It ain't over till it is over

Published on 2009-04-08 by Ilze Smit

It is over, the International AIDS conference 2008 in Mexico City. In the closing session, the several speakers concluded that it has been a very successful conference. It was the first time that at the conference sex workers, homosexuals in Africa, transgender and other minority groups were on the stage to share their stories.

But at the contra side of this; the women of sub-Saharan Africa were not at the list of priorities while the feminization of AIDS is ongoing and one out of five of this group is infected with HIV. In the sessions on prevention that I have attended, this group of women stressed that there was a large demand for female condoms. But their demand was not heard by the reporters of the conference, unfortunately.

For the female condom and the UAFC joint programme, it has been a very successful conference. In the last two days we have had a press conference, satellite meeting, donor diner, female condom demonstration, networking, workshop and a session on Comprehensive Condom Programming. Unless the hectic schedule, we managed to build partnerships and we have made a lot of noise for the female condom.

Really important is a good and meaningful follow-up of the conference. We have met many new people, organizations and networks; it will be a challenge to work out all the new ideas that we have. I have talked to so many African women about the female condom, I am even more motivated to make female condoms affordable, available and accessible. I have heard too many stories of women that demand for the female condom without having access to it. It is their right to have access to this prevention method.

Knowledge Base

Countries in this article

Mexico

Dates in this article

2008-08-14

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UAFC lobby paper

UAFC has developed a profound advocacy strategy in order to achieve acces to female condoms for all. For background on this strategy and to strengthen your own lobby activities you have access to this paper.

download the document

Breaking down the barriers!

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Ilze Smit of UAFC Joint Programme presented the session Female Condom Programming and Advocacy: Braking down the Barriers! at the NGO Forum ICPD+15.

read her weblog

see the photo's of the Forum

Trainings in Rwanda

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"In our daily work in HIV prevention and even in our sexual and reproductive life sessions with potential users, in trainings and advocay, we talk about female condoms as you can see in these photos. I'm pushing to include FC in our major advocay themes. It recently has been included in the Rwanda National NGO forum on AIDS for the four year strategic plan (2009/2012)," says Fortunée Twiyubahe from ACORD/Oxfam International in Rwanda.

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Knowledge base live

Part of our new website is the revolutionary knowledge base. This is a repository of concepts related to the main theme of UAFC, the female condom. This repository is organized according to themes, geographic location and time. We invite you to start exploring our knowledge base.

If you feel you have anything to contribute don't hesitate to contact us.

ACMS Website

In Cameroon the Association Camerounaise pour le Marketing (ACMS) works on making Female Condoms available to a large usersgroup. ACMS has its own website, with which it reaches especially young people.

Interview with Victoria Archibong, SFH

"I believe the introduction of the male condoms was relatively easier. This could be because it was easier to target men as the “dominant” party in relationships and the ones who will wear the condoms. There was also a lot of support from donors and IPs. The female condom is regarded more as a “woman thing”. Some men may feel threatened as the female condom will empower women in demonstrating their sexual and reproductive health rights. For Female condom programming, programmers have to be more creative and strategic."

read the interview

"I'm going to use mine"

"The male condom was promoted so hard in advertising, through school education and advocacy – we need the same effort for the female condom," said Farah Karimi, director of Oxfam-Novib at a press conference at the International AIDS Confernce in Mexico City. Mary Robinson, former President of the Republic of Ireland added: Girls and women need the skills to say, 'if you're not going to use yours then I'm going to use mine' to their sexual partners."

Read the article in Plusnews.

Empower women in Malawi

Sandra Mapemba, national condom programme coordinator at the Reproductive Health Unit (RHU) in the Ministry of Health in Malawi, believes the female condom will empower women to have more control in their sexual relationships, help them protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, as well as unwanted pregnancies.