The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) instituted a World AIDS Day programme in 2003 as part of its commitment to combating HIV & AIDS, and in particular the disproportionate effect of HIV & AIDS on African women. To mark World Aids Day in 2011, AWDF is supporting 20 grantee partners in 15 African countries to carry out a range of activities including:
Women in Action Against Gender Based Violence in Cameroun are holding a Voluntary Counselling and Testing service, a route march and a discussion with people living with HIV&AIDS on the benefits of drug adherence and positive living.
Citizen Participation Trust (CP Trust) in Zimbabwe have developed educational material on HIV & AIDS with the goal of intensifying prevention education and facilitating awareness creation on universal access to treatment.
Si Jeunesse Savait (SJS) in the Democratic Republic of Congo are producing radio jingles on the link between violence against women and HIV for dissemination via 3 radio stations in Kinshasa.
The full list of funded grantee partners is as follows:
| Women United Against Aids in Ghana (WUAAG) | Ghana |
| Fairladies G.H. Group Kenya | Kenya |
| German Co-operation Sierra Leone (GEKO-SL) | Liberia |
| Heal the Land Initiative in Nigeria (HELIN) | Nigeria |
| SAIL – Uganda (Spread AIDS Awareness Information & Learning in Uganda) | Uganda |
| Better Health Action Group Uganda (Better HAG Uganda) | Uganda |
| Rural Women’s Movement (RWM) | South Africa |
| Youth Empowerment Initiative (YEI) | Uganda |
| Women’s Advocates Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone |
| Association of Kenyan Housewives Against HIV/AIDS (AKHA) | Kenya |
| Citizen Participation Trust (CP Trust) | Zimbabwe |
| The Women’s Commission of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (Legon Branch) | Ghana |
| Youth Impact Organization | Malawi |
| United Youth for Peace, Education, Transparency & Development in Liberia (UYPETDL) Inc. | Liberia |
| Burera Volunteers for Development Association (BVDA) | Rwanda |
| Si Jeunesse Savait (SJS) | DRC |
| ONG-EPDI: L’Eveil pour la Promotion et le Developpement Integre | Benin |
| Cameroon Medical Women Association (CMWA) | Cameroun |
| Ndola Nutrition Group | Zambia |
| Women in Action Against Gender Based Violence (Wacameroon) | Cameroun |
Funding for women’s rights organisations working on HIV & AIDS is even more critical in the current context of funding cuts by major donor agencies. On this day, AWDF also remembers all those who have lost their lives to HIV & AIDS, and the millions of people affected by the virus.
Better HAG Uganda (one of the 2011 WAD grantees) was privileged to partner with AWDF to carry out an HIV & AIDS comprehensive knowledge contest in the remote areas of Manafwa district, Eastern Uganda. The contest showed that gaps in SRHR and HIV/AIDS comprehensive knowledge were critical among rural communities, and in response the organization’s team made efforts to address them.
Alongside the contest was free HIV counseling and testing, an activity that reached a total of 492 (319 women and girls) on the WAD 2011.
Very many thanks to AWDF for the support.