| 01 December 2004 | Wednesday | 18 Shawwal 1425 |
Fight inequality: Fight Aids
Flood protection project
Eid Milan gatherings
'World Aids Day' is 16 years old today. This year, it is dedicated to women and girls, who are now as severely affected by Aids as men, but whose circumstances in developing countries are made even more difficult by having fewer rights and poorer access to employment, property and education. Its strap line 'Have you heard from me today?' is about hearing female voices speak out on Aids.
A 16-year old girl in my country can expect to be in secondary education, or just beginning to work. But in many parts of the developing world, she can be guaranteed neither schooling nor employment.
Worse, young girls in the 15-24 age range now make up over 60 per cent of those of that age-group living with HIV and Aids around the world, with the figure rising to 75 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa.
In some countries, adolescent girls face infection rates that are five to six times higher than those of boys of the same age. It's very hard for a 16-year old girl to be the embodiment of strength and hope that she ought to be, when she is HIV positive and threatened with Aids.
As many as 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV and Aids, with five million people newly infected every year. Aids kills three million people annually. It is prevalent in Africa and the Caribbean; it is spreading rapidly in Asia and Eastern Europe.
There are many causes for women's and girls' greater vulnerability to infection, including a culture of silence surrounding sex, a lack of education about the means of transmission of HIV and the ways of protection against it, the stigma attached to women buying and using condoms, and a high rate of violence and exploitation within relationships.
A woman is defenceless if a man has several sexual partners, or if he was infected before marriage, or if he refuses to use a condom. A girl is defenceless if sex with an older man is the only way she can get educated, fed or clothed. And once women are infected, the whole families and communities are affected. Sick women cannot fulfil their traditional roles as the carers in families, and as the productive labourers in rural and agricultural economies.
At the core of women's and girls' vulnerability to HIV is the issue of their equal rights - or lack of them - in society. On World Aids Day, we should ask ourselves 'how can the world overcome Aids?'
It can do so using the prevention, treatment, education and vibrant leadership which has already been so successful in countries like Uganda, Senegal, Thailand and Brazil. We know what works. We can overcome Aids, and we must do so.
Part of the answer is money. There is a £6.6 billion Aids funding gap for this year alone. The UK is playing its part as the world's second largest donor in the fight against Aids, and we have pledged £1.5 billion to the fight over the next 3 years.
We are also doubling our contribution to the Global Fund for Aids, TB and Malaria. But more funds are needed: not least because we have a moral imperative to help our fellow human beings; and - in an increasingly inter-dependent world where the successes and failures of one country or region or continent are shared by all - we have an interest in doing so.
Part of the answer is in combining immediate solutions - like the provision of male and female condoms, and making available essential anti-retroviral drugs at reasonable prices - with longer-term approaches.
Trials are being carried out on antibiotic drugs for children, and on microbicide gels which could dramatically reduce the risk of female infection. Scientists are working hard to find a vaccine.
Throughout the developing world, we are increasingly seeing the media carrying the message of preventing HIV and confronting discrimination through entertaining and educational TV programmes. At the same time, ministries of education are starting to make HIV awareness a part of a school education.
Part of the answer lies in special help to meet the needs of those worst affected by Aids, such as orphans and other vulnerable children. Practical steps include food security programmes, and small loans to families affected by the death of parents to Aids.
Much of the work has to deal with issues which go way beyond Aids itself. The challenges of Aids are the challenges of education, of health services, of women's rights, of business and economic development, of peace and security.
The key, however, lies in political will and strong leadership. While the international community will continue to lead on finding the funds and the best methods to beat Aids, the determination and leadership has to be felt at every level of the societies that are worst hit by the disease.
The direction given by governments of developing countries needs to reflect the leadership of schools, churches, and local communities. And women and girls - for so long the face of poverty, and now the shared face of Aids - need to be put at the centre of our efforts to wipe out this terrible disease.
The writer is UK Secretary of State for International Development.
Fight inequality: Fight Aids
When Aids first hit the headlines 20 years ago, most of the people infected with HIV were men. Today, nearly half of those living with HIV and Aids world wide are women. Female infection rates are on the rise in almost every region of the globe.
In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 60 per cent of adults living with HIV are women. The fastest increases at present, however, are in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. In parts of Asia, epidemics are spreading within particular population groups and then into the general population.
Strikingly, the latest data indicates that one in four newly infected people is Asian; one in six is Indian. As a result, women and girls are becoming increasingly infected.
In East Asia, 22 per cent of all adults and 28 per cent of young people (15-24) living with HIV are female. In South and Southeast Asia the figure is even higher: 30 per cent of all adults and 40 per cent of all young people living with HIV are women and girls. In India, women now account for one-quarter of new HIV infections.
It is not difficult to work out why so many women are being affected. The vast majority of women lack the social and economic power to avoid being exposed. Far too many women are denied the chance to go to school, earn a living, own or inherit property or have access to healthcare. Moreover, huge numbers of women world wide suffer violence, abuse and exploitation all of which make them more prone to infection.
So far, efforts to help women have tended to focus on promoting the ABC concept (Abstain, Be faithful and use Condoms). This has undoubtedly helped reduce the spread of infection in some areas, but now we need to go further.
We have to accept that women who are raped do not have the option of abstaining from sex. We must recognize that fidelity is a two-way process that only works if both partners stick to it 100 per cent. And while condom use makes an enormous difference, by no means all women are in a position to negotiate with partners to use them. Furthermore, condoms, particularly female condoms, may not always be available.
We must also recognize that marriage, long thought a sure- fire way of protecting men and women from HIV infection, can actually be a risk factor. In many countries in Africa and South Asia, most women marry young usually before they are 20, and often to husbands who are considerably older than they are.
Few have much choice in the matter their marriage is frequently an economic necessity as their parents cannot afford to keep them at home. Their new husbands will often have had other sexual partners, and may be reluctant to agree to use condoms.
Moreover, women's inherent physical susceptibility (a woman is more than twice as likely to become infected via sexual contact with an infected man, than a man is from an encounter with an infected woman) is highest of all among girls and younger women.
In India, 90 per cent of the women who test positive for HIV in ante-natal clinics say they are in long-term monogamous relationships. Twelve years ago, approximately 90 per cent of HIV transmission in Thailand was occurring between sex-workers and their clients.
Recent estimates reveal that by 2002, 50 per cent of new infections in Thailand were between spouses, as current or former male clients of sex workers transmitted the virus to their wives.
If women had more control over their lives and relationships, the risk of getting HIV from older partners, unfaithful husbands, or through forced marriages would drop drastically.
If women could choose to get married rather than have marriage forced on them, to decide when and with whom they have sex, and to negotiate condom use with their partners, and if they could live lives free from violence, get an education, have access to healthcare and earn enough to feed their families they would have a real opportunity to protect themselves from HIV.
But this can only happen if we acknowledge the need to make the world a more equal place. This means challenging longstanding but now lethal laws, customs, and traditions, and changing the way much of the worlds population (men and women, boys and girls) think and behave.
Without a fundamental shift in the gender balance, the impact of Aids on women and girls will be more and more devastating - not just on those who become infected but on the families, communities and countries they live in. We have a chance now to make that shift and make a difference for generations of men and women to come.
The writer is Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for HIV/Aids for Asia and Pacific.
Flood protection project
Nazims, councillors and the residents of four rural union councils, protesting against the project of raising the Ahmedpur flood protective embankment, have demanded that the project be abandoned and instead the Zamindara Bund be strengthened there.
During a visit to the area by newsmen, conducted the other day by an NGO Pattan, which supports the rights of the people of riverain areas, the people said work on the project would be a sheer waste of public money as the residents would bear major losses in the shape of buildings and agricultural land along with other public places like mosques, schools, hospitals, veterinary hospitals and UC offices.
According to an estimate, some 40,000 residents of four union councils, in addition to thousands of acres of agricultural land, will be affected if the Ahmedpur Bund was raised and strengthened.
It is part of the government's second national anti-flood project, costing Rs4.1 billion. Out of this amount, the Asian Development Bank provided Rs64 million in the form of loan.
The scheme was inaugurated about six months ago, but on the local population's protest the work was stopped. Now, according to UC Nazims, the Federal Flood Commission and the irrigation department were planning to resume the construction work.
The bund will have a total length of 16,7000 feet. It starts from Labana Chowk near the Bahawalpur railway station and joins the left marginal bund of Panjnad Head works at RD 67700 passing through four union councils of the district.
The Nazims and the flood protection associations of the four affected union councils - Khanowali, Jalalabad, Karpal and Samasatta - sent unanimous resolutions to the Federal Flood Commission, ADB, and the irrigation department several times and also personally approached them with the plea that since the project was not in the community's interest, it should be abandoned. But, the agencies concerned, without regard for the losses, are bent upon going ahead with the plan.
The UC Nazims informed the media team of their reservations, and said only in 1988 the flood water of River Sutlej had touched the Ahmedpur Bund and its depth was only one to two feet at some places.
They said during the 1992 flood in the Sutlej, the overflowing water was controlled and stopped at Zamindara Bund constructed by villagers on a self-help basis, and thus the flood water could not touch the Ahmedpur Bund, which has a distance of about four kilometres from the Zamindara Bund.
They said there was a metalled road on the Ahmedmpur Bund, which was the only link between the four union councils to Bahawalpur city and the Sammasatta railway station. They maintained that the population of over 40,000 could only be protected if the project was abandoned and instead the Zamindara Bund was strengthened.
On the occasion, Pattan's representative Nasir Husain said his NGO had taken up the matter with the higher authorities of the Flood Commission and ADB in Islamabad, but some officials of the irrigation department were after the implementation of this project thus undermining the interests of the people of the four union councils.
The people gathered at the site protested against the authorities, and said they would be constrained to take any an extreme step for protecting their rights.
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The anti-encroachment operation launched during Ramazan has proved an utter failure. Despite the clear orders of the district coordination officer, the Tehsil Municipal Administration has not taken action against encroachments and illegal possession of tehsil council space in bazaars.
Due to the rising trend, the bazaars have shrunk and even the pedestrians cannot pass easily. The public circles have urged the district government to launch an anti-encroachment drive bypassing the TMA, which is reluctant to protect the common man's rights.
Eid Milan gatherings
With less literary activities, the Eid Milan parties dominated the preceding week. In some cases, even election campaigns were carried out under the cover of these Eid Milan parties.
As the Arts Council's elections are scheduled to be held this month, a panel launched by the sitting office-bearers organized a number of sumptuous gatherings on its premises. The other side managed to gather a crowd at the Gallery Sadequain on Sunday (Nov 28).
It is, however, encouraging to note that the educationists, writers, poets, painters, actors, stage performers and eminent figures from the electronic media are contesting for various offices.
One may rightly hope that the winners, to whichever panel they may belong, will improve the academic and literary level of the Arts Council. Some writers feel that a literary sitting being held once in a month and a book launching once a while were not enough to meet the common people's aesthetic urge for literature and poetry.
It may be noted that the Arts Council on November 24 conferred honorary membership of the council to some eminent practitioners in different fields. The recipients were four in number, rightly known for their meritorious services in the realm of drama, film, music and social welfare, but there was none from amongst the writers. Or, were there no writers to merit that honour?
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Ali Irfan Abedi, a senior poet and a fiction writer presented his poetry collection Qata-i-Sukhan at the Pakistan Arts Council on Monday (November 22). Insanon ki taaza fasal is his collection of short stories which appeared around a couple of years back.
Mr Abedi, a retired government servant started writing even when he was a college student. His commitment to literature is enviable, as said by Dr Farman Fatehpuri who presided over the proceeding of the launch attended by a large number of the poet's admirers and fellow writers.
Dr Farman found in him a loving person who had much respect and regard for the contemporary writers and intense love for the country - Pakistan. He suffered quite a lot in his life but optimism never failed him.
An interesting aspect of the launch of the Qata-i-Sukhan was reunion of the old friends recalling their school days, when they were learning to write fiction and poetry under the benevolent tutelage of the Bazm-i-Imroz, a literary body run by a senior writer, poet and broadcaster.
The speakers at the launch were most grateful to their benefactor, the late Afzal Siddiqui, and gave the message that early training in the art of creative writing would keep a person always on the right track.
Also the bond of friendship, shaped in the formative years between young people, was inalienable. The speakers included Prof Haroon Rashid, poet Naqqash Kazmi, Agha Masud Hussain and others. Ms Naushaba Siddiqui conducted the proceedings as she introduced the poet of the evening.
Mr Abedi, as the speakers disclosed, is a hardworking person, trying his pen on many genres of literature. He has written some stories based on scientific experience. In poetry, ghazal is his forte, as he recited some of those besides a few poems.
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Ms Sanaya, an Indian writer, while going back from Islamabad to her home town Mumbai, stayed for a short while in Karachi to meet some city writers. It was everyone's pleasure to hear her talking about some literary trends prevailing in Maharashtra, the state to which she belonged.
Ms Sanaya writes in Marathi language, while her husband is a Tamil-speaking banker. Mr Balaraman was born in Karachi just before the Partition, to be precise, in the old locality of Ramaswami and was thrilled to revisit the place.
Ms Sanaya, coming from an enlightened and progressive family, said that she was encouraged to think and write independently at an early age. At present, she is the author of one dozen collections of short stories and three novels.
"And what do you write?" Someone asked. "Women is the central theme of my novels and stories. What attracts me is the inner strength of women". Sanaya started writing poetry when she was a child, and at 12, she turned towards story-writing.
"I am in search of my own self,'' she said, "looking for a purpose in life." She is a feminist, but she does not find any conflict between genders. She also does not hate the opposite sex.
The feminist movement in literature in southern Indian states started in the decade of '70s, Sanaya said. Earlier, the decade of 40s and 50s were humming with creative voices.
In this context, Sanaya referred to the Dalit literature, coming from the poor and down-trodden, rooted in the centuries-old lower caste culture (or anti-culture). With the ongoing social change and education reaching farthest rural areas, they are trying to find their place in the socio-economic life of the country. With a new sense of pride and strength, they are writing about their experience.
However, there was another aspect of the literary movement, she said. "With the rise of urbanization and global realities, English language is gradually replacing the local languages. This may weaken the roots of our literature in the long run.''
Are there any humour writings in Marathi literature? "A lot'', she replied the questioner, and quoted a popular writer P. L. Deshpande, extremely good humanist and prose writer. Humanists are popular in Kavi Samelan (mushaira) as well.
Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city thronged by wage-earners from different areas of the country. As some communities fear from the rise of others, real or perceived, politicians jump in the arena to exploit their fear and apprehensions causing violence.
Sanaya talked at length about Marathi literature and looked eager to know about the trends in Urdu literature in our part of the country. Saba Ikram enlightened the guest on the peace movement aimed at bringing the peoples of Pakistan and India closer.