Advocacy and Lobbying by Civil Society, Affected Communities,

and PLWHA

Yuan Wenli

2012-07-26

Content Outline

• The once powerless position of Chinese women with HIV

• Our efforts

• The success we have already achieved

• Future challenges

Why Women• Rapid feminization of the AIDS

epidemic: the proportion of women living with HIV increased five times over the last 10 years (from 7% to 30%)

• The number of women’s groups is few and women’s capacity is low. Both constrain women’s development.

• Women and women’s groups’ participation in the AIDS response is limited; their voice is seldom heard during the decision-making process

Why Global Fund

• Important part of China’s AIDS response

• Community organizations able to actively participate

• Has gender strategic requirements

• Women’s participation is still severely lacking

What we believe: Unity can bring about change

Our Mission

• Provide grassroots women leaders more opportunities to learn, participate and grow

• Strengthen women’s voice

• Promote meaningful participation

Our Work Capacity Building & Information Sharing

Training workshop content:

• Basic NGO knowledge

• Women’s leadership

• Media communication

• Advocacy

Our Work :Capacity Building & Information Sharing

Providing women’s groups with training in media communications

Providing women’s groups with comprehensive management training (in cooperation with WAPN)

Our Work Capacity Building & Information Sharing

Participated in the National Women’ s Federation’s sponsored training

Communicated and exchanged with WAPN and UNWOMEN staff.

Our Work

Focus of our research：

• Women living with HIV/AIDS and women’s groups• Special and urgent needs• Gender and AIDS policies • Spousal transmission of AIDS• Sex and reproductive health, etc.

Research methods: expert support, network coordinating, and participation of people living with HIV/AIDS

Results of research: data and cases support expert advice.

Our Work

Our Work

Held the “Gender Strategy in the Context of HIV/AIDS—Actions and Challenges” salon:

• Nongovernment organization sponsors and groups

• Participation of women’s issues experts and international organization representatives

• Mutual participation of representatives from women’s and men’s community organizations

• Formed common action strategies

Our Work

• Meetings• Public Events• Case studies• Open letters• Public dissemination• Various kinds of lobbying activities, etc.

Growth and Achievements

• Have raised women living with HIV/AIDS’s ability to influence decision making

• Have increased the number of women representatives in GH national and provincial level committees and advisory groups

Growth and Achievements

• National advisory group of China’s Global Fund AIDS program now has 9 members, 4 of which are women.

• Have altered CCM’s regulations and added a female CBO member

• First budget allocation of 237,000 U.S. dollars for gender programming

• For the first time, incorporated gender as a topic in capacity building courseware

Experience

• Grassroots initiatives by women living with HIV/AIDS and women’s grassroots community organizations can promote women’s needs and questions better.

• Collaboration among international organizations, specialists, and community organizations promotes consensus building which will more easily achieve outputs.

• We need to be patient, provide useful data, and seize opportunities for involvement.

Obstacles and Challenges

• The CCM member election has yet to begin, and women’s representation still exists on paper only.

• The gender funds are still lacking (budget allocation less than 2%)

• After the Global Fund leaves China in 2013, we still need to strive to improve our strategies and mechanisms pertaining to women’s participation.

Obstacles and Challenges

• Difficulties with registration, lack of legal status.

• Fundraising difficulties

• Still need to strengthen cooperation with the government

待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑

Where is the road?

Thank you!!

It is beneath you!