The letter encourages Dr. Piot and UNAIDS to highlight
the role of the denial of women's inheritance rights in the spread of
HIV/AIDS and to integrate the issue into the UNAIDS mission in Africa.

Please forward this, as well, to all of your networks, colleagues, friends,
and family. Thank you for your contribution to this effort!

For further information, please contact Marie-Elena John Smith, Coordinator,
Africa Programs, or Abby Richardson, Africa Program Assistant, International
Human Rights Law Group.
1200 18th St. NW
Suite 602
Washington, DC 20036
USA
T: (202) 822-4600
F: (202) 822-4606
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.hrlawgroup.org

TO FORWARD TO DR. PIOT:
SIGN THE LETTER, THEN CUT AND PASTE THE TEXT BELOW INTO A NEW MESSAGE AND
SEND TO [email protected]
Please CC: [email protected]
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August 22, 2001

Peter Piot
Executive Director
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS)
Geneva
Switzerland
T: (41 22) 791 4510/4722
F: (41 22) 791 4179

Via E-mail: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]

Dear Dr. Piot:

This letter is part of a ground-breaking initiative by a group of West
African women's rights organizations to promote awareness of the devastating
effects of discriminatory inheritance rights practices on women and children
in Africa. On August 28, 2001, we will mark the third annual "Day of Action
for Women's Inheritance Rights." The Day of Action is intended to focus
national, regional, and international attention on the customary inheritance
practices and laws that deny women the right to inherit land and other
property. These inheritance practices threaten the lives of thousands of
women and children by thrusting them into immediate and extreme poverty.
The practices persist by virtue of tradition, religion, lack of information,
and weak laws that, in many places, fail to protect a woman's right to
inherit.

In recent years, groups working for the protection of women's inheritance
rights in Africa have identified the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a crucial factor
in the exponential growth of the number of disinherited women. Not only has
the number of widows increased drastically, but the epidemic has also led to
women being widowed and becoming heads of households at much younger ages
than ever before. Consequently, women are dispossessed of their livelihoods
exactly when they and their children are most vulnerable to the consequences
of economic dispossession.

As you also know, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is producing orphans on an
unprecedented scale. More than 14 million children in sub-Saharan Africa
have lost at least one parent to the disease. Orphaned girls who become
heads of households are often unable to support themselves, since their
rights to property are even more insecure than those of older women. At the
same time, disinheritance of orphan girls places an extreme burden on
elderly relatives who are forced to care for those disinherited at a time
when their own resources are very limited.

We commend UNAIDS for taking a holistic approach to combating HIV/AIDS and
identifying women and girls as among the most vulnerable of those affected
by the epidemic. We also applaud UNAIDS' call for the empowerment of women
and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women as
necessary steps to reducing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS has
also taken the lead in recognizing that economic, social, cultural, and
legal factors hamper existing efforts to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
While supporting this interrelated approach, we strongly encourage you to
pay particular attention to the denial of inheritance rights to women and
girls in crafting a response to the epidemic.

By focusing on the denial of inheritance rights to women and girls, UNAIDS
would substantially contribute to alleviating the impact of the epidemic on
the most vulnerable. Importantly, this focus would enhance the economic
security of women and girls, thereby lowering their risk of contracting
HIV/AIDS. Further, when women are economically secure, they are less likely
to remain in situations of violence, including sexual violence and widow
inheritance, which increase their chances of contracting HIV/AIDS. They are
also less likely to enter into employment in the sex industry and are less
vulnerable to being trafficked.

We would like to congratulate you and UNAIDS for your positive approach and
far-reaching vision in creating an expanded response to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic. We wish you much success as you continue to lead the struggle
against the most challenging global issue of our time.

Sincerely,

NAME
ORGANIZATION