KATHMANDU, March 1
A training manual aimed at empowering and protecting the rights of women affected by HIV was launched on the occasion of Zero Discrimination Day on Tuesday.
The training manual entitled "Positive Projection: Empowering Women Affected by HIV to Protect their Rights at Healthcare Setting" was jointly developed by the UNDP, the UNAIDS, the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV and the Nepal Federation of Women Living with HIV.
It also aims to address the gaps in the efforts of the government while addressing the challenges facing people, mainly women living with HIV, in Nepal and the discriminations they face at health care centers.
The manual seeks to empower women to fight back against coerced sterilization and abortion, and degrading or humiliating treatment, and denial of access to sexual and reproductive health services, according to the UNDP. Speaking during the manual launch, Renaud Meyer, the UNDP country director, said, “As we embrace the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, this training manual has a very direct link to one of the SDGs in ensuring that the issues of access and the issues of discriminations on the basis of health status is taken care of,” Meyer said. He even stressed that women and girls, in particular, must be prominently included in efforts to address inequalities.
Likewise, Mathura Kunwar, president of the National Federation of Women Living with HIV, said she was confident that the manual would be able to empower women and show them ways to access social and legal justice. Twenty-six Master Trainers, with the support of Save the Children under a Global Fund grant, will pass on their knowledge and skills at the local level in collaboration with different stakeholders.
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