HIV

25 years fighting AIDS in Botswana

More than 25 years ago, Botswana reported its first case of HIV/AIDS. It was the start of my country’s darkest decade. Within ten years, Botswana - a democratic, well-run, diamond-rich economic success story – was facing catastrophe. The provision of anti-retroviral drugs and vast spending averted the very worst scenarios but the fight is far from over – and the economic crisis is now threatening to cut funding and reverse many of the gains of recent years.

A Concern for Care? Chinese companies' HIV and AIDS Policies

The pattern discerned through much of this chapter, of uneven responses, is also true of responses to HIV and AIDS, which has come to be seen as a core test of corporate social responsibility in the region. While this may seem to be a labour relations issue, since companies are usually responding to employees who are affected by the virus, it is usually seen as a CSR issue because some companies do offer support programmes for people beyond the workplace. Responses range from total indifference to significant concern expressed in elaborate policies and programmes.

Abortion in Zambia

Unsafe abortions remain a major concern – and cause of maternal deaths – in Zambia despite the existence of the Termination of Pregnancy Act No. 26 of 1972 and several other policies and guidelines that are intended to prevent unwanted and unintended pregnancies. While these are all regarded favourably by the people who know about them, the fact is that very few Zambians are aware of them. Therefore, it is shocking – but not surprising – that the 2006 University Teaching Hospital facility based data showed that unsafe abortions accounted for 30 percent of all maternal deaths in Zambia.

Africa Anticipates Access to Vaginal Microbicides

Twenty one years ago, Professor Zena Stein, a South African scholar, published a seminal paper in the American Journal of Public Health calling for methods that women could use to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections – sparking a global effort to put prevention in women’s hands.

As long as homophobia lives, AIDS won't die

Gay men exist everywhere and African health workers and HIV activists must accept that fact - or AIDS will continue to ravage the continent.

Can global institutions work for Africa?

Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Liepollo Lebihang Pheko, Yao Graham and Clare Short to debate the future role of institutions like the Global Fund and Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Africa at the OpenForum

Challenges to accessing health services and rights

During the workshops and consultative meetings conducted by OSISA, representatives from the women living with HIV, sex worker and LGBT sectors came up with a list of barriers to accessing services and challenges to attaining a holistic and human rights based approach to HIV and AIDS programming in the region. The challenges below are a collective summation of the issues presented by the three groups. However, in some instances, where indicated, a particular group faces a specific challenge or set of challenges that may not necessarily affect members of the other groups.

Chapter 6 - Internal Constraints on Ensuring a Developmental Impact from Chinese Investment

A consistent theme of this study has been the extent to which the limited developmental impact of Chinese investment is the responsibility of the Southern African states in which China invests.

Conclusion - Not a breed apart

Although these working conditions show that working conditions at Chinese-owned enterprises are often poor, it is not always clear that Chinese firms are much different from those owned by other nationalities.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Development programmes work best when they reflect local realities and respond to both rights violations and lack of access to services. Basic and ‘beyond basic’ needs programming should be planned together from intervention design, with a clear step-by-step process to move from one to the other. A rights-based approach to programming is crucial for the achievement of long term and sustainable empowerment of marginalised groups.

Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

HIV