Lawyers Alert, MHR Launch Gender Equality Fund Project to Address HIV, TB, Malaria in Akwa Ibom
By Ekemini Simon
Lawyers Alert in partnership with Media Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria (MHR) have commenced the implementation of its gender equality fund project in Akwa Ibom State with the aim of addressing HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria prevalence.
The project supported through Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), in partnership with GSK and ViiV Healthcare is a two-and-a-half-year project implemented in Akwa Ibom State and Benue State.
The project tagged ” Law Rights and community empowerment for social change in TB, HIV and Malaria Response” is focused on empowering women-led organizations by strengthening women leaders and organizations in Akwa Ibom State to enable them to demand accountability and advocate for policies that address gender-related barriers within the context of TB, HIV, and Malaria.
At the start-up meeting held on Tuesday, October 15, Lawyer Alert ‘s Advisor Legal, Peace Okesola said through the project, the organisations and leaders that would be empowered will evolve into a movement promoting gender-transformative and gender-affirmative practices with the purpose of sharing lessons at the national level.
She highlighted the interventions that would be made to include advocacy and capacity building which will involve stakeholders convening, development of capacity and advocacy plan, development of policy briefs, awareness session for women and marginalised communities on the strategy, roadmap and human rights approach to interventions on TB, HIV and Malaria interventions. The Legal Advisor said there will be community dialogues and sessions with the government and other diverse groups
Okesola noted that on research and assessment intervention, there will be situational analysis, capacity assessments, legal landscape analysis assessment of the legal framework in Akwa Ibom, research on Intersectionality of violations in TB,HIV and Malaria response and deployment of scorecards monitoring compliance with policies. Others include deployment of fact sheets on global best practices towards eliminating gender barriers to TB, HIV and Malaria response.
She pointed out that there will be legislative engagements with legislative bodies on laws and policies, presentation of memorandums, coordinating CSO’s participation and presentation at public hearings and drafting of model laws and policies.
Other interventions will include development of learning documents, dissemination, validation and lessons sharing meetings.
The Legal Advisor offered insight to the fact that at the end of the project, Lawyer Alert expects to see strong community-led organisations and partnerships, collaborations, demanding accountability and promoting community rights, and gender-transformative and gender- affirmative approaches to health, such as TB, HIV, and malaria.
She said the organisation looks forward to existence of strong policies and programs in Akwa Ibom State and other States that incorporate comprehensive gender and human rights principles in the response to TB, HIV and Malaria in Nigeria with model laws developed on gender-affirmative approach to health TB, HIV, and Malaria, passed by the State assemblies, and most importantly girls, and gender-diverse communities reached on the project deciding about their health care by themselves.
Also, in her remarks, Ufuoma Eguriase of Media Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria charged the participants to contribute ideas that will help create a robust system that will address gender concerns in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.
In her keynote address, Mrs Ayodele Oluwakemi of the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme (NTBLCP) said overtime malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB have been the disease causing more deaths to Nigerians. She said although the government has been making sincere efforts to combat them, some of the things limiting high success rate are failures to address gender issues within the policies and legal framework hence successfully combat these health concerns.
While expressing readiness to contribute ideas towards better policies and laws, Oluwakemi commended Lawyers Alert and Media Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria for the project expressing optimism for impact.
Earlier in her goodwill Message, Dr. Edith Igbemi of the Akwa Ibom State State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA) thanked Lawyers Alert for the project noting the project is in line with SACA’s plan especially having recently noticed 12,300 new infection of HIV in Akwa Ibom State after the 2018 data of 5.5 prevalence rate of HIV despite SACA’s effort at combating HIV.
Igbemi said what the Agency has discovered is behind the spike in infection rate is stigma and discrimination which discourages those infected from the uptake of HIV Services.
She added “People don’t even want to know their status because of fear of stigmatization and discrimination. They rather resort to self medication and herbal medicine.”
She said the Agency has set up a human rights committee that will be in charge of gender mainstreaming hence they are open to partner with Lawyers Alert since they both have a shared goal.
On her part, the representative of the Akwa Ibom State TB Program Manager, Theresa Bassey said stigmatization and discrimination of persons infected by TB has been a major barrier limiting the treatment of TB in Akwa Ibom State. She said the gender mainstreaming aspect of the project and plans to influence policies and laws especially appropriation laws will help break the TB uptake and care barriers in the State hence contribute towards the fight to end TB.
The State Program Manager of Malaria, Enobong Umoren in her goodwill message thanked Lawyers Alert for the initiative.
In his presentation on Human Rights Approach to AIDS/HIV, TB and Malaria Interventions, Barr Archibong Liberty highlighted the provisions in the constitution, Nigeria’s National Health Act, Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law of Akwa Ibom State, HIV and AIDS (Anti-Discrimination) Act that protect the rights of people who make be affected by HIV, TB and Malaria. He stressed that for such ones to be infected does not make them less humans hence their human rights must be upheld.