Posts archive for 2019

“Today, and throughout the year, we celebrate brave and inspiring children from across the globe who have made ground breaking contributions towards development of other children and the entire human race. Children are our greatest resource and humanity’s best hope for the future; decisions and investments that we make today will determine our children’s future, and ultimately the future of our humanity. Children will inherit the innovations, technology and milestones that we have developed in this generation, unfortunately they will also inherit all the negative outcomes and consequences of war, poverty, limited health care and access to education, child labour and all forms of abuse. As we celebrate this day, we acknowledge positive transformation and development in areas of civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children – while simultaneously we need to critically reflect on the gaps, and areas we have failed to ensure that every child has a right to dignity, basic human rights and security. We cannot claim sustainable development without tangible action and investment towards the holistic development of children. We owe every child a happy and safe childhood!”    Ms. Rouzeh Eghtessadi, SAfAIDS Executive Director

“International Men’s Day is designed to promote positive role models in society and develop wholesome individuals. When we make investments towards promoting individual and collective development of key groups in our respective communities, including men and boys, we are able to effectively address key challenges including high incidence of HIV infection, reproductive health challenges, sexual gender-based violence and gender inequalities in different sectors….and make giant steps towards achieving and sustaining development at a global scale. International Men’s Day encourages men to lead by example; boys need positive male role models. Our broader community also needs positive male role models. This is the best strategy to create a fair and safe society which allows everyone the opportunity to flourish and reach their fullest potential.” Rouzeh Eghtessadi, SAfAIDS Executive Director

 

SAfAIDS Statement on International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) 

 

“Our Girls, Our Gems”

 

11^th October 2019

 

“SAfAIDS joins like-minded stakeholders in commemorating IDGC2019; amplifying and reaffirming commitment towards gender equality and unlocking equal opportunities for girls in health, education and leadership, amongst other critical sectors. Our girls are a distinct cohort of our society. When we invest in nurturing a brave, resilient, innovative, educated and skilled girl child, we have invested in a society which is progressively rooted in sustainable development,” Ms. Rouzeh Eghtessadi, SAfAIDS Acting Executive Director

 

SAfAIDS Statement on World Mental Health Day

10 October 2019

“The stigma and shame surrounding mental health continues to deter many of us in the development sector from boldly addressing it. For SRH outcomes to be sustained, psychosocial well-being, affirming dignity for persons with mental health challenges and policy advocacy to destigmatise mental health issues, is imperative to the human and social development we aspire for in our region.” Ms Rouzeh Eghtessadi, SAfAIDS Acting Executive Director.

 

 

 

“As we commemorate ISAD2019, SAfAIDS urges policy makers to exercise their obligation of ensuring policy spaces facilitate access to safe abortion by ALL women. Policy makers have an enshrined duty to enable adolescent girls and young women to enjoy their fundamental right to freedom of choice, autonomy, and physical and psychosocial wellbeing. Beyond moralization and judgement; denial of access to safe, legal and unrestricted abortion services is a direct contradiction to the pursuit of Saving Lives, Preserving Dignity and the Human Development agenda of all States. A win-win is enjoyed by both States and their communities and populace, where safe abortion access, and contraceptive access, is effected. More girls and young women completing their education, less  women dying due to unsafe abortion related complications, lowered burden on health economies, and increase in young women contributing to socioeconomic development of their communities – are among the bigger picture wins, pivotal to this SRHR advocacy agenda.” Ms Rouzeh Eghtessadi, Acting Executive Director, SAfAIDS 

Each year, 24 March is commemorated as World Tuberculosis (TB) Day; the Day is set aside to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB and to scale up collective global efforts to end the TB epidemic. According to the WHO 2018 Report, TB remains the world’s deadliest infectious killer with daily mortality and morbidity rates of nearly 4500 and 30000 respectively. WHO TB Reports from the year 2000 to 2018 highlight that global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 54 million lives and reduced the TB mortality rate by 42%. However, although the disease is preventable and curable, TB prevalence remains alarmingly high, with the heaviest burden being borne by low and middle income countries; with 9 SADC member states being listed as part of the 30 High TB burden countries (WHO 2018). Hence the need for strengthened collective global awareness-raising to prevent the disease.  

“As part of the global development and women’s empowerment agenda, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are rooted in fundamental human rights, and aim to uphold and safeguard the dignity, agency, bodily integrity and autonomy as well as wellbeing of all; ensuring that everyone reaches their highest potential. International Women’s Day and Women’s Month provide a critical platform to not only collectively come together to reflect on gains made towards the attainment and achievement of gender equality and equity, but also gives room to analyse the gaps to inform and strengthen interventions and initiatives focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Additionally, this day also allows us to celebrate the achievements that women have made across various sectors and generations in both the public and private spheres, and for us to draw inspiration from those achievements.” SAfAIDS Executive Director, Mrs Lois Chingandu

11^th February, globally marks the International Day for Women and Girls in Science. The Day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. This Day is a reminder that women and girls play a critical role in science and technology communities and that their participation should be strengthened. According to UNESCO (2018) science and gender equality are both vital for sustainable development; however, women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science, with less than 30% of researchers worldwide being women.