The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA) is a loose alliance of civil society groups, networks of women living with HIV, and United Nations agencies, supported by activists, political leaders, and celebrities. The GCWA is supported by a small secretariat located within the UNAIDS office in Geneva.

The Coalition focuses on eight key issues:

• supporting ongoing efforts towards universal education for girls
• securing women’s property and inheritance rights
• reducing violence against women
• preventing HIV infection, particularly among adolescent girls, by improving access to reproductive healthcare
• promoting access to prevention options, including female condoms and microbicides
• ensuring women and girls have equitable access to treatment and care
• supporting women’s work as caregivers within the household and the community
• promoting women’s leadership in the AIDS response

Its work falls into three main areas:

Evidence and policy development
Work on each key issue is led by a small group of “convening agencies”. They work to address critical knowledge gaps and developing policy recommendations for policy makers.

Advocacy
The GCWA’s advocacy efforts are amplified by the GCWA Leadership Council – a group of eminent individuals who speak out on the key issues to make the AIDS response work better for women and girls.

Country-level action
The GCWA supports catalytic activities at country level designed to result in long-term improvements in AIDS programmes for women.