Regional Conference on ‘changing the river's flow: challenging gender dynamics in a cultural context to address HIV'

Tuesday 23 to Thursday 25 February 2010

Southern Africa (venue to be confirmed) 

 Southern African is home to the highest HIV infection rates globally, and simultaneously has some of the world's highest rates of violence against women. Studies commissioned in Namibia and Mozambique confirmed that despite all the progress made in advancing women's rights and in fighting the twin epidemics of HIV and VAW, the patriarchal nature of societies in Africa, supported as they are by deep-seated cultural beliefs and practices, continues to undermine effort to achieve a decline in HIV prevalence rate in the region.

 There are limited interventions addressing GBV and HIV by challenging gender dynamics in a cultural context and the fact that current interventions addressing GBV have to a large extent ignored the role that cultural norms and beliefs are playing in perpetuating GBV.  As part of its work to ensure that HIV and GBV interventions are inter-linked, and to take into consideration the role that culture and cultural practices have in driving HIV and GBV, but also in preventing HIV and GBV , the Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) is hosting a Regional Conference in February 2010.
SAfAIDS warmly invites you to submit an abstract to contribute to the programme and content of this cutting-edge Regional Conference whose broad theme is "Challenging gender dynamics in a cultural context to address HIV".

 About the Conference

 The Conference will focus on the inter-linkages between GBV, HIV and culture, with particular focus on cultural practices and their role in driving the HIV and GBV epidemics, and in mitigating their impact. The Conference will focus on:

 1. Addressing GBV, women's rights and culture to address HIV
2. Role of traditional leaders and working with traditional leaders to prevent and mitigate GBV and HIV at regional, national, provincial and community level.
3. Work being undertaken at community level through community dialogues
4. Sharing of good practices and focusing on lessons learnt in working with policy makers to achieve GBV and HIV policy and legal reforms
5. Sharing of research finding from studies undertaken from a cultural perspective around the issues of MCP, MC, SRHR and GBV and HIV prevention and mitigation
6. Sharing of exciting documented programmes and interventions in print or other forms of media  
7. Inter-linking culture into GBV, HIV and women's rights interventions
8. Children and youth in GBV and HIV interventions
9. Focusing on lessons learnt and good practices in working with policy makers

 "A conference not to miss"

 This Conference presents an opportunity for researchers, community workers, programme implementers, governments, traditional leaders, NGO representatives, development agencies, policy makers and media organisations to come together to share experiences, lessons learnt, good practices and research findings around GBV and HIV issues. The Conference presents a key opportunity for stakeholders to address identified challenges in achieving the ultimate goal of reducing the HIV prevalence in the region, and to forge strategic partnerships.

 The primary aim of this Conference is to promote collaboration and to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences and challenges, information and above all, practical solutions to implementing programmes and interventions with the ultimate objective of promoting work focusing on the role of culture in HIV and GBV interventions.

 The Conference will consist of plenary sessions addressing major topics, theme-based breakaway sessions, video viewing sessions, exhibitions and a marketplace where various items will be on sale.