South African AIDS Activist Visits US
Washington, DC, April 20, 2007—As Congress holds the first of several hearings on progress in the fight against global HIV/AIDS, South African HIV/AIDS educator and activist Monalisa Ngqisha begins a multi-city tour of the US to explain some of the changes needed in the US approach. She will give public talks in South Carolina, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, DC.
Click here to read GAA's blog from the speaker tour.
Click here for a slideshow of Ms. Ngqisha's moving personal story.
Ms. Ngqisha represents one of the world's most dynamic and effective organizations of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, the Treatment Action Campaign of South Africa (TAC), which has more than 16,000 members across South Africa. She is a Treatment Literacy Practitioner and serves as Provincial Organizer for the Eastern Cape Province.
The mother of two boys, sixteen and seven, and a daughter, age five, Ms. Ngqisha is also a survivor of domestic violence at the hands of her brother and her boyfriend. "My work on women's rights and gender has become a priority because domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and rape are the daily realities we face as women in our community," stated Ms. Ngqisha.
"She has a powerful, unique voice, and we know she will inspire people in the US to get informed and take action," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We are eager to partner with Treatment Action Campaign to call for a more effective US response to AIDS, including more backing for programs to address violence against women and children."
Visiting with religious communities, student groups, and communities affected by HIV/AIDS, Ms. Ngqisha hopes telling her personal story will encourage audience members to talk frankly about AIDS and challenge their elected representatives to do a better job fighting AIDS in the US as well as in Africa. She hopes her visit helps people understand why US policy on AIDS should be fully debated, especially in the approaching US election.
"Candidates for US President are discussing a new foreign policy for the United States, and we insist that AIDS and global poverty belong at the center of that debate," commented Dr. Zeitz. "America cannot abandon its commitment to people like Ms. Ngqisha, and we have to make sure our AIDS policy is really effective."
The Treatment Action Campaign has called for important changes to US global AIDS programs. TAC has urged an end to the conditionality attached to US funding, such as the requirement that at least one-third of all funding for HIV prevention must be spent on promoting "abstinence-until-marriage," arguing instead for comprehensive, evidence-based prevention programs.
Congress is now considering a bill, called the PATHWAY Act, which would remove this requirement. It will hold a hearing to discuss the next phase of the US program on global AIDS (PEPFAR) on Tuesday, April 24 at 10:00 a.m. in Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172.