On 8 March 2020, we marked International Women’s Day. The theme for this year was “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. The campaign on realizing women’s rights for an equal future demands equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and violence against women and girls, healthcare services that respond to women’s needs, and their equal participation in political life and in decision-making in all spheres of life. Women and their needs are under-represented in these aspects.

2020 is distinct, because it marks 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which is considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights.

To mark this day, GFAN Africa ran an online social media campaign sharing posters with messages on women’s health, empowerment and gender equality.

On 4 September, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum for Africa, WACI Health, GFAN Africa, the Global Fund and partners in South Africa hosted young women from South Africa and had conversations with experts on empowering young women. This is because young women must overcome barriers that hold them back and increase their vulnerability to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Only when they are empowered can they #stepupthefight.

In the format of panel discussions and a world café, discussants beamed the spotlight on the status of young women and HIV in Africa, stepping up opportunities for young women at the work place and increasing young women’s access to business, work, and education opportunities.

There were discussions on the vulnerabilities of young women towards HIV; the grim situation in the years when there was no treatment, and the progress made so far, es...