The International Women’s Summit on HIV and AIDS, organised in partnership with the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW), was held from July 4-7. The theme for the summit was ‘Women’s leadership on HIV and AIDS’ and it is the first-ever international conference to focus on women and AIDS. The summit begun on July 4 with the Positive Women’s Forum – a one day meeting organised and attended exclusively by HIV-positive women. The president of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, officially opened the summit on July 5.

Three days of workshops, plenary sessions and side events, such as the well attended Town Hall meeting, informed, inspired and mobilised women to take leadership in the response to HIV. Experts, activists, world leaders and women working at the community level addressed delegates on a wide range of HIV-related topics such as economic security, trade, sexual and reproductive health rights, and female-initiated prevention methods. Seventy workshops including sessions on ‘How to tell your story’ for positive women and ‘Creating mutually supportive inclusive communities for HIV prevention, care and treatment’ for associations and organisation equipped participants with practical information.

A film contest for young participants was held in partnership with MTV from July 3-5. The contest, dubbed 48Fest, saw 30 young people script, film and produce a 3-minute film on various HIV-related topics.

The International Women’s Summit concluded on July 7 with the launch of the Nairobi 2007 Call to Action. Citing 10 action points, the Call to Action aims to mobilise individuals to be proactive in bringing effective solutions to the increasing prevalence of HIV and AIDS around the world.