Robert Carr Fund/2019-2021 MENA Rosa

MENA Rosa

MENA Rosa is the first and only regional network dedicated to women living with and affected by the HIV in the Middle East and North Africa.

MENA Rosa’s mission is to empower and support primarily women living with and affected by HIV; those who are at risk of HIV acquisition and their families and children access HIV prevention and treatment intervention to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

 

Grantee type:
Regional
Grant:
$450,000
Grant period:
2019-2021

 

Context

  • Worldwide, 19.1 million women and girls were living with HIV as of 2019.. Women and girls account for over half of all new HIV infections in Africa and approximately a third of all new HIV infections elsewhere in the world. Young women (10-24 years old) are twice as likely to acquire HIV as young men the same age.
  • Gender inequality, discrimination, violence, limited access to education and a lack of tailored services limit women’s and girls’ access to health care services (including HIV and HIV related services) and fuel new infections.
  • Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) face disproportionate risks for HIV infection because they are not sufficiently empowered to negotiate safer sex, have limited access to comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment, and face persistent gender inequality and systematic human rights violations that include discrimination in employment and education and exposure to interpersonal and sexual violence among others.
  • Organizing and advocacy by women living with HIV, their organizations and other like-minded organizations are central to efforts to improve human rights environments, improve HIV and HIV-related services accessibility and utilization, and improve efficiency and effectiveness of national and international funding for health and other human rights programs.

RCF funding 2019-2021

MENA Rosa received US$ 450,000 in funding from the Robert Carr Fund for work during 2019-2021.  This funding was allocated to both core and strategic program costs to help build the capacity of the networks and to support collective action regionally.

 

Geographic coverage   

MENA Rosa is led by women living with HIV in 14 countries: of the Middle East and North Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Oman.

 

Population coverage    

MENA Rosa focuses on the global empowerment, leadership, health and rights of women living with HIV, women affected by HIV, women at risk of HIV acquisition and their families and children.

 

Activities 2019-2021

With RCF funding in 2019-2021, MENA Rosa will:

  • Convene the general assembly of MENA Rosa and further develop the network’s operational and governance structure and its internal management systems, policies and capacity.
  • Consult with women living with HIV and women at risk in 14 countries to define priority needs and issues, and help women develop advocacy strategies and plans to respond to their needs through information and advocacy at national and international levels.
  • Conduct human rights literacy and treatment literacy workshops for women and girls and support them to seek health services, confront stigma, discrimination, coercion, violence and criminalization, and ensure a more effective response to the HIV epidemic.
  • Help to organize dialogue forums between women living with HIV and stakeholders in health including health care providers, policy and program developers and implementors to identify barriers to access and agree on clear strategies for collaboratively addressing those barriers.