Body pushes for HIV+ women’s empowerment
In a bid to empower women living with HIV and Aids in Malawi, the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW) organised a two-day advocacy training on human rights to equip them with knowledge on their rights.
ICW national coordinator Clara Banya told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that the training was designed to enable women living with HIV to ably identify issues that affect them negatively and come up with strategies on how to address them.
“In assisting women, the training will also assist the country as a whole like we say that when a woman is educated, the whole nation gets educated,” she said.
Banya stressed that although many women are vulnerable to different types of abuse, they are key contributors to the society’s socio-economic development; hence, the rightful need to empower them.
She also said as ICW, they expect to see women living with HIV in the country enjoying their rights to every public service such as health, education and agriculture, among others.
An HIV-positive Lilongwe-based sex worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, commended ICW for the training, saying she also prayed that government would include those living with HIV in programmes such as Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) and the Public Works Programme.
The ICW meeting was held at Mkwichi Secondary School in Area 47 and it was attended by Female Sex Workers Association (FSWA), Tilipo Groups and Coalition for Women Living With HIV and Aids in Malawi (Cowlha), among others.
