Nairobi, Kenya – The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) is thrilled to congratulate our sister network The ICW Eastern Africa (ICWEA)
on their 10th anniversary celebrations being held this week in Kampala, Uganda. ICWEA was founded in 2005, to give visibility to women living with
HIV in East Africa. For 10 years ICWEA has lifted up the voices of women living with HIV to advocate for changes that will improve their lives, taken
a stand against human rights violations, and worked for social change for women living with HIV in East Africa.

ICWEA is run by and for women living with HIV has over 5000 members and works in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. ICWEA has built a powerful
voice for women living with HIV in the region and is poised for even greater impact in the years to come. Some of ICWEA’s notable achievements over
the years include:

• ICWEA was an outspoken advocate defending the rights of Ugandan nurse, Rosemary Namubiru a HIV positive nurse who received disproportionate criminal charges
  for alleged intent to transmit HIV. ICWEA’s intervention led to a verdict of lesser charges giving the case global attention making legal experts,
  people living with HIV and communities engage in discussions on extreme effects of laws on criminalization of HIV;
• ICWEA has lead strong efforts in technical assistance and capacity building for country level networks in the region and engages younger and senior women
  living with HIV resulting in successful registrations of ICW- Kenya, ICW-Rwanda, ICW-Uganda Chapters with ICW-Tanzania being in the process of registration;
• ICWEA has accelerated demand creation through a task shifting model that addressed the disconnect between health facilities and communities by engaging
  policy makers, programmers, health facilities, women and their communities resulting in increased and sustained uptake of interventions for elimination
  of vertical transmission of HIV in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda;
• ICWEA led the CSO’s engagement with Government of Uganda and development partners in advocacy towards access to treatment resulting an additional 193,675
  people added in just over a one-year period, more than any other country in the world and contributed to Uganda’s attainment of the ‘Tipping point’
  in treatment.

“ICWEA is a powerful voice for women living with HIV in the region and has set the bar high for networks of people living with HIV. We are very proud
of the achievements of Lillian Mworeko, all the staff and members of ICWEA!” said Rebecca Matheson, ICW Global Director.

ICW congratulates the women of ICW Eastern Africa on their hard work and advocacy for and by women living with HIV. Best wishes for another 10 years of
success and impact!

For more information:

Contact: Florence Anam ([email protected]

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