KEY POINTS:
More than 2000 women from around the world are in Nairobi this week at the first global conference on HIV and Aids among women.
This is not a meeting of sombre faces and grey suits. The women here wear loud colours and dance and clap to the beat of African drums.
They are jubilant, celebrating a landmark moment because the world has finally acknowledged their vulnerability to the virus the World Health Organisation estimates infects 7000 women and girls globally every day. Already, 17 million women and girls are living with the virus.
Five hundred of the participants are HIV+ and many have gone to extraordinary lengths to get here. A handful of women from Sudan had a six-day road trip through border and deserts, with only their babies on their backs and no money.
The United Nations eventually found them accommodation and food for the week. They huddle together in the coffee breaks, barefoot and often breastfeeding. They look vulnerable but have become heroines, symbolising the strength and solidarity needed to end to the pandemic.
Hosted by the World YWCA, the summit focuses on women and Aids, hoping to mobilise participants into action against the rising HIV/Aids infection rates among females.
The conference is covering gender inequality, health care and treatment, sexual and reproductive rights, women's leadership and economic empowerment.
For Pacific Islands Aids Foundation founder and executive director Maire Bopp, the Nairobi conference marks history in the making.
"It's a milestone and an acknowledgement that there is a consciousness at the highest level among women that we are vulnerable to HIV," says Ms Bopp. "Women have a vital role in preventing the spread of the virus and transforming society so the conditions in which the virus does spread are eliminated."
Although the conference is a recognition of the issue, the meeting itself is little recognised. There is no big incident for the media to report.
There is no shock-horror story in these women who live quietly and invisibly with the virus.
Many of the delegates are isolated in their own communities. But, in Nairobi they are drawing enormous strength from being among peers. Fiji Aids Ambassador Paulini Vakacegu is proud to be part of a movement which is finally acknowledging that women's vulnerability to HIV means they must lead the charge in the fight against the spread of the virus.
"Being here is encouraging because I always felt that I was alone in Fiji. I don't normally meet people who are HIV+ because of fear and discrimination. Here I am able to talk openly with people like me."
And so Ms Vakacegu and the women from Sudan have a voice here, alongside the VIPs like former Irish President and former UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson, and the executive director of UNAIDS Peter Piot.
There is little doubt women in Africa are the worst hit by AIDS. But as the virus continues to spread globally, women in other regions including the Pacific, are starting to feel its impact on their lives and those of their families.
The simplistic messages of the past have failed to stop the spread of the virus. Messages like ABC - abstinence, being faithful and using condoms - have made no difference to many of the women here.
The YWCA World Council has recognised that HIV is not about sex, but about poverty and exploitation.
Sexual violence, gender inequality, misinformation, stigmatisation and limited access to health care create an explosive combination fuelling the spread of HIV-infection throughout many regions, including the Pacific.
Women have always borne the burden of the virus. Alison Lewin, national director of YWCA New Zealand, said: "Women make up nearly half of all the HIV infections globally. Women are often the primary caregivers of those who become ill as a result of HIV infection. And, if they lose a partner, they tend to become the sole breadwinner which puts a huge financial burden on them."
In Kenya, 7 per cent of the population is HIV positive - 65 per cent women. But in Kenya and other parts of Africa, HIV infection rates are falling, thanks to open dialogue and a commitment from the Government and churches.
In the Pacific, the infection rate is less than 1 per cent but is rising rapidly. Pacific Islanders still refuse to believe HIV is in their communities. Pacific people tend to learn of their infection only when they have symptoms or a child who has contracted the virus from them dies.
Papua New Guinea's outlook is alarming. The World Health Organisation predicts that one in five PNG people will be infected within the next decade unless urgent action is taken.
That's because the incidence of HIV and Aids in PNG is similar to southern Africa a decade ago, with a 50 per cent increase in the infection rate annually.
In New Zealand, women's infection rates are rising too. NZ Positive Women launched an awareness campaign with NZ Family Planning last year to educate women about risks of HIV when travelling.
The latest statistics show more NZ women are now becoming infected at home - which doesn't surprise Wellington HIV advocate Marama Smith.
"We don't see or hear about HIV at home, so many people assume it's not there but it is," says Ms Smith, one of two HIV+ women from New Zealand in Nairobi.
The YWCA Pacific members have met here with the Pacific Islands Aids Foundation to begin working through a strategic plan for a partnership to support positive women in the region.
The international community has started to pour funding into stopping the pandemic but regional governments must match that effort.
