Although International Women's Day is often seen as a day of celebration, we at SAfAIDS see it as a resting point – a short moment where we are supposed to stop, take stock, re-energise, and continue with the battle against HIV and AIDS, as well as strengthen our advocacy for the equal rights of women the feminisation of the epidemic.

We do appreciate and celebrate the gains made in previous years towards meeting the desperate need for prevention, treatment, care and support interventions in southern Africa , but we remain aware that the battle is far from being won. At this time, we applaud the efforts of influential leaders, both past and present, such as Peter Piot (UNAIDS Executive Director), Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General), Bill Clinton, and Graca Machel, among others, who have fought tirelessly to endorse reforms in HIV and AIDS, particularly those that have benefited Africa, and its women. And we commend the resilience of Zimbabwean women whose continued advocacy for justice has seen the enactment of a Domestic Violence Act in that country, joining South Africa and Namibia as nations with laws that specifically deal with the criminilisation of this form of violence in southern Africa .

Each new year at International Women's Day, we believe that we must open a new phase and a new focus to the twin linkages of gender and HIV. And this year, we must commit to preventing new infections by putting more emphasis on prevention, as well as pushing for women-controlled methods of prevention. We must also aim for universal access to treatment, and maintain a policy of zero tolerance of violence of any kind of violence against women. As such, we must address men as key drivers of the epidemic, and engage them in partnerships to create mutual understanding of the roles that each has to play in beginning to reverse the trend of HIV infections. However we must constantly bear in mind the need to first seek a stronger force of women with clear intentions and directions towards effecting meaningful changes, prior to seeking our male counterparts' support.

We therefore need to use International Women's Day as an annual launching pad to set agendas for change which will thereafter drive the operations of plans, while we monitor our progress at every stage throughout the rest of the year. Progress for SAfAIDS over the last year has come through many successes, which include updating the SADC audit on sexual and reproductive health, which has been used to elevate the SADC Gender Protocol, of which SAfAIDS was a participant, to a Declaration. We have also produced key information tools such as the Eastern and Southern Africa AIDS Monitor – a resource that will assist in monitoring the progress made in achieving targets related to HIV prevention, treatment and care made by African countries at the 2006 Abuja Summit and the UN General Assembly High Level Summit on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS).

Accountability is vital to delivering on the promises made on behalf of women to stem the spread of HIV. It follows that we must challenge our leaders when little or no progress is made, each year producing progress reports within our communities – at national, regional and global level, as a means of demanding accountability for resources utilised on women's programmes. The AIDS Monitor will go a long way towards assisting advocacy networks, women's groups and AIDS Service Organisations (ASOs) in fulfilling this vital role.

And yes, we can talk of spending more money on funding programmes, but what is clearly the problem is that as women, we are not fighting our own battles and having our voices being heard. Only a handful of SADC nations have met the 30% quota of female representation in parliament, and few women in the region are in positions to drive the agenda of important issues such as Violence Against Women (VAW), trafficking of women, and the multitude of cultural, social and legal influences that work together to perpetuate cycles of dependency and subordination that so often fuel the growth of the HIV epidemic.

And with even fewer women understanding the significance of International Women's Day, SAfAIDS heeds the call to continue to play its role in informing the public about the Day's significance, as well as identifying gaps in work towards gender and HIV that still exist. In closing, I say women need to realise that they are the leaders, and not the led. And as SAfAIDS, we will continue to break cultural barriers that argue against this, while empowering women by giving them the audacity to take up the necessary means to fight for their own rights. Our hope is for women throughout the region, and across the world to live International Women's Day everyday.

I thank you.
Lois Chingandu
SAfAIDS