Make Women Matter

Short of a New Year’s Resolution? How about helping a large group of women fight HIV and AIDS? An email is all it takes!

“Seventy five percent of young people living with HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa are female”, according to a UNAIDS statement published in material for the Women Matter campaign.

But not enough is being done to help these women or the many other women fighting HIV and AIDS, says the development charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), who runs the Women Matter campaign.

You and I can help, however, by urging politicians to do something about it.

VSO is urging all UK residents to email their MPs asking them to ensure that women are prioritised in the new HIV and AIDS strategy currently being developed by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

You can do this easily via the VSO website. You should send your email no later than early February, for it to have an impact on the DFID strategy, advises VSO. You can see a copy of my email at the bottom of this post.

If you don’t live in the UK, a VSO spokesperson advises that you can contact Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, directly at dalexander@parliament.uk.

Even better, I think, would be to contact your local politicians urging them to help. Putting pressure on the UK Government is one thing, but imagine what could be achieved if governments worldwide decided to make the fight against HIV and AIDS a priority!

Read more about the Women Matter campaign on the VSO website, and don’t forget to help these women in whichever way you can!

MY EMAIL

Below is a copy of my email, a default version sent from the VSO website:

“From: Ms Anni Poulsen [address removed]

03 January 2008

Dear recipient,

As your constituent, I am emailing to ask you to write to Douglas Alexander MP, the Secretary of State for International Development about his department’s forthcoming HIV and AIDS strategy.

Across the developing world, women are increasingly affected by HIV and AIDS. Unless there is a fundamental change in the response to the pandemic, the G8’s commitment to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support for all will spectacularly fail women.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, women are now more likely to be infected with HIV than men. Women are often not given complete information about how to protect themselves from HIV, or may be too scared of violence to discuss condom use with their partners.

Women are being forced to give up employment and education to care for those who are sick or dying from HIV and AIDS, usually without financial support. This is because underfunded health systems in developing countries can’t provide these vital services.

I, together with VSO, believe the UK Government should be prioritising women in its HIV and AIDS strategy and influencing other donors to do the same.

I hope that by emailing, I will be able to convince you to write to Douglas Alexander MP and ask him to put women at the heart of his new HIV and AIDS strategy, for example by:

• Ensuring that all HIV and AIDS programmes take into account and improve women’s real circumstances
• Funding organisations working to empower women
• Ensuring information on HIV prevention is made accessible for women e.g., in local language
• Strengthening public health systems and ensuring women who care for people living with HIV and AIDS receive financial support

More information is available at www.vso.org.uk/womenmatter or by calling 020 8780 7500.

I look forward to hearing from you on this important issue.

Yours Sincerely,

Ms Anni Poulsen”

TAGS: Responsible Traveller, Women Matter

One Response to “Make Women Matter”

1. Anni Poulsen:

   Update: MP responds to Make Women Matter campaign

   9 January, 2008 at 14:01

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