Youth in Africa ‘living dangerously’

YOUNG women and girls, aged 15 to 24, now constitute 75 per cent of all people living with HIV-AIDS in that age group.

“It is unprecedented in the history of the pandemic, and it’s perhaps the most ominous warning of what is yet to come,” said Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa, when he addressed the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok this week. Lewis was quoting statistics from the just-released UNAIDS report which he said had a “deeply disturbing statistical table”.The report indicated that in every single country in Africa for which data was available, women between the ages of 15 and 49 constituted over 50 per cent of the infections.”There are no exceptions.In fact, there’s only one country in all of Africa – the Central African Republic – which is below 55 per cent, and it’s at 54,” he said.The figure for Namibia is put at 55 per cent, Angola 59 per cent, Botswana 58 per cent, Lesotho 57 per cent, Malawi 59 per cent, Mozambique 56 per cent, South Africa 59 per cent, Swaziland 55 per cent, Zambia 57 per cent and Zimbabwe 58 per cent.”The astonishing sameness of the figures demonstrates the deeply-rooted and universal nature of the gender inequality.But even more, it demonstrates the potential for a further explosion of infection amongst the 15 to 24 year-old age group,” said Lewis.Lewis said his statement was no “alarmist rhetoric”:he noted that already more than 4,6 million young women and girls in Africa carried the virus, increasing in number by well over a million a year.”If the patterns of gender inequality intensify, as they seem to be doing in country after country, then the youth of Africa are walking on the edge of the chasm,” he said.Lewis said he did not believe that African leaders fully understood what was happening.”If they did, they’d be howling from the rooftops and changing legislative policies at every turn.”When he opened the conference on Sunday, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expressed concern at the continuing inadequacy of the political leadership in response to the pandemic.”He’s right,” said Lewis.”Where are the laws that descend with draconian force on those who are guilty of rape and sexual violence? Where are the laws that deal with rape within marriage? Where are the laws in every country that enshrine property and inheritance for women? Where are the new laws that protect women from stigma and discrimination? Where are the laws that raise the age of marriage? “Where are the laws that abolish school fees, so that children orphaned by AIDS, with due emphasis on girls, can go to school? Where are the laws, or the regulatory apparatus, which guarantees that young women and girls, HIV positive, will have access to treatment in numbers that reflect the female prevalence rates? Where are the laws that guarantee equality before the law for women in all matters economic and social?” He said laws which move decisively towards gender equality were lacking in Africa.For him it was “wildly past time” for the political leadership to produce the legal framework which would give women a chance to resist the virus.Lewis was quoting statistics from the just-released UNAIDS report which he said had a “deeply disturbing statistical table”.The report indicated that in every single country in Africa for which data was available, women between the ages of 15 and 49 constituted over 50 per cent of the infections.”There are no exceptions.In fact, there’s only one country in all of Africa – the Central African Republic – which is below 55 per cent, and it’s at 54,” he said.The figure for Namibia is put at 55 per cent, Angola 59 per cent, Botswana 58 per cent, Lesotho 57 per cent, Malawi 59 per cent, Mozambique 56 per cent, South Africa 59 per cent, Swaziland 55 per cent, Zambia 57 per cent and Zimbabwe 58 per cent.”The astonishing sameness of the figures demonstrates the deeply-rooted and universal nature of the gender inequality.But even more, it demonstrates the potential for a further explosion of infection amongst the 15 to 24 year-old age group,” said Lewis.Lewis said his statement was no “alarmist rhetoric”:he noted that already more than 4,6 million young women and girls in Africa carried the virus, increasing in number by well over a million a year.”If the patterns of gender inequality intensify, as they seem to be doing in country after country, then the youth of Africa are walking on the edge of the chasm,” he said.Lewis said he did not believe that African leaders fully understood what was happening.”If they did, they’d be howling from the rooftops and changing legislative policies at every turn.”When he opened the conference on Sunday, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expressed concern at the continuing inadequacy of the political leadership in response to the pandemic.”He’s right,” said Lewis.”Where are the laws that descend with draconian force on those who are guilty of rape and sexual violence? Where are the laws that deal with rape within marriage? Where are the laws in every country that enshrine property and inheritance for women? Where are the new laws that protect women from stigma and discrimination? Where are the laws that raise the age of marriage? “Where are the laws that abolish school fees, so that children orphaned by AIDS, with due emphasis on girls, can go to school? Where are the laws, or the regulatory apparatus, which guarantees that young women and girls, HIV positive, will have access to treatment in numbers that reflect the female prevalence rates? Where are the laws that guarantee equality before the law for women in all matters economic and social?” He said laws which move decisively towards gender equality were lacking in Africa.For him it was “wildly past time” for the political leadership to produce the legal framework which would give women a chance to resist the virus.