LET US INTRODUCE OURSELVES:
We are positive ambitious women who believe positivity has the power to change the world!
Since 2010, we have been the first regional network dedicated to women living with HIV in the
Middle East and North Africa. We are MENA Rosa!
We are a group of women who works for the rights of women in all their diversity for dignity and love. The name of the network originates from MENA [Middle East and North Africa], and Rosa [the first black woman on a bus in the USA who refused to give up her seat to a white man, starting the civil rights movement for African Americans].
Rosa is also a feminine symbol. Our friend Zouheira started this process in Algeria years ago, as the first woman living with HIV to raise her voice in the region. She demonstrated to us, by her courageous actions, that we are able to unite as a network and to raise our voices as well.
Our objectives are numerous, but with one outcome to impact the health and quality of life of women touched by HIV and their families and partners in the MENA region.
WE’RE ONLY GETTING STARTED!
In a region witnessing a growing epidemic, and the least access to ARVs (HIV treatment) for PLHIV (People Living with HIV), and with infections increasing among women and especially partners of key populations, and access to ARVs for pregnant women less than 29% (Ref: UNAIDS – 2017), MENA Rosa strives to highlight the needs of women touched by HIV through advocating for:
- Sustained quality treatment
- Working to limit mother to child transmission
- Sexual & Reproductive Health Education
- Psychosocial support
- Collection & analysis of information to guide future interventions
- Promoting gender equality at the highest level of policy making through stakeholders, policy makers, partnership with other civil society organizations, national and regional NGOs as well as regional and international networks as well as others organizations from the civil society.
Yet, the shifting political order in MENA presents new challenges and opportunities for a better life for all citizens; and for women living with HIV, the changes they want to see cannot come soon enough!
Hence, MENA Rosa’s contribution to this challenging environment for WLHIV has been catalytic! Our courageous initiative promotes leadership and empowerment of women living with and affected by the virus, not only within their communities, through national campaigns and service delivery, but also at a global level through representation and advocacy in regional and global forums.
Gender equality starts at home, grows in the society and blossoms in the juridical environment. The journey is long, but we promise our peers to keep going.
WE ARE BACKED BY A STRONG VISION:
Women and girls in all their diversity, especially those living with HIV and their families and partners enjoy a fair and dignified life in an environment free of stigma and discrimination that guarantees their rights to health, equality and dignity; and ensures a reduction in the number of new infections in the Middle East and North Africa region.
OUR MISSION NEVER ENDS:
MENA Rosa supports and empowers women and girls in their diversity, those living with HIV, women and girls at high risk of infection; as well as their families and partners through the development of their leadership, the promotion of effective participation in response, advocacy, networking, awareness-raising, and resource mobilization to ensure their rights, universal and equitable access to care, treatment, support, prevention and better quality of life.
WE ARE NOT ALONE:
Our commitment has been the main driving force, but it would not have been enough without the continuous support of our partners and funders… we can’t do it without them!
- Global Fund
- International HIV/AIDS Alliance
- Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund (RCNF)
- The UNAIDS MENA RST
MENA Rosa continues to expand and strives to forge more strategic and innovative partnerships for integration in the development of our agenda, the response to humanitarian and conflict situations, as well as human rights and gender equality agenda.
COME MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH US:
Yes, you can join us in shaping a better tomorrow for all WLHIV in the MENA region!
Email us now on: info@menarosa.me
And visit our website: www.menarosa.org
“ HIV is often painful in excruciating ways. The symptoms are
undeniable. Women living with HIV may dread being seen in a
compromised state. So they need to feel strong and to shift
from negative thinking to positive love – to move from guilt
and shame and to transform those feelings from negative to
positive. Are they going to learn all this by themselves?
Support groups can help turn that frustration into a
constructive force—by networking together, raising our
voices, knocking on all doors and getting empathetic people
to listen to us and act with us. Our motto should be: “you can
live in spite of [HIV], not die because of [it]”. MENA Rosa
Regional Coordinator
“I feel like the others in MENA Rosa are my sisters. We speak
on email or Facebook. We talk about projects, and the
problems we face. When I have doubts about what I am
doing, this gives me confidence that I am on the right track—
we are all in the same boat.”
MENARosa Focal Point, Libya
