What Works for Women and Girls

Executive SummaryBackgroundFor more than 25 years AIDS has been taking a devastating global toll. Women now make uphalf of those living with HIV infection. While HIV epidemics around the world vary, genderinequalities and biological differences still make women and girls especially vulnerable to theepidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa—the region most affected by HIV/AIDS—women accountfor nearly 60% of those living with HIV. There is increasing interest among governments anddonors to address the needs of women and girls in the global AIDS pandemic and to supportwomen as agents of change. As global attention is focused on the unique vulnerabilities ofwomen and girls, identification of which interventions work specifically for women and girlsbecomes vitally important.PurposeThe purpose of www.whatworksforwomen.org is to compile and summarize the base ofevidence to support successful interventions in HIV programming for women and girls.National AIDS programs, government ministries, implementing partners, donors, civil societygroups and others need an easy-to-understand format for identifying what works for women.This review contains findings from evaluated interventions in 90 countries with a focus ondeveloping countries and contains approximately 2000 references for programming relatedto the continuum of HIV and AIDS; from prevention to treatment, care and support, andstrengthening the enabling environment for policies and programming. In all, the evidencefor What Works and Promising interventions includes 455 studies. While this review coversmany aspects of HIV/AIDS programming that are relevant for both women and men, it isnot intended to be an exhaustive review of all HIV/AIDS programming. Instead, the reviewfocuses on interventions that have an effect on HIV outcomes for women and girls; documentingpractices for which there is evidence of successful approaches.17