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The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have launched an online discussion on women and health, including reproductive health, AIDS and human rights. The discussion will assess achievements and challenges since the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

As part of a series sponsored by the UN Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, this discussion, hosted by WomenWatch, will feed into the forthcoming ten-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which will focus on implementation at the national level.

From 3 - 23 December 2004, the themes to be discussed will be:

Week 1: Reproductive Health
-Making Pregnancy Safer
-Prevention and Management of Unwanted Pregnancies
-Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
-Obstetric Fistula

Week 2: Reproductive Health
-Female Genital Cutting/Female Genital Mutilation
-Cancer of Women's Organs
-Infertility
-Menopausal Issues-HRT

Week 3: Women, STI and HIV/AIDS
-RTI +STI [Reproductive Tract Infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections
-HIV/AIDS-Prevention and Care, VCT, PMTCT
-Female Condoms and Microbicides

The next discussion phase will concentrate on girls, HIV/AIDS and human rights.

To register and for more information visit the discussion website at: www.un.org

For information on other discussions on the Platform's Critical Areas of Concern and other important issues, see: www.un.org

USAID, the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) have collaborated with The Synergy Project to produce the 2004 update of the 'Directory of Associations of People Living with HIV/AIDS', a valuable resource for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and for international organisations, donors, national AIDS control programmes, conference planners and private companies.

The 2004 edition contains contact details, membership, leadership and activity information for more than 350 associations of people living with HIV/AIDS in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Free copies can be ordered at: www.usaid.gov

World AIDS Day 2004 focuses on women, girls, and HIV and AIDS, and will be commemorated around the globe on 1 December.

UNAIDS will launch the "AIDS Epidemic Update 2004" on 23 November. The annual report describes the latest developments in the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and provides regional summaries.

Other World AIDS Day events around the globe are listed on the World AIDS Day website. Events are being added daily as World AIDS Day approaches.

In Botswana, the national World AIDS Commemoration event will be held in the Gantsi district and opened by the Minister of Health. Activities in the campaign week leading up to World AIDS Day include football matches, workshops on gender, a candlelight memorial service, live concert, combined church service, TV panel discussions, and radio phone-in discussions. Stalls where different partners provide information and services, such as counselling, legal aid and testing will be set up three days before 1 December.

For more information on Botswana's event: Women's NGO Coalition Tel. +267 3185004

For a list of other national World AIDS Day events: www.unaids.org