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WASHINGTON, Jul 9 (OneWorld) - July 4-7 brought more than 2,000 women leaders and many of the world's leading AIDS experts to Nairobi for the first-ever women-only HIV/AIDS conference.

© Centre for Development and Population ActivitiesThe International Women's Summit, organized by they Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), addressed the unique and devastating impact HIV and AIDS has on women and girls.

The summit's participants focused discussions on building new leadership for women; solidifying women's human rights around the world; promoting gender equality; increasing access to prevention, treatment, and care for women; and creating a real and positive change for women and girls. The keynote speakers also called on world leaders to more urgently address the troubling situation.

The event also included a one-day forum exclusively for HIV-positive women, which allowed attendants to talk among themselves about the pandemic and share women-friendly strategies that work for them as they try to overcome the stigma and other challenges of living with HIV.

© Centre for Development and Population ActivitiesAccording to a 2004 UNAIDS report, for every 10 African men infected with HIV, 13 African women are infected. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 13 million women are now infected. In recognition of these numbers, the African Women Development Fund launched the during the conference, encouraging women and men to give from $13 to $13,000 to support anti-AIDS efforts.

Women from 130 countries attended the summit making it the largest meeting in history on the subject of women and HIV.

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