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International Conference on AIDS , Ethiopia
an article by Diana Tashkova
One of the largest events in Africa is the biennial International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections ( ICASA). It took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 4-8th of December 2011 under the theme “Own, Scale-up and Sustain”at the Millennium Conference Center. 
People with disabilites compaigning
click on photo to enlarge
More than 10, 000 delegates including scientists, health workers, people living with HIV, policy makers and civil society came from 103 countries to share their experience, success and challenges in the fight against AIDS. People living with AIDS, persons living in resource-limited countries, students and researchers were awarded scholarships to attend one of the major international AIDS conferences thirty years after AIDS was first discovered as a new disease.
Following the Millennium Developments Goals ( MDG 6) during the congress were presented poster exhibition, abstracts, projects, workshops for community, plenary speeches and special sessions. A lot of the presentations and discussions concerned HIV vulnerability of women, children and youths, sexual reproductive rights, rights of people living with AIDS, rights of minorities and people with disabilities, etc.
ICASA served as a platform for knowledge ,experience and opportunities for access to HIV prevention, care and treatment responding to the need of development, partnership, collaboration and advocacy to intensify the HIV response.
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Recent IMF research shows that eliminating gender gaps in economic participation can bring increases in per capita income. This can have a major impact — women control the purse strings in most households around the world, and more spending by women feeds into higher levels of demand and economic growth.
How can we promote more opportunity for women in the workplace? Sometimes it is about changing laws; for example, ensuring that property and inheritance laws do not discriminate against women. It also means policies that encourage education and healthcare, and provide greater access to credit so that women can achieve greater economic independence. This is an area where the IMF is working hard to help through our analytical and capacity-building efforts in our member countries.
The playing field also must be leveled in richer countries. They need more pro-women, pro-family leave schemes; quality, affordable childcare; individual (instead of family) taxation; and tax credits or benefits for low-wage workers.
So learning and labour are key. The third “L” is leadership: enabling women to rise and fulfil their innate abilities and talents. Here, there is plenty of room for improvement: for example, women constitute only 4 per cent of CEOs on the Standard and Poor’s list of 500 companies; and only one-fifth of parliamentary seats worldwide.
The irony is that when women lead they tend to do as good a job, if not a better job. One study shows that Fortune 500 companies with track records of raising women to senior positions are far more profitable than the average firms in their fields. . ...more.
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