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Global Fund invites
feedback to shape
future development
Women who use drugs face multiple discrimination.
Ruth Birgin
tells
The Daily Update
about ways to find
support from growing peer networks
AS WELL AS THE STIGMA
of drug use, women who inject drugs face
gender-specific discrimination, making them even less visible than their
male counterparts. Despite the fact that an increasing proportion of drug
users worldwide are women, services are overwhelmingly male focused.
Women are frequently alienated from health services, including harm
reduction and much needed women-specific services, such as sexual and
reproductive health. HIV prevalence is consistently higher among women
than men who inject drugs. The absence of appropriate policies and
services is increasingly evident in developing and transitional countries,
where violations of the rights of women who use drugs – such as routine
denial of child custody – are commonplace.
There is a clear need to involve
women who use drugs in
addressing these inequities.
Concerted advocacy is required,
alongside programmes and policies
that can address their needs. In the
past three years, the women’s harm
reduction movement has founded
two
important
international
networks – the International
Network of Women who Use Drugs
(INWUD) and the Women’s Harm
Reduction International Network (WHRIN).
INWUD is part of the International Network of People who Use Drugs
(INPUD) and was created to provide a private space for women to share
issues, concerns and challenges, and to provide a platform to support
each other personally and professionally. It has established a women
member only e-list and strives to ensure gender balance and sensitivity in
INPUD operations. INWUD also collaborates with other agencies to provide
a voice for women who use drugs.
WHRIN provides a global platform to raise awareness of the challenges
faced by women who use drugs. It works with people from around the
world to ensure that women have access to gender-sensitive harm
reduction and specific health services such as reproductive health. The
network aims to connect people globally and give them the information
they need to conduct effective research, change policy and improve
services for women who use drugs. Its membership is open to all who
support the goals of WHRIN and are willing to contribute to the network.
Register for WHRIN at www.talkingdrugs.org. If you are a member of
INPUD, join INWUD by emailing cher_white@hotmail.com. To apply for
INPUD membership, email membership@inpud.net
Ruth Birgin will be speaking at tomorrow’s session on
Building a
women-centred harm reduction response
, 11.00 in Banquet Hall 1 & 2.
Women’s harm reduction
movement goes from
strength to strength
As the largest international donor for harm
reduction, the Global Fund seeks to be responsive
to its stakeholders.
Mark Dibiase
tells
The Daily
Update
how IHRA delegates can get involved
EVERY TWO TO THREE YEARS
, the Global Fund
convenes a Partnership Forum – a key part of its governance
structure. This is an important consultative process in which
the organisation seeks input from a huge range of different
stakeholders, to inform development of its future strategies
and policies. In 2011, the 4th Partnership Forum will provide
a number of opportunities for you to provide feedback,
centered on this year’s theme, ‘Working together, shaping
our future: accountability, access, rights’.
This year’s forum also coincides with a pivotal time in the
Global Fund’s evolution, as stakeholders can provide input
into the organisation’s strategy for 2012 to 2016 before its
approval by the board in December. Demonstrating a firm
commitment to transparency and partnership, the Global
Fund will ensure that formal feedback from all consultations
is fed back to the board. A number of the Global Fund’s
current policies are based on previous consultations.
Convened in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 28-30 June 2011,
the forum’s invite-only conference will provide space for
approximately 400 people from various sectors. But there are
other important opportunities for engagement before then.
The 2011 e-forum, to be hosted for six weeks between
March and May, will help to shape discussions at the main
conference. These are great opportunities for harm
reduction advocates around the world to engage with the
Global Fund – the largest international donor for harm
reduction. Whether you are involved in grant management,
or an advocate for improved HIV and TB services for
people who inject drugs, we encourage you to participate.
For more information on how to participate, please visit:
www.aidsportal.org/web/globalfundconsult/home
The Global Fund and partners will be in the Dialogue
Space on Wednesday, 14.00-15.00.
6 –
Daily Update
– DAY ONE – Monday 4 April 2011
‘An increasing
proportion of
drug users
worldwide
are women.’
‘Opportunities for
advocates to engage with
the largest international
donor for harm reduction.’