ICW at AIDS 2008 - If you are there come find us!

ICW is a co-sponsor of the International AIDS Conference in Mexico CityThis huge conference of well over 25,000 people offers wonderful opportunities to network and spread the word about HIV positive women’s concerns. We plan many events, surprises, and challenges to engage attendees. (August 3-8).

ICW AIDS2008 themes and projects…

Peace Campaign - ICW will be highlighting ICW’s innovative peace initiative, initiated by ICW Latina. Called 2011 – A Year of Peace as a chance to stop AIDS the campaign has been aided by ICW International Steering Committee member and long-time AIDS advocate, Patricia Perez’s nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. ICW passionately believes that only in sustained periods of peace and freedom from violence can the conditions be created to halt the epidemic and its terrible impact on women. Find out more about the campaign and ICW Latina’s work in the region at the ICW booth 246 and 247, including the 5th meeting of the Coalition of First Ladies and Women Leaders of Latin America on Woman and AIDS with members of ICW Latin America, 2nd of August in the Camino Real Hotel.

ICW has settled on five main themes for Mexico besides the Peace Campaign. These are…

• Violence Against Women. ICW staff and members are presenting in a number of different venues both within the main conference and in the Global Village, specifically focusing on the violence faced by HIV positive women.
• Using the Law to protect HIV positive women’s rights, including the right to refuse sterilisation and opposing laws which oppress us (criminalisation, for instance).
• Why Doesn’t MIPA Always Work for Us? We want to develop effective, responsible ways of bringing into active play meaningful inclusion and participation of HIV positive women in both planning and participation.
• The Politics of Networks/Networking – ICW is an international network of positive women members. How does this happen on a global level while still allowing for the flexibility and creativity needed to address the diverse needs of our members and all HIV positive women?
• Putting Women Back into Gender – ICW advocates are finding that the use of the word gender is obscuring the specific conditions and realities of HIV positive women’s lives.

ICW will also be participating in events at Mexico which target other areas, such as Sexual and Reproductive Health, Access to Care, Treatment and Support, and more.

Hear more, Come find us…

• Visit the ICW Booth in the Global Village (booth numbers 246 and 247) - Here’s a chance to meet ICW members in Mexico, stay in touch with what is happening of interest to HIV positive women at the conference, and collect new ICW materials. We also have a booth in the Media Centre.
• People Living with HIV Networking Zone - We’re working with GNP+ again. Meet HIV positive people from around the world in an inclusive, creative space, report back sessions, videos, meetings.
• Women’s Networking Zone (WNZ) - organised by the Athena Network, ICW Global, ICW Latina, Mexicanas Positivas, Colectivo Sol, Balance Promocion para el Desarrollo y Juventud. ICW will be organising workshops and events in the zone. Don’t miss one of the most exciting sites in the whole conference.
• 2008 Women and AIDS Guide - maps all women and AIDS related sessions and activities during the conference, including ICW sessions and activities. Pick one up from the Women’s Networking Zone.
• ICW/Athena Satellite - ‘Mujeres Adelante – Moving Forward: New Visions and Actions to Combat HIV & Gender-based Violence’, cosponsored by ICW, ICW Latina and Athena. ICW Latina will present their ‘Peace as a chance to end AIDS’ campaign. Then Athena will co-ordinate presenting successful models and field strategies from Latin America, Africa and elsewhere, which will inform a ‘hands-on’ interactive training component. Sunday, August 3rd from 1.30pm-3.30pm, session room 6.
• ICW Latina Press Conference - ICW Latina will present their Peace Campaign in a press conference in the Media Centre. Tuesday, August 5th from 3pm-3.45 pm, room 2, Media Center, Hall A, Level 1.
• All Women, All Rights - Women’s March On August 5th, between 4-8pm – a march to bear witness to the gap between international commitments and what really goes on in the response to women and HIV.
• Check out ICW’s poster presentations in the main exhibition hall.

ICW Materials Available at our Booth in the Global Village

Press statements:

• Criminalisation and the impact on HIV positive women (eng/fr/sp)
• ICW Latina activities (eng/sp)
• ICW at Mexico 2008 (eng/fr/sp)

Exploration paper on gender - to stimulate debate about the current concerns with the way that gender is being used by organisations to undermine a political focus on women's rights. (eng/fr/sp)

GIPA menu and report card - also aims to stimulate debate for the session we are running in the WNZ on GIPA and HIV positive women's involvement. The report card inserted in the menu will help us capture the impact of the conference on positive women and vice versa in order to better develop involvement at the next conference. (eng/sp)

Testimonies of ICW members from Zimbabwe, Mexico and Indonesia (eng/fr/sp)

Other ICW resources available at our booth:

• ICW News issues 39, 40 and 41 (eng/fr/sp)
• Pozfem (UK network of HIV positive women) report (eng)
• Silent Voices Vision Paper on HIV positive women and injecting drug use (eng)
• Summary and bibliography of resources on HIV positive women ACTS, SRHR and VAW (Bridge/ICW) (eng/fr/sp)
• Novib Newsletter on sex and sexuality edited by ICW (eng/fr/sp)
• Namibia Community Health Training Manual
• HIV Positive Women and Abortion Briefing, ICW/Ipas (eng/sp)
• Information on our litigation/sterilisation project
• Draft briefing on male circumcision
• ICW Fact sheets ACTS/VAW/SRHR (Eng/fr/sp)
• Microbicides briefing (sp/eng)
• ICW Badges
• Calendar of ICW events and involvement at AIDS 2008

Before and after AIDS2008 – find out about ICW, contact Tel: +44 20 7704 0606 www.icw.org info@icw.org