Isis-WICCE and Urgent Action Fund-Africa have convened a three days international conference in Nairobi, Kenya beginning 7th December 2009 to share and highlight the potential and capacity of women living positively with HIV/AIDS in conflict and post conflict settings in taking lead in transforming themselves when money and resources are directly given to them. The conference is a result of a two years project that the two organisations have been carrying out in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Liberia to address the intersection between conflict, Gender Based Violence and HIV/AIDS.

The project that was supported by Ford Foundation funded initiatives that were identified by women living positively and were also given freedom to manage the small grants to respond to their needs in their circumstances. The results which the grantees have directly shared with donors have demonstrated the invisible transformative potential of women living positively with HIV/AIDS in conflict and post conflict settings when small funds are directly put in their hands.  

During the deliberations that were held at Silver Springs Hotel in Nairobi, bringing together a cross section of donors funding HIV/AIDS activities and women’s rights work and grantee representatives from the three countries, participants were convinced that small amounts of money which were directly given to women living positively with HIV/AIDS have contributed greatly in transforming their lives, their families and the communities where they live.  

The grantees who were mainly from grassroots initiatives noted the importance of involving them directly and putting them at the centre of HIV/AIDS interventions in their communities as vital in ensuring effective response to the consequences of the pandemic that has been having devastating consequences on livelihoods of the people living with HIV/AIDS especially women in conflict and post conflict settings.  

During the two years project, the two organisations addressed the priority needs of the selected and identified grassroots initiatives of women living positively with HIV/AIDS by directly disbursing small grants to them and enabling them to document their transformation processes. At the conference which aimed at showcasing the best practices from the three countries, the grantees had the opportunity to directly show that the small grant funding improved their lives by addressing the stigma, fear and denial that were affecting them before the project commenced. “The project has clearly shown that we know our problems and have the potential to solve them even with meagre resources…understand us because we are not the problem but the solution to problems that go with the disease”; they chorused.

They also expressed satisfaction that through the small grants, they have managed to set up small businesses and projects that have helped them to address poverty and solve their immediate needs. In a highly interactive session, the grantees were also able to report that through the small funding, they were able to access treatment and to provide health services to infected and affected people within their communities using mobile clinics. The grantees also showed that since the intervention, their well being has not only improved but their spirits have also been lifted and they now have hope of living longer. “…for the first time , we feel we were at the centre of the process and valued because the money came to us, it was for us, managed by us and to cater for those needs that we identified ourselves”; said one of the grantees from Liberia.

The grantees and donors reviewed the benefits the project gave the positive women and they all agreed that through the project, innovative initiatives like setting up revolving funds that answered the need of the positive women who hitherto had no way of accessing funding to carry out gainful economic activities.

“…this project showed us that we were valued people and trusted and that we could do meaningful activities through our own potential…we were always denied money by micro finance institutions…they never wanted to trust us with their money because they believed that we were soon dying and we would die with their money. This project helped us to start our own revolving fund through our own village bank where we are  accessing  funds for our own needs...”; said Dorna Aseru from National Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) in Uganda.

In her submission, the project consultant, Beatrice Were noted that there were many positive changes realised in the project despite the small size of the grant given to women living positively with HIV/AIDS in conflict and post conflict situations. “This was a deliberate effort aimed at ensuring things are done differently. Putting HIV/AIDS positive women at the centre and in the lead and enabling them to use modern technology to document their story and be in charge of their own story and to use it the way they wish is the essence of this transformation”; she declared.  

Earlier in the opening session, the Executive Director of Isis-WICCE Ruth Ochieng expressed satisfaction about the project which she said has led to the transformation of lives of grassroots women living positively with HIV/AIDS in conflict and post conflict setting. She emphasised the importance of giving the funds directly to the women because they have gone through it and lived with it. She said that giving them the opportunity to be at the centre of managing and controlling their lives makes more meaning to them.

The Executive Director of Urgent Action Fund-Africa, Jessica Nkuuhe noted the importance of ensuring that women in conflict and post conflict settings  access funding directly as a new perspective of funding that is more responsive to the women living positively with HIV/AIDS. She stressed the importance of taking on from the lessons learnt in the project so that meaningful and responsive funding approaches are used to respond to the needs of women living positively with HIV/AIDS.