Africa: 1,500 to Gather for International Women and Aids Summit

23 May 2007
allAfrica.com

Urgent action to cut rising HIV infection rates among women and girls will be planned at what is billed as the world's first international summit on women and Aids.

The summit, announced by the World YWCA, a global women's organisation, will take place in Nairobi from July 4 to 7.

Noting that up to 80 percent of new infections occur in girls and young women, the YWCA said the summit would explore issues such as poverty, violence against women, children's rights and access to decision-making and resources.

It would gather over 1,500 representatives, including policy makers, celebrities, community health workers and activists. Among the speakers will be the 2004 Nobel Peace laureate, Wangari Maathai, Kenya's health minister, Charity Ngilu, former Irish president Mary Robinson, and UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV and Aids has the support of the UNA Global Coalition on Women and Aids and UNFPA.

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