$1.5 Million in Grants Awarded to African Women

"United Nations, New York — UN Women, under the Fund for Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS, today announced approximately US$1.5 million in small grants to twenty grassroots and community-based organizations in sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen women’s property and inheritance rights as a critical strategy for addressing women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

“There is evidence that increasing women’s economic security through access to assets such as land, property, income, credit and skills training helps to prevent HIV and strengthens the ability of women to mitigate its impact in their households and communities — especially when women are the main providers of care in AIDS-affected households,” said UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet.

With grants of up to US$75,000, the grantees — selected from nearly 650 submissions — will implement one-year projects. Initiatives will focus on strengthening legal frameworks to better promote women’s property and inheritance rights in the context of HIV/AIDS; building the capacity of legal professionals and informal justice system providers to make legal services available, accessible and affordable to women living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS; as well as increasing the influence of organizations and networks to ensure national HIV/AIDS laws and policies protect and promote women’s rights.

Launched in September 2010, the Fund for Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS is generously supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Given the overwhelming response to the initial call, CIDA doubled its initial contribution bringing the total amount of its support to US$2 million and enabling UN Women to award twice as many grants."

This March 2011 article is from UN Women.