The W4GF Manifesto – Women in leadership: achieving an equal future
This year’s International Women’s Day, Women4GlobalFund (W4GF) celebrate Women in leadership: achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world. We celebrate W4GF Advocates who are on the forefront of the response to HIV, TB and malaria in their countries, regions and globally. Women have stepped up as never before – despite the COVID-19 challenges – and continue to engage in developing funding requests, represent and caucus with communities, and hold their governments accountable – often at personal risk.
This fearless leadership creates strategic partnerships to influence where the money flows and accountability to ensure investments that promote and protect human rights and gender equality. This is especially true where governments are not responsive to the priorities and rights of women in all our diversity, including women most marginalized and further made vulnerable because of their age, HIV status, profession, drug use status, gender orientation or sexual identity (SOGI).
This international women’s day we draw attention to the W4GF Manifesto to celebrate W4GF Advocates and their leadership. The W4GF Manifesto includes non-negotiables to uphold and advance the rights of women and girls in all their diversity. We call on the Global Fund – especially as it develops its new strategy to focus on finishing our shared agenda on HIV, TB and Malaria – to step up action for gender equality.
This International Women’s Day show your support by signing W4GF’s manifesto and affirm that:
- Women’s rights are human rights and that we have a legitimate right to equitably benefit from HIV, TB and malaria treatment and prevention, regardless of our health status, sexual orientation and gender identity, age, race, class, caste, work, lifestyle, and other statuses. We advocate that principles of inclusion are reflected and upheld throughout all Global Fund policy and decision-making, including in all related national levels.
- We must have sufficient mechanisms, spaces and opportunities for women to participate in Global Fund decision-making processes and to lead the work where appropriate. We want to be full and equal partners recognizing the critical roles we play in advocacy and delivery of rights-based HIV, TB and malaria responses, and we want a fairer share of recognition and support including for women-led responses.
- Accountability is critical. We seek accountability and responsibility for what the Global Fund has already promised but has not always delivered. We want transparency in how decisions are made and what informs decisions, to ensure that resources are aligned to the Global Fund’s key strategic objective 3 to promote and protect human rights and gender equality.
Together we are stronger, organised and prepared to push for the changes on behalf of women in all their diversity, wherever they live.
Join us to celebrate W4GF Advocates who are on the forefront of the response to HIV, TB and malaria and sign our the W4GF Manifesto here
To download a printable version of the statement click here