December 1, 2004 Toronto -- Today, World AIDS Day, the Honourable Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation, has further demonstrated Canada's leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS by taking on the important issue of gender inequality and HIV/AIDS. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will provide close to $105 million to various initiatives targeting women and young girls infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in developing countries. "The face of HIV/AIDS is increasingly female with women now representing 55 % of the roughly 24 million adults infected with HIV/AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa," said Minister Carroll. " Because of biology, and because of economic and social realities, young women are three times more vulnerable to HIV infection than their male counterparts. Gender inequality is fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS. This World AIDS Day, we are asked by every woman and girl in the world 'have you heard me today?' I am here to say that we have heard you, and we are acting." The funds in today's announcement will be allocated as follows: $15 million over three years to the International Partnership for Microbicides to develop a female-controlled method of protection against HIV/AIDS. Microbicides are topical products formulated as gels or creams that are being developed for women to prevent HIV transmission. These products will help to empower women by allowing them to protect themselves; $67.4 million over four years to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This funding includes $58.4 million to the UNFPA's ongoing work in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS among women and girls. The remaining $9 million will help improve the distribution of reproductive health supplies, such as condoms, which are in very short supply in developing countries. This committment represents a 28 % increase over four years in Canadian support to the UNFPA; $2.5 million over two years to CIDA's Small Grants Fund for innovative HIV/AIDS projects focussing on gender equality. Projects will support organizations, in Canada and developing countries and countries-in-transition, to work in collaboration on HIV/AIDS priority issues; $5 million over five years to the South Africa Rapid Response Fund to support gender equality and youth projects. The Fund will focus on projects addressing the issue of violence against women and girls and the links between violence and women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS; $4.8 million over five years to the Nigeria AIDS Responsive Fund, whose focus is integrating gender and human rights into HIV responses in Nigeria; $10 million over four years to the UNICEF HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Nigeria to deal with mother-to-child transmission and training of National Youth Corps Volunteers in HIV/AIDS prevention . "Canada's commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS is long-standing," said Minister Carroll. "Canada is stepping up efforts and taking a smart approach to fighting HIV/AIDS: working to prevent more infections through education and research, while helping those already infected live longer and better lives by supporting treatment and care, and building capacity in developing countries to better deal with the pandemic." Funding for these initiatives was provided for in the March 2004 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. - 30 - Information: Andrew Graham Director of Communications Office of the Minister of International Cooperation Telephone: (819) 953-6238 Media Relations Office Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Telephone: (819) 953-6534 E-mail: info@acdi-cida.gc.ca Web site: www.cida.gc.ca (electronic version of document) Canada's support targets women and girls in the fight against HIV/AIDS In the past two years, the number of women living with HIV/AIDS has risen in each region of the world. Women and girls now make up nearly half of the 37.2 million people aged 15 to 49 living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, one of the hardest-hit regions, 75 % of young people infected are girls aged 15-24. It is becoming increasingly obvious that gender inequality, or unequal relations between women and men, and women's lack of empowerment are among the root causes of the global spread of HIV/AIDS. Addressing gender inequality and meeting the needs of women and girls is key to stopping the spread of the disease. Canada continues to play a strategic leadership role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS and is taking on the important issue of gender inequality and the pandemic. Canada's smart approach to fighting HIV/AIDS Canada's commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS is long-standing. HIV/AIDS is one of the key Social Development Priorities of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), as reflected in its HIV/AIDS Action Plan. Canada is taking a smart approach to fighting HIV/AIDS: working to prevent more infections through prevention, education and research, while helping those already infected live longer and better lives by supporting treatment and care, and building capacity in developing countries to better deal with the pandemic. Since 2000, the Government of Canada has committed close to $600 million towards HIV/AIDS prevention, education, care, treatment, support and research to help developing countries fight the pandemic. Today's announcement reaffirms Canada's strong leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS, with a particular commitment to addressing the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS. In 2004, Canada became the lead donor to the World Health Organization's 3 by 5 Initiative to enable access to treatment for 3 million people with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005 with a $100-million contribution, and was the first country to take concrete action on the World Trade Organization's decision to enable poor countries to access lower cost medicines by passing the Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa Act. Over the past year, Canada also announced a $70-million additional commitment to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, thereby doubling Canada's contribution to the Global Fund for 2003-2004. A $100-million contribution was also committed to strengthen African-led strategies and programs for the care, treatment, support and prevention of HIV/AIDS, as well as funding to the World Bank Institute to develop in-country capacity to procure pharmaceutical products, develop safe distribution systems as well as surveillance and monitoring for adverse events. Canada's new committments: Canada reinforces its strategy for addressing the gender inequalities fuelling the HIV/AIDS pandemic: $15 million to International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), to assist in the research for and development of a safe and effective microbicide for women in developing countries as soon as possible. Microbicides are products that women could apply topically before sex to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The IPM identifies the most promising technologies and invests its resources to help develop them into usable products, such as of gels, creams, sponges, lubricants and suppositories. Microbicides would give women and girls, who often have little control over condom use during sex, a way that they can control to protect themselves from HIV. Best estimates indicate that it will be five to seven years before the first generations of a safe, effective and affordable microbicide will be available. But, the IPM estimates that a 60 percent effective microbicide introduced into 73 low-income countries and used by only 20 percent of women would avert 2.5 million HIV infections over three years in women, men and infants. $ 2.5 million over two years to extend CIDA's Small Grants Fund to support some 20 innovative HIV/AIDS projects in Africa focussing on gender equality. Since its inception in 2000, the fund has encouraged Canadian and developing country organizations to work together on HIV/AIDS priority issues. $67.4 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) over the next four years, an increase of $15 million in total relative to past levels of support. This is another strong signal of Canada's commitment to addressing the gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS. Of this funding, $58.4 milion will support the UNFPA's ongoing work in the combined area of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS among women and girls. The remaining $9 million will help to improve the availability and distribution of reproductive health supplies, such as male and female condoms and drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission; family planning supplies, such as contraceptives; and supplies for maternal and neonatal health care. The South Africa Rapid Response Fund is a five-year, $5-million, CIDA-funded initiative that will fund projects that complement and support the South African government's plan of action to fight HIV/AIDS. All projects will address gender equality issues, particularly those focussing on violence against women and girls and the links to women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. A focus on young people, the group most vulnerable to infection, will also be encouraged. The Nigeria AIDS Responsive Fund, valued at $4.8 million over five years, is administered by Pathfinder International on behalf of several stakeholders. It focusses on integrating gender and human rights into HIV/AIDS responses in Nigeria. $10 million over four years to UNICEF's HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Nigeria. The project will focus on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and training National Youth Corps Volunteers in HIV/AIDS prevention. These initiatives respond to the urgent international need to address the issue of women, girls and HIV/AIDS and strengthen the important gender component of CIDA's programming in HIV/AIDS around the world. For more information: www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/aids.htm
