http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php en mpeterson@globalaidsalliance.org Copyright 2010 2010-07-20T14:26:04+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/sign_the_petition_to_end_violence_by_year_end_2015/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/sign_the_petition_to_end_violence_by_year_end_2015/#When:14:26:04Z The fight to end the global scourge of HIV/AIDS must include a commitment to end violence.  As with HIV/AIDS, violence is a human rights catastrophe. Women and children who experience sexual violence are significantly more likely to be exposed to and test positive for HIV/AIDS. Boys who witness or experience violence are more likely to engage in behavior that increases the risk of HIV and are more likely to become perpetrators of violence as adults. Violence is both a cause and consequence of HIV/AIDS. That is why the Global AIDS Alliance is calling on the global community to end violence by Dec. 31, 2015. We ask all stakeholders – individuals, governments, multilaterals and civil society advocates – to take a leadership position by signing the petition.  A Joint Declaration by Individuals, Governments, Multilaterals and Civil Society Advocates   July 2010 * Vienna, Austria       The fight to end the global scourge of HIV/AIDS must include a commitment to end violence.  As with HIV/AIDS, violence is a human rights catastrophe. Women and children who experience sexual violence are significantly more likely to be exposed to and test positive for HIV/AIDS. Boys who witness or experience violence are more likely to engage in behavior that increases the risk of HIV and are more likely to become perpetrators of violence as adults. Violence is both a cause and consequence of HIV/AIDS. That is why the Global AIDS Alliance is calling on the global community to end violence by Dec. 31, 2015. We ask all stakeholders – individuals, governments, multilaterals and civil society advocates – to take a leadership position by signing the petition below and joining us in these 7 pillars: Pillar #1: Hold Governments and International Agencies Accountable. This includes producing and implementing national strategies to combat Violence Against Women and Girls (VAW/G), integrating anti-VAW/G programs into all national HIV/AIDS strategies, ensuring that efforts by U.N. Women and other bilateral include normative guidelines and networks to monitor VAW/G, and securing an immediate guarantee from G-8 governments to contribute their fair share for anti-VAW/G efforts and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Pillar #2: Create a Legal/Judicial Framework. This includes passing laws that criminalize all forms of violence against women and children; establishing reporting systems to track reports of VAW/G and its prosecution; developing training courses and professional certifications in gender sensitivity and violence response; hiring more female police, lawyers, judges and corrections officers; and creating units in law enforcement and the courts dedicated to anti-VAW/G efforts. Pillar #3: Reform the Health Sector. This includes incorporating violence prevention and treatment into national health strategies; requiring monitoring and reporting of VAW/G; ensuring health care workers are able to respond to symptoms and outcomes of violence; developing health care training courses and professional certifications in violence recognition, prevention and treatment; hiring more female health care workers; securing reliable forensics and lab systems to test for sexual assault; and including men and boys in psyco-social services to help break the cycle of violence. Pillar #4: Reform the Educational Sector. This includes incorporating violence prevention, recognition and treatment in national education strategies; establishing mandatory reporting of VAW/G; requiring that educators receive training in violence recognition, prevention and treatment in professional certification programs; hiring more female educators; modifying curricula to include the topic of VAW/G; reforming the physical infrastructure to increase protection of children; and involving parents in gender sensitivity and anti-violence training through parent-teacher associations. Pillar # 5: Mobilize a Community Response for Zero Tolerance. This includes establishing community task forces to promote zero-tolerance against violence; encouraging activists to spread the message of zero-tolerance of violence and their support for survivors; engaging traditional and religious leaders, as well as men and boys; and training/certifying victim advocates, especially in rural areas. Pillar #6: Launch Mass Marketing Campaigns to End Violence. This includes working with media and opinion makers to publicize the problem and solutions; and providing training to journalists on the causes, prevalence and consequences of VAW/G. Pillar #7: Take Action to Break the Cycle. This includes providing free psycho-social care to survivors and perpetrators of violence; ensuring women’s economic independence to help them support themselves and their children in a safe environment; and providing crisis shelters and transitional housing for women who seek safety from abuse. Join the fight. Sign the petition. Read the comprehensive report, “Political Breakthrough: Mobilizing Accelerated Action to End Violence Against Women and Girls by 2015.” Without addressing violence, we will fail to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals by year-end 2015. Stop the Violence 2010-07-20T14:26:04+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/CEPA_IAC_Petition/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/CEPA_IAC_Petition/#When:22:14:51Z The Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) is committed to the universal goal of ending pediatric HIV/AIDS by Dec. 31, 2015. But we cannot do it alone. Your help is vital to the efforts of CEPA and the Global AIDS Alliance to scale-up prevention and treatment services for an additional 300,000 children worldwide. Zero new pediatric HIV infections means ending parent-to-child transmission permanently.To help us get there by year-end 2015, we ask all stakeholders -- individuals, governments, multilaterals and civil society advocates -- to take a leadership position by signing the petition below. You are acknowledging that every child is important, and that all children deserve to live free of HIV. You are acknowledging that the time to seize this opportunity is now, and that we will not let bottlenecks hinder progress to end pediatric HIV/AIDS.  A Joint Declaration by Individuals, Governments, Multilaterals and Civil Society Advocates The Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) is committed to the universal goal of ending pediatric HIV/AIDS by Dec. 31, 2015. But we cannot do it alone. Your help is vital to the efforts of CEPA and the Global AIDS Alliance to scale-up prevention and treatment services for an additional 300,000 children worldwide. Zero new pediatric HIV infections means ending parent-to-child transmission permanently. To help us get there by year-end 2015, we ask all stakeholders -- individuals, governments, multilaterals and civil society advocates -- to take a leadership position by signing the petition below. You are acknowledging that every child is important, and that all children deserve to live free of HIV. You are acknowledging that the time to seize this opportunity is now, and that we will not let bottlenecks hinder progress to end pediatric HIV/AIDS. You are acknowledging the importance of these 7 core objectives: Expand access to comprehensive PPTCT and pediatric treatment, care and support, including nutrition services. This includes integration of child and family services with other health services to improve survival rates and health outcomes for children and their families, and to Prevent Parent-to-Child Transmission (PPTCT). Increase early infant diagnosis and treatment. This will bolster survival rates and health outcomes. Boost the availability of appropriate medicines and commodities. Global procurement, supply, distribution and utilization of high-quality, low-cost medicines is critical, particularly of antiretroviral drugs and family planning commodities. Drugs to treat infections and second- and third-line regimens to reduce the risk of HIV resistance must be accessible and easy to use. Increase financial resources. This will help facilitate country-level scale-up of comprehensive PPTCT, maternal health and pediatric treatment programs, and it will maximize on-the-ground results. Strengthen the collaboration between global programs and national-level strategies. The initiatives of key players -- such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; the U.S. Global Health Initiative; the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; the United Nations; UNITAID; and major donors -- are most effective in conjunction with national-level strategies to address pediatric HIV/AIDS. Develop and implement proven human resources capacity. Such policies and programs will help scale-up PPTCT and pediatric treatment services. Create policies and programs to reduce stigma and discrimination. These will ensure the success of PPTCT and pediatric HIV/AIDS services and maximize their impact on the lives of women, children and their families. To join in the commitment to end pediatric HIV/AIDS by year-end 2015 please visit: http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/s/CEPAIAC      // Protect the Children, Strengthen Health Systems, Treat the People 2010-07-18T22:14:51+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/action052010/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/action052010/#When:13:00:42Z The Senate Appropriations Committee will soon decide how much funding to allocate to International Affairs programs. They can choose to follow the Budget Committee's misguided recommendation, or they can fully fund these vital programs at $58.5 billion. That's just 1.4 percent of the total federal budget. If the International Affairs budget is cut, critical global health, basic education, microcredit and other anti-poverty programs may suffer. This funding is critical for our shared prosperity and security. A bipartisan group of senators have initiated a new sign-on letter to assure that International Affairs is fully funded. The deadline for this letter will come quickly, so write your senators today and ask them to sign this letter to the leadership of the Appropriations Committee. Will you ask your Senators to sign on to this letter in support of fully funding US global health programs?   The Senate Appropriations Committee will soon decide how much funding to allocate to International Affairs programs. They can choose to follow the Budget Committee's misguided recommendation, or they can fully fund these vital programs at $58.5 billion. That's just 1.4 percent of the total federal budget. If the International Affairs budget is cut, critical global health, basic education, microcredit and other anti-poverty programs may suffer. This funding is critical for our shared prosperity and security. A bipartisan group of senators have initiated a new sign-on letter to assure that International Affairs is fully funded. The deadline for this letter will come quickly, so write your senators today and ask them to sign this letter to the leadership of the Appropriations Committee. Will you ask your Senators to sign on to this letter in support of fully funding US global health programs? In order to fulfill our commitment to the world, the US must fully fund both our fair share of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and PEPFAR. Both these programs save millions of lives every year and literally, people cannot live without them. Clinics have already begun to wait list people as funds run out. Email your Senators now in support of full funding. It is critical that we provide life-saving medicines, family planning services and educational opportunities to people around the world. This is not possible without our financial commitment. Full funding is essential for the success of our global health programming because without these much needed funds even more people will die unnecessarily. Please take a moment to contact your Senators and tell them you support fully funding our global health and education commitments. 2010-05-20T13:00:42+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/abcs_and_123s/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/abcs_and_123s/#When:13:19:31Z Imagine being 8 years old and getting ready for school. Instead of that iconic long yellow bus pulling up to your neighborhood and taking you to a building filled with teachers, books, cafeterias and chalkboards; you have to walk several miles to sit in a room without enough books and with ill-trained teachers, while fearing violence on your trek to and from school and in the school yard. Unfortunately the second scenario is reality for millions of children worldwide.Join Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) in saying this is not acceptable.Education is a basic human right. Right now, 72 million primary-aged children are not in school and millions more will drop out before grade five because schools are overcrowded, unsafe, poorly equipped, poorly managed and have inadequately trained teachers. According to UNESCO, if current trends continue, 56 million children will still be out of school in 2015. None of these children will be equipped to survive in the 21st century without a quality basic education. We are setting our future up to fail. Imagine being 8 years old and getting ready for school. Instead of that iconic long yellow bus pulling up to your neighborhood and taking you to a building filled with teachers, books, cafeterias and chalkboards; you have to walk several miles to sit in a room without enough books and with ill-trained teachers, while fearing violence on your trek to and from school and in the school yard. Unfortunately the second scenario is reality for millions of children worldwide. Join Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) in saying this is not acceptable.Education is a basic human right. Right now, 72 million primary-aged children are not in school and millions more will drop out before grade five because schools are overcrowded, unsafe, poorly equipped, poorly managed and have inadequately trained teachers. According to UNESCO, if current trends continue, 56 million children will still be out of school in 2015. None of these children will be equipped to survive in the 21st century without a quality basic education. We are setting our future up to fail. Let's give these kids a chance and support the Education for All Act.  This morning Representative Nita Lowey introduced the Education for All Act. The bill seeks to call on the U.S. to provide resources and leadership to ensure a successful international effort to provide all children with a quality basic education. It calls for assistance to expand access to school, improve education quality, reach marginalized and vulnerable children, and urges the U.S. to support initiatives like the Global Fund for Education.  Tell your Congressperson you support the Education for All Act.   Free Basic Education 2010-04-21T13:19:31+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/1_out_of_3/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/1_out_of_3/#When:23:20:40Z 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.  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 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 the International Violence against Women Act.  Take action now at http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/page/speakout/IVAWAIntroductio. Stop the Violence 2010-02-08T23:20:40+00:00 http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/human_rights_denied/ http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/index.php/site/human_rights_denied/#When:08:45:50Z Seventy-five million children around the world will not attend primary school today, and another 225 million will never start secondary school. These children will not receive the basic building blocks needed to fully participate in society because of obstacles like school fees, long and unsafe distances to the nearest school, and an insufficient number of teachers.We have the opportunity to change this. Seventy-five million children around the world will not attend primary school today, and another 225 million will never start secondary school. These children will not receive the basic building blocks needed to fully participate in society because of obstacles like school fees, long and unsafe distances to the nearest school, and an insufficient number of teachers.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.Join us today, on International Human Rights Day, and sign your name to a petition calling on President Obama to keep his promise to the world's children.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. Free Basic Education, Fund the Fight, Protect the Children 2009-12-10T08:45:50+00:00