Women & Girls

Unite to fight for women and girls

Despite great progress made against HIV globally, adolescent girls and young women continue to be disproportionately at risk of new HIV infections. Worldwide, approximately 4900 young women and girls are infected with HIV every week. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls account for more than 25% of HIV infections, despite making up only 10% of the population. They are more than three times as likely to acquire HIV than their male peers.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures, including school closures have put girls even further at risk. It is estimated that more than 5 million girls globally may not return to school after leaving due to COVID-19 closures. Evidence also shows that school closures during crises can lead to an increase in teen pregnancy – in some cases by as much as 65%. We must unite to fight for women and girls during this global pandemic.

The hidden tragedy of COVID-19

Follow 24-year-old Grace Ngulube as she takes us through the intimate lives of adolescent girls and young women affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures in Malawi. “Restrictions on movement and school closures – while successful in halting the spread of COVID-19 – contributed considerably to fueling a pandemic of violence against adolescent girls and young women behind closed doors, threatening to reverse decades of progress in the fights against HIV and gender inequality.”  Grace's story

The power of school

If we invest in girls’ schooling, health benefits will follow. A better-educated girl is less likely to get HIV, and more likely to have control over her body and be able to make her own choices about when or if she will marry or have children. And it not only makes a difference for her, it makes a difference for generations to come. Her children are more likely to survive infanthood, more likely to be vaccinated and more likely to go to school themselves.

Raising HER Voice

HER Voice is a fund established in 2018 based on the principle that adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) have a vital role to play in driving and shaping the HIV response in Africa. Their realities, experiences and needs must be central to policy making, program design, implementation and oversight.

In 13 priority countries, small grants are available to overcome barriers to meaningful participation in key Global Fund and related processes. HER Voice Fund Ambassadors have also risen to become influential advocates in their countries. The fund is implemented by Y+ Global with support from ViiV Healthcare Positive Action and the Global Fund.

Understanding the risks

While TB generally strikes more men than women, it remains among the top five causes of death for women between age 15 and 44 in low- and middle-income countries. As for malaria, pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the disease. Potentially fatal for the woman, it can also cause miscarriage, low birth weight or premature births.

Biomedical interventions such as access to treatment and mosquito nets, while urgent and necessary, are not sufficient to reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV, TB and malaria. Only structural transformations – social, political and cultural – will end the spread of the diseases.

Saybatou's life mission

Malaria is the biggest killer of children under the age of 5 in sub-Saharan Africa. During the rainy season – July to October – Saybatou Moussa and other community health workers go door-to-door to give preventive antimalarial medicine to young children in the city of Maradi, Niger. Saybatou's video story