WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT NEWS

Date: 20 September 2010
Call for Proposals for Fund for Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS
UNIFEM (part of UN Women), with the generous contribution of the Canadian International Development Agency, today launches a Call for Proposals for the Fund for Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS. The Fund will provide small, catalytic grants totalling US$700,000 in 2010 to grassroots and community-based organizations or networks in sub-Saharan Africa working to improve women’s access to property and inheritance rights within the context of HIV/AIDS.
Women’s property ownership and inheritance rights can play a significant role in potentially breaking the cycle of AIDS and poverty. There is growing evidence to suggest that where women’s property rights are upheld, women acting as heads and/or primary caregivers of HIV/AIDS-affected households are better able to mitigate the impact of AIDS on their families and communities and can also help prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS. Realistic and workable strategies at the grassroots have demonstrated that increasing women’s economic security and empowerment, increases their negotiating power in the household and is a means to reduce their physical and social vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
Interested applicants from sub-Saharan Africa are invited to apply. The Call for Proposals opens on 20 September 2010 and will close on 20 October 2010.
For more details, please click on the following link - http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1166