UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador GWA

UNAIDS has announced the extension of the appointment of singer, actress and television presenter Vera Brezhneva as UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Since her appointment in November 2014, Ms Brezhneva has been drawing attention to the HIV epidemic in the region. During her visits to countries, she has spoken to health workers, people living with HIV and women, children and young people affected by HIV. Ms Brezhneva has also served as a spokesperson for public information campaigns and has promoted HIV prevention messages on social media.

The HIV epidemic continues to grow in eastern Europe and central Asia, where an estimated 1.5 million people were living with HIV in 2015.

Adolescent girls with Rise Young Women’s Club emblazoned on their bright red polo shirts sang and danced to welcome the delegation visiting the community centre of Ward 11, a small township of more than 40 000 people on the outskirts of Durban, South Africa. The community centre is part of the province’s innovative Operation Sukuma Sakhe and acts as the hub for coordinating community-based health, social and educational outreach activities in the ward—the smallest division in South Africa’s governmental structure.

The Rise Young Women’s Club uses the centre as a base from which to engage, empower and support adolescent girls and young women in their community to grow up healthy and safe. The club organizes weekly meetings to discuss the challenges that young women and adolescent girls face at home, at school and in the community and stages plays and community dialogues to educate the broader community. As an offshoot of the popular Soul City infotainment campaign, they follow a weekly soap opera on TV with materials that help support their discussions around HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and violence against women.

The principals in the visiting delegation were Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, who is UNAIDS Global Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls, and Princess Sikhanyiso of Swaziland, who recently spoke passionately about gender inequality at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS. The princesses travelled to South Africa for a joint visit before the start of the 21st International AIDS Conference in order to learn more about how HIV is affecting the lives of young women and adolescent girls in South Africa.

The princesses visited the packed one-room centre to hear the ward counsellor explain the main challenges affecting the community—unemployment, community safety, inadequate education and teenage pregnancy. Rise Young Women’s Club members moved the audience by disclosing their first-hand experiences of school exclusion, family and community rejection, gender-based violence and lack of opportunities for personal development. However, their close peer support and empowerment through the club was clear. Club members invited the delegation to walk to their homes in the informal settlements surrounding the community centre, where they met their families and neighbours to gain a deeper understanding of the daily realities of growing up in peri-urban South Africa.

The Rise Young Women’s Club and its staff provide essential mentoring and motivation for young women and adolescent girls in the community through an innovative peer education and support group model.Unfortunately, long-term support for the programme has not been secured.

One-stop care centre

The next visit was to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Regional Hospital, known for its one-stop care centre—the Thuthuzela centre—for people who have been subjected to rape or gender-based violence South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world. The Mahatma Gandhi Thuthuzela care centre hospital alone processes more than 120 rapes cases per month, mostly young women and children. prides itself in turning victims into survivors. The self-contained centre, which is set away from the main hospital in order to ensure confidentiality and promote a safe and comforting environment, takes direct referrals from police stations in the district 24 hours a day.

Specially trained nursing staff, police officers, doctors, counsellors and social workers are on hand to provide all the immediate medical, forensic and support services needed, minimizing the trauma for victims in the immediate post-violence period and helping to ensure rapid recovery and resolution for each individual. They cover the big issues, but take care to look after the small details—teddy bears, big and small, and a plethora of toys lie in a box by the examination rooms to comfort child victims or the victim’s children.

By coordinating the work of medical staff, police and the prosecution authority, the centre also helps to ensure that the correct evidence is collected and proceduresare followed to secure the conviction of the perpetrators.

Help my sisters

The final visit for the princesses was the TB/HIV Care Association’s Durban office, a comprehensive wellness programme for sex workers with an emphasis on peer counselling. Their two vans, turned into mobile health clinics, cruise the bustling streets of Durban distributing condoms, offering testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and providing treatment and referrals.

Getting ready to go out on an outreach visit, one of the outreach team members explained that like many of her peer educator colleagues she used to engage in risky sexual behaviour in order to increase income when work was slow, putting her at a much greater risk of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections.

Since 2011, the TB/HIV Care Association has provided health screening and preventive services through a multidisciplinary team made up of nurses, social workers, sex workers and volunteers, reaching more than 20 000 sex workers across five sites in South Africa—a feat the Durban site manager, Robin Ogle, is particularly proud of considering the high HIV prevalence among female sex workers in South Africa which ranges between 40 to 60% depending on the region. Trained as a nurse with 18 years of hospital work under her belt, she has witnessed a marked improvement in the health and well-being of sex workers under her care. Noting that building relationships with sex workers had been key, she showed the UNAIDS delegation the in-house pharmacy and the “friendly rooms”, a seal of approval reassuring patients that the health-care staff are non-judgemental and that everyone will be treated with dignity. Part of the DREAMS initiative, funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the centre in Durban has just started a pilot project to provide access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for sex workers. To date, 44 women have been given access to PrEP through the centre since June 2016. 

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 22 September 2016—The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, has appointed the First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, as UNAIDS Special Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls. She will champion the newly launched Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free agenda.

Mr Sidibé met with the First Lady on the sidelines of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America. Madame Geingos will use her position as a UNAIDS Special Advocate to improve the health of adolescent girls and young women.

“I am delighted that Madame Geingos has accepted this position. She will be using her platform to find partners and solutions to some of the difficult health issues facing young women and adolescent girls today, including HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health, as well as access to education,” said Mr Sidibé. “Young women and adolescent girls around the world have a new champion and we look forward to supporting her work.”

Madame Geingos has spoken out for young women and adolescent girls in Namibia and on the world stage. At the 2016 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, she was praised for her honest and direct observations on how the world is failing to meet the needs of young women and adolescent girls and on what practical steps are needed to close the critical gaps.

“Young Women and adolescent girls face the conflicting realities of a world that is increasingly recognising gender equality while living in societies that continue to deny them the attainment of this shared right. While I am excited about the encouraging signs to rid the world of its patriarchal cloak, the risks faced by our young women and adolescent girls remain disproportionately and unacceptably high. It is an honour to team up with UNAIDS to work towards a generation that starts free and stays free from AIDS,” said Madame Geingos.

Madame Geingos is a champion of Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free, an agenda to put the world on a Super-Fast-Track to end AIDS among children, adolescents and young women by 2020.

START FREE

Eliminate new HIV infections among children (aged 0–14) by reducing the number of children newly infected annually to less than 40 000 by 2018 and 20 000 by 2020. Reach and sustain 95% of pregnant women living with HIV with lifelong HIV treatment by 2018.

STAY FREE

Reduce the number of new HIV infections among adolescents and young women (aged 10–24) to less than 100 000 by 2020. Provide voluntary medical circumcision for HIV prevention to 25 million additional men by 2020, with a focus on young men (aged 10–29).

AIDS FREE

    Provide 1.6 million children (aged 0–14) and 1.2 million adolescents (aged 15–19) living with HIV with antiretroviral therapy by 2018. Provide 1.4 million children (aged 0–14) and 1 million adolescents (aged 15–19) with HIV treatment by 2020.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 7 June 2016—UNAIDS has appointed amfAR Chair and leading fashion designer Kenneth Cole as a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador. The announcement was made at a special event held on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, taking place in New York, United States of America, from 8 to 10 June.

“We are entering a crucial phase of the response to HIV and I know that Kenneth can make a significant and powerful contribution towards our shared vision of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” said Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS. “His commitment, compassion and resolve will magnify our efforts to include everyone and to ensure that no one is left behind.”

In his new role as an International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS, Mr Cole will work to rally the global community by continuing his longstanding role as an advocate for an inclusive response to the AIDS epidemic. He will help with the communication of clear benchmarks and goals in the AIDS response, including amfAR’s mission of finding a cure for HIV by 2020, in order to realize UNAIDS’ vision of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.  

“I am confident that if people are put at the centre of the AIDS response we can realize one of this century’s greatest humanitarian achievements—the end of the AIDS epidemic,” said Mr Cole, “I am honoured by this appointment as a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador. It is my hope to help intensify efforts to end the epidemic for everyone, everywhere.”

Mr Cole has been a leading voice in the global response to AIDS for more than 30 years and continues to be a passionate champion for people living with HIV. As well as managing his business interests, Mr Cole has been chairman of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, since 2005. He was instrumental in the launch of amfAR’s Countdown to a Cure campaign, which supports amfAR’s recently opened Institute for HIV Research, based at the University of California, San Francisco. The mission of the institute is to accelerate progress towards developing a cure for HIV. 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

On 17 May, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a panel discussion on the progress made and challenges in eliminating new HIV infections among children and ensuring the health and well-being of mothers. UNAIDS and WHO joined together at the Women Deliver conference, taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, to amplify the message that access to HIV services and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights are inextricably linked.

The session highlighted the successes to date of the global HIV response for women and children, including the 77% coverage of pregnant women living with HIV in 2014 receiving antiretroviral medicines to stop transmission of HIV to their child, an increase from the 37% coverage in 2009. The right of women to have children, the right to information on how to protect themselves from HIV and the right to HIV treatment were reinforced by the panellists. How to provide HIV treatment as part of the Sustainable Development Goals and in the context of the changing political and funding environments affecting donor priorities was also discussed.

The Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, Sheila Tlou, opened the panel discussion, which was moderated by Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox spoke at the event, which also featured Annah Sango, a young mother and youth activist living with HIV, Kenly Sikwese, an advocate and father living with HIV, and Felicitas Zawaira of the WHO regional office in Brazzaville, Congo.

UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox galvanized participants at the opening of the Women Deliver conference, which is taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 16 to 19 May. Ms Lennox said that women had to break down the structures that cemented gender inequality and end all forms of gender-based violence. Her speech electrified the more than 5000 delegates taking part in the conference, which is the world’s largest global conference on the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women to take place in the past decade.

The 2016 Women Deliver conference is being held under the theme of “Implement the Sustainable Development Goals so they matter most for girls and women.” The conference has a special focus on health, and in particular maternal, sexual and reproductive health and rights. Other themes include gender equality, education, the environment and economic empowerment.

The agenda of Women Deliver is central to the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach which calls for action on women’s empowerment and the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to end the AIDS epidemic.                 

Other speakers at the opening ceremony included Her Royal Highness Princess Mary of Denmark, Jill Sheffield, the Chief Executive Officer and President of Women Deliver, Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and the journalist, human rights activist and Nobel Prize laureate, Tawakkol Karman.  

At the Women Deliver youth pre-conference, taking place on 15 and 16 May in Copenhagen, Denmark, UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway underlined the central role to be played by young women and adolescent girls in ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Her Royal Highness stressed the need for young women and adolescent girls to take leadership roles in the AIDS response so that programmes and services could be developed to meet their specific needs and to ensure that their sexual and reproductive health and rights were respected.

Young women and girls remain disproportionately affected by HIV. In 2014, there were around 220 000 new HIV infections worldwide among adolescents aged 10 to 19, with adolescent girls accounting for 62% of new infections among this age group. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 made up 72% of total new infections among this age group.

The Women Deliver youth pre-conference is a crucial opportunity for young activists in the HIV response to make their voices heard in the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, which will take place in New York, United States of America, from 8 to 10 June. It is also a chance for hundreds of young activist to take stock of programmes such as the All In initiative to #EndadolescentAIDS and to outline ways forward to ensure a greater youth participation in development.

The Crown Princess has been involved in the AIDS response since 2003 and is a powerful advocate for youth engagement and the empowerment of women. The Crown Princess recently visited the United Republic of Tanzania to assess progress made in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to see how young people were engaging in the AIDS response.