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| Project portfolio
Tackling the female AIDS epidemic in Nigeria
This week, delegates from all over the world meet in Abuja,
Nigeria, at the 14th International Conference on AIDS and
Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa.
As Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stressed at
the opening session, some progress has been made, but: "Our
priority now must be to ensure that the money and resources
available for AIDS reaches those who need it most and that
HIV prevention and treatment programmes across the region
are rapidly increased in terms of size and scale."
To read more please click here.
Justice for Widows and Orphans in Zambia
Every other Thursday, Joyce Shezongo MacMillan heads out of
Lusaka to run a legal clinic for widows. She will return to
the Zambian capital the following evening, having spent two
days talking to widows and orphans about their problems.
"Up to 70 people turn up at these clinics," she explains,
"and it is an absolute rule that we see them all. No one is
ever asked to come back next time, and we never turn anyone
down - unless the case is truly hopeless.".
Most of the problems she hears about relate to property and
inheritance. "The legal system is very complicated in Zambia.
There are two legal codes - customary law and statutory law.
Not only do these often contradict each other, but they are
set in the framework of a constitution that actually allows
discrimination in matters of what we call 'personal law',
such as succession and inheritance. At the same time, the
government has ratified a whole series of international conventions
that outlaw this kind of discrimination. It's a legal nightmare
but there are ways to get through the maze and that's what
we help people do."
To read more please click here.
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