HE Libertina Amathila, Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Namibia
Libertina Amathila’s involvement with AIDS dates back to 1999, when she became chairperson of the National AIDS Committee, the country’s highest level policy and coordination mechanism for the expanded national response on HIV and AIDS. She personally supervised the introduction of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) Programme in the public sector in Namibia in 2002 and the introduction of Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART) in public hospitals during 2003. She served as Minister of Health until early 2005.

Amathila graduated from Warsaw Medical Academy in 1969 as the first African woman to graduate in Poland. She was Namibia’s first black woman medical doctor under SWAPO’s Nationhood Programme. She has been a full member of SWAPO’s Polit-Bureau since March 1991 and the SWAPO Central Committee. In 2002, Dr Amathila was awarded the 1st class or most excellent Order of the Eagle, Namibia’s Highest Award (Grand Commander of the Order of the Eagle) for service to her country.

Ludfine Anyango, National Coordinator, HIV/AIDS, ActionAid Kenya Country Programme     
Ludfine Anyango, is the National HIV/AIDS Coordinator at ActionAid Kenya and is herself living with HIV. Her work involves strengthening HIV prevention, care and support strategies to reduce the impact of AIDS on Kenya’s communities, supporting programmes that protect the rights of those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and developing partnerships between the Kenyan government and community-based NGOs.

Anyango holds a Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Nairobi, and is currently pursuing a second Masters degree in Rural Sociology and Community Development at the same University. She pioneered the establishment of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa, Kenya Branch (SWAA-K). She was also involved in the founding of various Kenyan NGOs on HIV/AIDS, including the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, the Home-Based Care Association and the Coalition on Access to Essential Medicine and Treatment.

Read Interview with Ludfine Anyango

Louise D. Binder, Chair of Ontario’s Voices of Positive Women network
Louise Binder is a Canadian lawyer who was diagnosed HIV positive in 1993. Ill health forced her to retire from work in 1994, at which point she became involved with the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation – first as a volunteer and then as co-chair of the Board. She is currently Chair of Ontario’s Voices of Positive Women network.

Since the advent of anti-retroviral viral therapy in 1996, Louise's health has improved, enabling her to take on a range of additional volunteer activities. These include co-founding (and chairing) the Canadian Treatment Action Council, a national advocacy body, co-chairing the federal Ministerial Council on HIV/AIDS, and serving on the Community Advisory Committee of the Canadian HIV Trials Network and the HIV/AIDS Ethics Committee of the University of Toronto. In 2005, she helped found the Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS, and in 2006 joined the Leadership Council of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. She was the plenary speaker on women and girls at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006.

Louise has received recognition for her efforts from numerous sources including the City of Toronto (Contance E. Hamilton Award), the Province of Ontario (the Order of Ontario), her alma mater Queen's University Law School (an Honorary Doctorate of Laws), Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (the Queen's Jubilee medal), and from the communities she serves - the Ontario AIDS Network Award and the Canadian AIDS Society Leadership Award.

Maire Bopp,  Founder, Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation
Maire Bopp Allport, an anti-nuclear activist and HIV advocate, is the founder and CEO of the Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation (PIAF).As a young Tahitian woman speaking out about HIV/AIDS, Maire was the first HIV-positive Pacific Islander to declare her status in the media. With this courageous step, she put a Pacific face to the virus and helped up HIV on the Pacific Islands agenda. Since then, she has spoken at a number of international conferences, has led PIAF to successfully lobby for access to antiretroviral treatment for many in the region, and continue to support and empower HIV positive Pacific Islanders. PIAF grew out of a need for an independent task force to voice the needs of those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS in the Pacific Islands, as well as to guide and will gaps in the overall response to HIV in the region. PIAF works with all 22 Pacific Island countries and territories, focusing particularly on issues relating to discrimination, gender and treatment.

Dr Brian Antony Brink, Senior Vice President: Health, Anglo American
Dr Brian Brink advises Anglo American plc Group companies on the funding and delivery of health care benefits and on community health issues. Dr Brink has a special interest in the funding, delivery and management of health care services and strives to enhance the role of the private sector in broadening access to sustainable, quality healthcare – particularly in developing countries.

Dr Brink has been actively involved in AIDS issues since the mid-1980’s. He is responsible for guiding Anglo American’s response to the AIDS epidemic, both in the workplace and in communities associated with the company’s operations. On a broader scale, Dr Brink is actively involved in addressing the particular challenge the AIDS epidemic poses to business in Southern Africa and internationally. Dr Brink has advised the Nelson Mandela Foundation on the strategic response to AIDS in South Africa.

Dr Brink has an active interest in gender issues in relation to HIV and AIDS, particularly the extraordinary vulnerability of young women and girls to HIV infection. Dr Brink is currently the alternate board member for the Private Sector delegation on the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Dr Brink is also a board member of Discovery Holdings Limited, the largest health insurer in Southern Africa.

Lesley Bulman-Lever, Chief Executive, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
Lesley Bulman-Lever is Chief Executive of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, an organization with 144 member organizations across the globe and 10 million members. In 2005, she and fellow-Leadership Council member, Alice Welbourn, founded  SOFIA - a coalition of representatives from politics, business, academia and non-governmental organisations who have together to advocate on women and AIDS. She also serves as Director on the Global Board of CIVICUS, a worldwide network for civil society organizations.

Before joining WAGGGS, Bulman-Lever held several senior posts advising on national policy within the United Kingdom. She has written speeches for Prime Minister Tony Blair and worked closely with others who are now Cabinet Ministers.

She has also held many distinguished honorary posts in the UK, largely concerned with education. She was on the steering committee for Enterprise in Education, was on the National Opera’s Equal Opportunities committee, and the Royal Society of Arts Educational Policy committee. For many years she was one of the judges of the influential Information Book of the Year Award.

Justice Edwin Cameron, Judge of the High Court, South Africa
In the 1980s, Edwin Cameron conducted a human rights practice from South Africa’s University of the Wiwatersrand Centre for Applied Legal Studies. Whilst at the Centre, he helped draft and negotiate the South African mining industry’s first comprehensive AIDS agreement. He also drafted the Charter of Rights on AIDS and HIV, co-founded the AIDS Consortium, which he chaired for its first three years, as well as founding the AIDS Law Project.

He was appointed to the High Court on 1 January 1995. In 2000 he was appointed a Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal. Cameron is the Patron of the Guild Cottage Children’s Home, of the Sparrow’s Nest Hospice, and of the Community AIDS Response (CARE). He is the author of Witness to AIDS (2005).

Edgar Carrasco, General Director, Accion Cuidadana Contra el SIDA
Edgar Carrasco graduated as a lawyer in 1975 from the Central University of Venezuela. He is a specialist in HIV/AIDS & Human Rights (HHRR), Ethics, Law and HIV, and serves as  Regional Secretary of the Latin American and the Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organizations (LACCASO). An experienced advocate on HIV and AIDS, he participates in a wide range of panels and conferences, and is a member of the UNAIDS Human Rights Reference Group.

Kathleen Cravero, Assistant Administrator UNDP
Kathleen Cravero has over two decades of experience in international development, primarily working within the United Nations system. She worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and was Deputy Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) before taking up her current position as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery at UNDP.

Whilst at UNAIDS, Cravero led the launch and development of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. She now serves as Chair of the Leadership Council and remains energetically involved in the Coalition’s work.

She has a doctorate in Political Sciences (Fordham University) and a Masters Degree in Public Health (Columbia University).

HRH Princess Norodom Rattana Devi, Cambodia
Princess Norodom Rattana Devi is Secretary of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the province of Kratie. She advises the President of the National Assembly regarding international cooperation, providing briefings and accompanying him on official visits abroad. She studied law at the University of Aix-en-Provence in France and political science at the University of Singapore before going on to study further at Georgetown University in the USA. His Majesty Samdach Preah Bat Norodom Sihanouk is the Princess's grandfather. Princess Norodom Rattana Devi’s mother, H.R.H Princess Marie Norodom Ranariddh, currently serves as Senior Minister and Chairperson of Cambodia’s National AIDS Authority.

Maria Eitel, President, Nike Foundation
Maria S. Eitel joined the Nike Foundation’s Board of Directors in August 2005, having served as president of the Nike Foundation and corporate advisor to Nike Inc. since 2004. From 1998 through 2004, Ms. Eitel served as Nike Inc.’s vice president for Corporate Responsibility. Before joining Nike, Eitel was senior manager of Microsoft Corporation’s European Corporate Affairs Group. She previously held positions in public affairs, communications and media affairs at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, MCI Communications Corporation, and the White House.

Eitel holds a master of science degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor of arts degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She serves on the steering committee of the World Economic Forum Global Governance Initiative and the board of directors for Business for Social Responsibility. She also is a member of the board of trustees for Lakeside School in Seattle.

Yakin Ertürk,  UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Yakin Ertürk has been a faculty member of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey since 1994. She has also taught at the Centre for Girls, at King Saud University in Riyadh (1979-1982). 

Between 1997 and 2001 she took leave from her university post at METU and joined the United Nations, serving first as Director of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (October 1997 – February 1999), then as Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) at UN Headquarters in New York (March 1999 – October 2001). On 1 August 2003, Ertürk was appointed as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women.

Mary Fisher, Mary Fisher Productions, Inc
Mary Fisher is a noted AIDS activist, public speaker, author and artist.

Raised in a socially prominent US family. Fisher seemed to have it all: high-profile jobs as a television producer and in the Gerald Ford White House; a burgeoning art career, and two young sons. Then in 1991, her ex-husband was diagnosed with AIDS – and tests revealed that she, too, was infected. Determined to dispel the stigma and heighten the awareness of the disease, Ms Fisher went public with her positive status. In an August 1992 speech to the Republican National Convention, she brought the convention floor to silence and tears. Since then, Ms. Fisher has spoken about AIDS to audiences around the globe. Her words, photographs and art have filled five books, and exhibits across the nation showcase her powerful art works on AIDS themes.

In 1992, Fisher founded the Family AIDS Network, a national non-profit organization dedicated to heightening community, national and international awareness and compassion. In 2000, the network transitioned into a new organization, the Mary Fisher Center for AIDS Research and Education (CARE) Fund at the University of Alabama/Birmingham, supporting research for persons with HIV/AIDS.

Fisher has been honoured with a variety of awards, tributes and honorary degrees, including three doctorates. She is a trustee and board member for several national organizations.

Musimbi Kanyoro,  Secretary General, World Young Women Christian Association
Musimbi Kanyoro is the General Secretary of the World YWCA, a global movement of 25 million women and girls in 122 countries. Guided by her leadership, the World YWCA empowers women and girls to lead social and economic change around the world. Her prime aim is to promote the leadership of young women.

Kanyoro provides volunteer leadership for a number of non-governmental organizations. She is the President of both the World Association for Christian Communication and Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange and a member of the Board of Directors of the African Population and Health Research Centre (AFHRC).

Kanyoro has made a significant contribution to the fight against AIDS by steering the YWCA involvement and also personally serving on various committees of UNAIDS, for example, AIDS in Africa: Scenarios for the Future, and UNAIDS’ Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. She has also served as an advisor in the Youth and AIDS study of the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the Gender, Faith and HIV/AIDS Initiative of Yale Divinity School. She is a founder member of the alliance of seven international youth organizations working to empower youth against HIV and AIDS, and has received numerous honours and awards for her work.

Read Interview with Dr Kanyoro

Irene Khan, Secretary General, Amnesty International
Irene Zubaida Khan joined Amnesty International (AI) as the organization’s seventh Secretary General in August 2001. Taking the helm as the first woman, the first Asian and the first Muslim to guide the world’s largest human rights organization, Irene Khan brought a new perspective to AI.

In her first year in office, she reformed AI’s response to crisis situations. Deeply concerned about violence against women, she called for better protection of women’s human rights in meetings with President Musharraf of Pakistan, President Lahoud of Lebanon and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh. She initiated a process of consultations with women activists that helped shape the ongoing AI campaign against violence on women.

Interested in working directly with people to change their lives, Khan helped to found the development organization, Concern Universal, in 1977, and began her work as a human rights activist with the International Commission of Jurists in 1979. She joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1980, and worked in a variety of positions at Headquarters and in field operations to promote the international protection of refugees. She is the recipient of several academic awards.

Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing
Miloon Kothari is a leading voice at national, regional and international forums on human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights. Kothari was appointed in September 2000 by the UN Commission on Human Rights as the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing.

In recent years, he has been particularly active on issues such as Women’s rights to land, inheritance, property, housing and globalization, trade liberalization and their impacts on the right to adequate housing and other related rights. In addition to housing and land rights, he has also been actively involved in works related to the human rights dimension on poverty, water and sanitation.

Periasiamy Kousalya, President, Positive Women’s Network, Chennai, India
Kousalya is founder and President of the Positive Women’s Network and the joint secretary of Indian Network of People Living with HIV (INP+).

In 1998, she joined women living with HIV from different regions to establish Positive Women’s Network (PWN+). Credited with pioneering the concept of support groups for women living with HIV/AIDS in India, the network – an essential source of support for women living with HIV/AIDS – has grown from a group of four to 5,000 HIV-positive women. PWN+ offers counselling, education on issues affecting women living with HIV, income-generation training and referral services. PWN+ has now become a strong voice in advocating issues of women living with HIV and their children in the regional and national consultation.

She is also a Youth Ambassador for Positive Living, a programme of the Commonwealth Secretariat. In addition, She is also doing a research programme on the topic advocating issues of women living with HIV in India under the Health innovation fellowship programme of Population Council and a trustee member of the International Community for Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW).

Kati Marton, Chair of the Board, International Women’s Health Coalition
Born in Hungary, Kati Marton has combined a career as an award-winning foreign correspondent and bestselling author with human rights advocacy. She is currently Chair of the International Women’s Health Coalition, a non-governmental organization that promotes and protects the rights and health of girls and women worldwide.

From 2001 to July 2002 Kati Marton was Chief Advocate for the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations. Ms Marton is currently a director and formerly chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She also serves on the board of directors of the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch, the New America Foundation, and the Central European University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, P.E.N. International and the Author’s Guild.

 Maria Martinelli, Coordinator of the AIDS Project of the International Unions of  Superiors General of Catholic Religious Orders
Sister Maria Martinelli is a medical doctor and international missionary who has spent  almost 20 years in Africa, primarily in Uganda, Ethiopia and Chad. She ran a district hospital in southern Chad for 12 years. Since first coming across the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Sister Maria has been acutely conscious of its impact on families and communities, and worked to alleviate it. In September 2005 she was appointed coordinator of the AIDS Project of the International Unions of Superiors General of Catholic Religious Orders, which is mapping the activities of religious organizations in the AIDS field in a bid to enhance coordination and collaboration with international agencies.   

Marta Mauras, Secretary of the Commission, ECLAC
Chilean sociologist Marta Mauras is currently Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Prior to this she was Director of the Cabinet of the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.  Previously, she was the UNICEF Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.  Mauras has over 25 years of combined academic and professional experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in economic and social development and management, and has regularly spoken out about women’s issues – notably violence against women and AIDS.

Julie McHugh, Company Group Chairman, Virology, Tibotec
As Company Group Chairman, Research & Development and Commercial for Tibotec, the worldwide Virology business of Johnson & Johnson, Julie McHugh has responsibility for a dynamic and growing commitment in HIV and Hepatitis C.

Julie is a 20-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. Before assuming her current role, she served as President of Centocor, Johnson & Johnson’s immunology franchise. She joined Centocor in 1996 as Director of Marketing and she was responsible for developing and implementing the worldwide commercialization of REMICADE®. Prior to joining Centocor, she led the Marketing Communications team at Astra-Merck for Prilosec® and held Product Management positions at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and SmithKline Beecham.

Julie holds a B.S. degree in Finance from Penn State University and a M.B.A in International Management from St. Joseph's University. She and her husband, Mike, are the proud parents of Emily Jane, age 10.

Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund
In 2001, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid was appointed the Executive Director of UNFPA, the world’s largest multilateral source of population assistance. She is the first Saudi Arabian to be named head of a United Nations agency. As UNFPA Executive Director, she has introduced a special focus on culture and religion in the Fund’s development work, thus linking universal values of human rights to values of the human worth promoted by all religions and found in all cultures.
In 1975, Obaid established the first women’s development programme in the Western Asia region in the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). She chaired the first United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Gender in Amman, Jordan, in 1996.

Obaid is a member of the Middle East Studies Association and of Al-Nahdha Women’s Philanthropic Association, a Saudi NGO. She has received many awards and honours, including an honorary doctorate from Mills College, Oakland, California, for commitment to the achievements of basic education, health and economic opportunities for people of developing nations.

Alena Peryshkina, Programme Manager, AIDS Infoshare Russia
Alena Peryshkina is one of the founders of AlDS Infoshare, a non-governmental organization that has grown from a box of books, a small computer and a budget of $1,700 into the largest AIDS resource center in Russia. Its mission is to provide individuals and organizations with the tools they need to prevent HIV infection, obtain testing, treatment and care, and defend their rights to health services.

Mary Robinson, Ethical Globalization Initiative
Mary Robinson is President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002 and as President of Ireland from 1990-1997. She is a founder member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders and Vice President of the Club of Madrid. She chairs the International Board of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is Patron of the International Community of Women Living with AIDS (ICW). She is Honorary President of Oxfam International. In 2005, she co-founded the Business Women’s Initiative Against HIV and AIDS.

Before her election as President, Robinson served as a Senator for 20 years. In 1969 she became Reid Professor of Constitutional Law at Trinity College, Dublin and now serves as Chancellor of Dublin University. She was called to the bar in 1967, becoming a Senior Counsel in 1980, and a member of the English Bar (Middle Temple) in 1973.

Read Interview Mary Robinson

Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga,  International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS
Violeta Ross is a tireless advocate for the rights of people living with HIV, especially women in Latin America. She serves as a member of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the Latin American Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (REDLA). She delivered a closing address at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in July 2004. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has produced two public service announcements in which Ross calls for all women and girls to be afforded real access to the information and the resources they need to protect themselves from AIDS.

Ross is an anthropologist and has a master’s degree in gender, sexual and reproductive health. She is particularly committed to linking science with policy in the context of women and AIDS.

Dr. Nafis Sadik, a national of Pakistan, is Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General and his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General. In 1971, she joined the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) serving in various capacities until her appointment as its Executive Director in 1987. Dr. Sadik retired in December 2000.

On her appointment, Dr. Sadik was one of the highest ranking women in the UN system and was the first woman in the history of the United Nations to be appointed to head one of its major voluntarily-funded programmes. She is well-known for her dynamism and guiding force in the field of international maternal and child health and reproductive and sexual health.

In 2003, Dr. Sadik was designated as UNFPA's Goodwill Ambassador for Obstetric Fistula. She served as a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and the Secretary-General's High-Level Group on "Alliance of Civilizations". Dr. Sadik is a Board member of the UN Foundation, the Asia Society, the South Asian Commission on the Asian Challenge, Pathfinder International, The World Population Foundation, and other international and national foundations. She is the author of numerous publications in the areas of reproductive health and family, population and development, women, and gender and development.

In August 2006, the Executive Committee of the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) selected Dr. Sadik as the recipient of the 2006 Defender of Democracy Award in recognition of her significant life-long contribution to addressing women's rights and sexual and reproductive health rights.

HE Elena Salgado Mendez, Minister for Health, Government of Spain
Elena Salgado has degrees in industrial engineering and economics. She has sat on the board of directors of several public and private companies, including Hispasat, Telefónica, Retevisión, Correos y Telégrafos (Spanish Post Office) and Caja Postal.

Salgado has worked in three different ministries during her career (the Ministry of Health is her fourth). She directed the Department of Studies in the Institute of Small and Medium-sized Businesses in the Ministry of Industry in the early 1980s. She was appointed General Director of Personnel Costs and State Pensions in 1985 in the Ministry of Economics and Finance. And in 1991 she was appointed Secretary of State for Communications in the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment and served in this post during the last term of Felipe Gonzalez's government.

The minister has a keen interest in promoting women’s health issues, and in ensuring that global and national reponses to the AIDS epidemic address the specific needs of women and girls.

Yolanda Simon, Coordinator, Regional Network of People living with HIV and AIDS
Yolanda Simon was born in Trinidad and Tobago and has been involved in HIV/AIDS education in the Caribbean sub-region from as early as 1988. Over the years she has supported numerous counselling and education initiatives of the Caribbean Epidemiology Center (CAREC) and is a member of the CAREC advocacy team working with governments in the region. She has been a consultant with Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and has contributed to several publications, including the ICASO report on the Paris AIDS Summit (1994) and the WHO special publication for the IV World Conference on Women (1994). Additionally, Simon has participated and presented at numerous meetings/workshops nationally, regionally and internationally – which focused on the planning and implementation of National AIDS Programmes and the empowerment and capacity building of PLWHA.

Simon continues to be an advocate and champion of the community of people living with HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean. At present, in her capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Simon is engaged sub-regionally in the development of HIV/AIDS support groups and networks throughout the Caribbean, and has received a number of awards for her work.

Emma Thompson, Actress and Ambassador for ActionAid
Emma Thompson has won equal acclaim for her work as an actress, screenwriter, and advocate. In the 1990s, she won international accolades for her work in Oscar-winning films as Howards End and Sense and Sensibility.

Since 2001, Emma Thompson has been an ambassador for international development agency ActionAid and has spoken out publicly about her support for the work the charity is doing, in particular, to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic which continues to sweep across Africa. She has accused Western governments of “psychotic detachment” over their “failure” to commit funds to the fight against the epidemic.

Thompson has visited Uganda and Mozambique – both hard-hit by HIV and AIDS – with to gain a greater understanding of ActionAid’s work to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Alice Welbourn, International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS
Alice Welbourn has been involved in international development work for over 25 years, focusing on gender, health, community involvement and representation issues. She did her PhD research in rural Kenya between 1979-1984 and then lived in Somalia from 1984-9. Since 1990 she has worked in various countries in southern, east and west Africa, as a trainer, writer, networker and advisor. She learnt of her HIV status in 1992 and, as a personal response to this, wrote "Stepping Stones", a training package for communities on gender, HIV, communication and relationship skills, which is now in use across Africa, several countries in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Welbourn served from 2002-5 as chair of the international Board of Trustees of the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS, and as Chair of the UK Board until Easter 2007. Welbourn has also, with Lesey Bulman-Lever, co-founded SOFIA, the UK chapter of the GCWA. This is a group of representatives from politics, business, academia and non-governmental organizations who have come together to advocate on women and AIDS.

Jiang Wenli, Actress
A 1990s TV series called Holding Hands made Jiang Wenli a household name in China. In Holding Hands--a realistic work portraying a modern family and marriage relationship-- she played Xia Xiaoxue, a devoted wife and mother who pays too much attention to her family, husband and son, but loses her true self.

Jiang Wenli completed her Bachelor’s degree at Beijing Film College. She has starred in more than 20 films and TV programmes and won numerous awards.

Jiang makes a point of listening to women’s and children’s voices and assist them in their efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. An active campaigner on AIDS issues, she recently wrote a book: Wen Li talks AIDS, which is being reprinted in 2006.

Xiomara Castro De Zelaya, First Lady of Honduras
Since the beginning of her charge as First Lady, Mrs. Zelaya has focused on strengthening the national response to AIDS, including universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support, with an emphasis on young people and women.

In June 2006, Mrs. Zelaya led the formation of the First Ladies Coalition and Latin American Woman Leaders to discuss the issues of women and AIDS. She actively participated in the 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS and the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

Official Bio Sheet of Xiomara Castro De Zelaya
Read Interview with Xiomara Castro De Zelaya

Debrework Zewdie, Director, Global HIV/AIDS Programme, World Bank
Debrework Zewdie is Director of the World Bank’s Global HIV/AIDS Programme. Prior to this position she managed the AIDS Campaign Team for Africa (ACTafrica), and led the team which was responsible for the US$1 billion Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP I and II) for Africa.
Before joining the Bank in 1994, Zewdie was Deputy Regional Director of the Africa Region for the AIDS Control and Prevention project (AIDSCAP) of Family Health International in Nairobi, Kenya and worked in sixteen African countries.

Previously, Dr Zewdie held several research, management, and teaching positions focusing on public health issues such as tropical diseases, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. While in Ethiopia, she was Deputy Director, and later Acting Director, of the National Research Institute of Health. Zewdie also established and headed the Referral Laboratory for HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, served as Program Manager of Ethiopia's AIDS/STD Prevention and Control Programme, and taught immunology to medical students at Addis Ababa University.