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First ladies fund to tackle HIV/AIDS

    JOHANNESBURG

    A regional fund, to be set up by first ladies from the 19-nation Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), aims to reduce the vulnerability of rural women to HIV/AIDS and poverty.

    At the close of the 9th COMESA summit earlier this week in Uganda's capital, Kampala, Swaziland's Queen Simbonelo Mbikiza said the fund also aimed to reduce donor dependency.

    The first ladies decided to create the fund during their roundtable meeting, organised to coincide with the summit.

    Queen Simbonelo was quoted by the Pan African News Agency as saying: "Due to the unmet financial needs for HIV/AIDS programmes, we noted the need to develop a regional fund, to reduce dependency on donor support."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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