While attending the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, I was eager to attend the side event co-hosted by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the U.S President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  The standing-room only session, was entitled "Integrating Gender into Locally-Owned HIV/AIDS Response." 

Although the panel moderator, Lynn Collins, a technical advisor with the United Nations Population Fund, framed the session by saying that gender goes beyond women, including outreach to specific populations such as commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men, the subsequent discussion revolved predominantly around women and girls.  All four of the presenters brought unique and insightful comments to the issue, representing the global, the faith-based, and the local. 

Michele Moloney-Kitts, Assistant Global AIDS Coordinator, explained PEPFAR's five strategies for gender inclusivity, including reducing violence and coercion against women and addressing male norms and behaviors that may worsen the epidemic.  Moloney-Kitts indicated that the future approach to PEPFAR-funded programming might rely more heavily on effectiveness data rather than simply following what program implementers gut feelings or value judgments about the programs.  While the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator has always promoted the idea that it supports "evidence based" interventions, this idea seems a small nod towards what the reality has actually been.  

The next panelist, Jacqueline Ogega, director of the women-mobilization program of Religions for Peace, drew on her experience building PEPFAR-funded "women of faith" groups in Tanzania and Ethiopia.  She pointed to these communities of faith as important constituencies given that they have historically regarded HIV and AIDS as resulting from "sinful behavior."   She went on to explain that women are carrying a disproportionate share of the burden in the fight against HIV/AIDS, often volunteering without compensation.  She discussed how some of PEPFAR's structural requirements, such as the intense financial reporting and record-keeping relating to "targets reached," are not workable for many locally based organizations.  As a result, they cannot directly access and benefit from PEPFAR's resources.  In addition to the obstacles to local organizations, she went on to describe the difficulty of adhering to quantitative prevention indicators within a specified reporting cycle to measure qualitative factors, such as the empowerment of a woman or girl.  Such results often take shape over a longer period of time than an ordinary funding cycle.  

The final panelist was Faith Meitiaki, a dynamic youth representative with Anglican Women's Empowerment-Anglican Consultative Council in Kenya, who captivated the room.  Ms. Meitiaki stressed the importance of "going local" in determining appropriate strategies for responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, by recognizing individual, regional, and cultural diversities.  Meitiaki's comments rang with truth and authority as she herself had escaped from attempted female circumcision to pursue an education.  She also emphasized that prevention messages needed to provide options aside from just abstinence, asking "if they can't abstain, what should they do? Die of AIDS?"   

While there was an awkward moment, when Botswana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Charles Thembani Ntwaagae, explained that he looked to his colleagues for examples on sound approaches to working with commercial sex workers because of the "legal, cultural ethical, religious questions" in his country regarding this population, the session seemed full of smart, capable people who "get" the issue.  Overall, the panelists identified many areas about gender inclusivity in need of attention and further development, and shared best practices and lessons learned. Perhaps by this time next year we'll be able to talk about fewer challenges we are facing and more progress we have made.