For a quarter century, HIV/AIDS has exploited women’s lack of power at every level, from the halls of power to individual homes in rural villages. That history proves that all of the condoms, doctors, drugs and social workers in the world can’t stop a virus that is perpetuated by women’s vulnerability if we ignore the mechanisms of power that keep women marginalized, financially dependent and oppressed.

From public platforms, in a 40-page position paper , through dozens of media interviews and in one-on-one conversations with members of the High-Level Panel, the Office of the UN Special Envoy made the case that the UN is failing over half the world’s population: women now comprise nearly 60 per cent of African adults infected with HIV and three-quarters of African youth; issues of sexual and reproductive health are still missing from agendas where their inclusion is essential, including in international policies and programmes that deal with HIV/AIDS; maternal death rates have not come down since the 1970s; the UN’s Violence Against Women Fund has disbursed just 13 million dollars worldwide over a decade; female representation, including in top UN jobs, is insultingly low; and gender is still largely absent in the UN’s discussions of everything from agriculture to trade and macroeconomics, climate change, transportation and health systems.

The High-Level Panel concurred: “We believe that the importance of achieving gender equality cannot be overstated,” its final report said, concluding that “there is a strong sense that the UN system’s contribution has been incoherent, under-resourced and fragmented. The UN needs to pursue these objectives far more vigorously.”  The decision about whether to follow the panel’s recommendations now rests with the UN’s 192 Member States, who have just begun a tense debate in the General Assembly over whether to create a women’s agency on a par with others — with field presence, a $1 billion budget to start, and the capacity to run programmes, influence policy and advise other agencies in every country.

It’s now up to the United Nations and the world’s governments, acting through the UN, to act on this historic opportunity to shift the balance of power between men and women — the kind of redistribution that women need if they’re going to throw roadblocks in the path of HIV. UN Member States can change the world by creating a powerful international women’s agency, funded and staffed at levels that would guarantee its effectiveness: a strong field presence, a $1 billion budget to start, and the capacity to run programmes, influence policy and bring desperately needed gender expertise to the joint work of UN agencies in every country.

But will they? 

Advocacy to ensure that the answer is “yes” is a top priority for AIDS-Free World.

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