Advocacy Summit, which closed on 10-22 with a rousing plenary address by Mrs. Graça Machel, a long-time advocate for children, women, and human rights. Mrs. Machel said: "We must hold our governments accountable and ensure they develop effective public health policies and put the systems in place to combat pediatric HIV. At the same time, civil society must play a strong and constructive role in assisting government to meet their obligations to our children." She was greeted with singing by the CEPA delegates, and listened to some of the delegates talk of their commitment to ending pediatric HIV/AIDS. You can read Mrs. Machel's speech by clicking here. This is my last blog from the CEPA Summit. I hope you have enjoyed following some of the highlights. For more information on CEPA, please visit www.endpediatricaids.net.
Mrs. Graça Machel addresses the CEPA Advocacy Summit, Johannesburg, October 22, 2009
Photo Erick Forster www.peach.co.za
CEPA delegates wave goodbye to Mrs. Machel as she departs following her rousting address.
Photo by Erick Forster www.peach.co.za
Moloweni! Absheni! Greetings from South Africa. Hi, this is Nate Riveness, filling in for Skip Moskey, who has been busy today arranging for our big press conference on Thursday, October 22, with Mrs. Graça Machel. I walked around the CEPA Summit today and asked some of our friends from across Africa for their thoughts about CEPA.
Dr. Lydia Mungherera, Policy & Advocacy Officer, TASO, Uganda, and GAA Board Member: “For the first time I’m seeing an active campaign to deal with children affected by HIV/AIDS. It’s people on the ground in the different countries who have the solution, and CEPA will make it happen.” Daniel Libati, Advocacy Officer, TALC, Zambia: “This is the first time, in my opinion, that so much emphasis is being placed on children as far as HIV is concerned.” César Mufanequico, National Coordinator, MATRAM, Mozambique: “CEPA will allow all stakeholders to address issues facing children.” Agnes Atim, Executive Director, NACWOLA, Uganda: “For me, CEPA is groundbreaking for the voiceless – the children.”
César Mufanequico, MATRAM (standing, on the left), with other CEPA Summit delegates.
Photo by Erick Forster. www.peach.co.za
