The AFRAVIH Conference is an essential forum for dialogue on HIV in French-speaking Africa. At the 12th edition in Yaoundé, Equipop advocated for the inclusion of a feminist perspective, which is essential to the fight against HIV and the defense of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Our interventions highlighted the link between gender equality and an effective response, as well as the importance of involving women, young people, and gender minorities in order to ensure the effectiveness of rights.
I. The AFRAVIH Conference, a platform for dialogue on HIV in French-speaking Africa
From April 15 to 19, 2023, the 12th Francophone Conference on HIV/AIDS (AFRAVIH) was held in Yaoundé. Created in 2009, this conference brings together every two years actors involved in the fight against HIV, hepatitis, and other infections, and more recently sexual and reproductive health, in French-speaking countries.
AFRAVIH's ambition is to promote the sharing of experiences and discussions between health professionals, civil society organizations, directly affected communities, and scientists on biomedical advances, as well as social issues and human rights related to HIV. Despite therapeutic advances, HIV, hepatitis, and other infections remain major health challenges, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized populations.
II. Feminist approaches as a lever for the fight against SRHR/HIV
At AFRAVIH, Equipop was able to highlight the close link between gender equality and effective action against HIV and for the respect of sexual and reproductive rights. Patriarchal power relations make women, young people, and gender minorities particularly vulnerable to health risks.
Despite these realities, women and young people remain too often invisible in programs promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (including the fight against HIV). A comprehensive, feminist approach is needed to address the specific needs of women, young people, and gender minorities. This means fully involving them in the development of health policies, while tackling the root causes of the inequalities they face.
III. Youth empowerment: a driver of change for the effective realization of rights
Equipop also highlighted the importance of empowering young people, notably through the presentation of two flagship projects: Sansas and Jeunes en Vigie. A specific symposium co-organized with Solthis and supported by the entire consortium of organizations behind the Sansas project (RAES, Lartes, Enda, Equipop, and Solthis) and supported by AFD and the EVA network, provided a detailed overview of how this initiative constitutes a comprehensive, holistic, and innovative response to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) needs of adolescents and young people in Senegal. Equipop reiterated that the work carried out aims to equip adolescents and young people with the tools they need to address sexual and reproductive health and rights issues, and to train them in leadership and advocacy techniques. This enables them to take control of their own health by organizing awareness-raising activities in their communities and calling on the authorities to change public policies. Equipop emphasized the three principles of action at the heart of its youth empowerment approach: developing their in-depth knowledge and skills on SRHR, enabling them to take real action in a responsible manner, and finally amplifying their individual voices to make them a force for collective change in the spaces of debate and decision-making that concern them. This transformative process aims to move them from a fragile sense of individual power to a real power to act and influence together to promote their fundamental rights.
A poster presenting the "feminist health democracy" approach deployed as part of the Jeunes en Vigie project also enabled Equipop to highlight the founding principles of its approach: individual and collective empowerment of beneficiaries, structured social and political mobilization of citizens, monitoring and participatory advocacy for greater accountability on the part of health authorities. The shared results emphasized that support for genuine health democracy, rooted in feminist principles, offered transformative solutions and appeared to be a dynamic and virtuous process for guaranteeing the effectiveness of the right to health for all in terms of sexual and reproductive health and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Placing young people at the heart of citizen mobilization processes, participation in decisions about their specific needs, and monitoring the accountability of institutions is therefore an essential lever.
IV. Promoting feminist global governance of health
Dialogue forums such as AFRAVIH, as well as international organizations working on SRHR/HIV issues, remain dominated by biomedical approaches to health and deeply patriarchal institutional cultures. Gender issues are marginalized, diluted in technical jargon, and feminist approaches struggle to gain visibility in analysis and therefore to be translated into action.
However, as Equipop pointed out in a previous press release, Equipop in a previous press release, the solutions put forward for years by feminist associations would make it possible to address the root causes of women's health vulnerabilities. It is urgent to involve them in these multidisciplinary forums and in global health governance in order to bring about the feminist shift that is essential for a sustainable fight against pandemics and for sexual and reproductive rights.
