Civil Society in Zambia: A Response

The view of Women for Change on the pandemic

The fight against HIV and AIDS can only be undertaken successfully when there is a clear focus on women, putting them at the centre of the whole pandemic and ensuring that women take full control of their own bodies. For WfC, the fight is against gender imbalances and cultural practices that perpetuate power relations inimical to women’s health. HIV and AIDS in Zambia is a power relation issue and it is also a class issue. Unless we break these barriers, we will not succeed in fighting the HIV and AIDS scourge. WfC will therefore concentrate on the above-mentioned issues in a practical way in the communities

As an organisation, WfC considers the following as urgent priorities in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zambia and particularly in its operational areas:

• Support interventions aimed at enhancing the quality of life for orphans and vulnerable children and this includes:
  • Facilitating support to orphans by providing them with school needs
  • Facilitating capacity building for out of school orphans to enable them look after themselves
  • Facilitating the attainment of food security for families caring for orphans
• Working towards poverty eradication in the communities where WfC works because of the link between poverty and HIV infection
• Intensifying advocacy on the plight of HIV and AIDS orphans and vulnerable children including social support for orphans and widows in HIV and AIDS prevention
• Continuing to campaign for policies and practices that are gender-sensitive, just and effective in responding to the plight of the poor and those affected and or infected by HIV and AIDS
• Creating public awareness on rights of people living with HIV and AIDS
• Intensifying activities in gender analysis and awareness raising to ensure both women and men are sufficiently gender sensitive and able to act on gender issues that perpetuate contracting the virus and its transmission. Through gender-focused programmes, power relations that perpetuate the spread of HIV and AIDS infection such as sexual cleansing, sexual violence, abuse and rape in homes should also be challenged
• Working with traditional leaders to advocate for the banning of negative cultural practices that put women and men at risk of contracting the virus