By IPS Correspondents
KAMPALA, Jun 14 2007 (IPS)

The issue of women continuing to be at higher risk of HIV infection than men has received considerable attention at a gathering of women’s affairs ministers from Commonwealth countries underway in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

Of the 53 Commonwealth member states, 38 are represented at the ‘8th Triennial Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting’ (8WAMM), being held under the theme ‘Financing Gender Equality for Development and Democracy’. The three-day event ends Thursday.

United Nations statistics indicate that women and girls in Commonwealth countries make up a third of all HIV infections. In addition, women between the ages of 15 and 24 in sub-Saharan Africa – the region most prominently represented in the Commonwealth – are two and a half times more likely to be infected than men of the same age.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Although this part of the world is home is to about 10 percent of the world’s population, it houses over 60 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS.

Delegates to the Kampala meeting say women’s limited power to negotiate safe sex is one of the greatest obstacles to reducing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

“The powerlessness of the woman to say ‘no’ to sex with her husband, even if she knows he is infected, is a major cause for concern. Men – even if infected – force their women into sex,” said Safiya Muhammad, permanent secretary and acting minister for women’s affairs in Nigeria.

“Unless we address this, HIV/AIDS will continue to wear the face of a woman.”

The experience of Malaysia illustrates how the situation might be dealt with. This Asian Commonwealth member allows men who coerce their partners into having sex to be charged.

“This protects women from being infected by their husbands,” said Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

The general lack of HIV/AIDS prevention methods that can be controlled by women presents another problem.

While female condoms exist, they are seen as too costly by many women – and their availability in certain areas is limited. In addition, the female condom cannot always be used without a partner’s knowledge, which makes the device of doubtful worth in relationships where men do not approve of women protecting themselves during sex.

Janet Museveni, wife of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni – and widely involved in HIV/AIDS projects – says a vaccine is needed.

“An effective AIDS vaccine would offer women the possibility of a long-term method that could be used with or without their partners’ knowledge or co-operation,” she noted.

But, “If an AIDS vaccine is to become a reality in the near future, there is a need to significantly expand the level of political support globally. Where there is significant political will, there is usually significant financial support.”

Uganda is in the process of developing an AIDS vaccine, in co-operation with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a global project linking the public and private sectors that was started in 1996.

Governments should increase their budgetary allocations for addressing HIV/AIDS, ensuring that the provision of services took into account women’s greater vulnerability to the pandemic, said Anit Mukherjee – a researcher at the Commission on AIDS in Asia.

Efforts to reduce women’s greater risk of HIV infection also needed to include men.

“For the war against HIV/AIDS to be won, men must be brought on board. They too need to be informed about prevention methods and having safe sex,” observed Mukherjee.

The Kampala meeting is to come up with recommendations for realising the theme of the conference, and a timetable for implementing them.

“8WAMM’s theme of ‘Financing gender equality for development and democracy’ reflects the growing awareness that women’s rights and gender equality are being overlooked in development and democratization processes,” notes Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon in a note posted on the Commonwealth Secretariat website.

“In the Commonwealth, we see the impact of that neglect in a number of ways: different levels of access to services and resources for women and men, girls and boys; the feminization of poverty; high maternal mortality; girls being denied an education; widespread HIV/AIDS prevalence among women and girls; a low percentage of female parliamentarians.”

Uganda will also host the next bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in November.

The Commonwealth groups countries across the globe, mainly former colonies of Britain; its activities include promoting good governance and economic development.

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