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HIV Positive Women Demand More Ahead of Malawi Elections

  • JASS

ā€œIf you want womenā€™s votes in 2014 put 75 billion on the table for better ARVs,” is the challenge that Malawian activist leaders have put on the table in the run-up to the 2014 general elections. While Malawiā€™s bid to ensure 50% representation of women in politics may not be realised in this election cycle, HIV positive women activists are standing up boldly to voice their demands to presidential and parliamentary candidates.

ā€œWe want action and more actionā€¦”

Malawians head to the polls on May 20th in what will be the countryā€™s fifth general elections since attaining multiparty democracy in 1994. Despite the much-talked about ā€˜Cashgateā€™ scandal, President Joyce Banda is confident that she has done enough to address issues of government corruption and ensure her chances of regaining office. Much has been made of the potential ofĀ Malawiā€™s 50/50 Campaign to encourage women to attain 50% representation in politicsā€”but whether this goal is feasible remains uncertain. Regardless of this, women activists are not prepared to wait for formal decisionmaking positions in order to fight for their rights to health, better treatment and care.

We want action and more action from government and for members of parliament to come up with a separate vote in the national budget on ARVs. ~ HIV Positive Women Activist Leaders

During the Our Bodies, Our Lives campaign in 2012 – a product of a four-year organizing effort by JASS and MANERELA+ – HIV positive women activists made bold statements that if Joyce Banda wanted their votes, she would need to put sustainable resources on the table to procure quality ARVs (antiretroviral treatment) and health services. Given the fact that government positions do not automatically mean gains for womenā€™s rights and wellbeing, women activists are mobilising in their thousands at district-level and nationally to make their voices count. Women want more money and a specific basket of funding for HIV treatment. They are also calling for the Malawi government to take greater responsibility for the provision of drugs and contribute more than 1% of the national budget towards this end.

As we engage our fellow women in the villages, we will tell them that if those who are campaigning for parliament [and local government] positions do not talk about the basket fund for ARVs then it means that they are not concerned with our lives. Those kinds of people can forget our vote. ~ Women activist panellist on Malawi Broadcasting radio

Women refuse to be silenced

The Our Bodies, Our Lives campaign mobilised for access to quality treatment ā€“ but even before the July 2013 roll-out, women activists were scrutinising where drugs come from and how government procures them. This analysis has sparked critiques on the funding flows to Malawi for ARVs and related HIV services and women refuse to be silenced. Harnessing the power of radio, women activists partnered with the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation to host three nationwide shows to open the lid on some of the serious issues affecting positive people, including access to quality ARVs, and stigma and discrimination experienced in communities and at local hospitals. Community dialogues with local authorities and awareness-raising workshops that draw hundreds have opened the door for women to demand accountability and push for better services for HIV positive people.

The stakes are high for Joyce Banda and it is time that her commitment to womenā€™s rights is fully realised. As she says in her own words, ā€œI will feel powerful when every woman in Malawi and Africa is free from hate and is empowered. I will feel powerful when women no longer have to lose their lives because they are abusedā€¦. I will feel powerful when women in Africa take their rightful place as equals.”

Women activists are geared up to hold the president to her words so that womenā€™s rights to safe, healthy and fulfilled lives are protected.

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