Social Science Research Council

Socio-Cultural and Gender Dimensions of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic and Response: In 2006, in the framework of the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS project, “A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care,” UNESCO commissioned the SSRC to carry out a review of literature addressing HIV/AIDS and culture to identify the gaps in linkages between theory and practice and to propose ways in which they could be addressed. The review, published in June 2006 included thousands of citations covering academic, policy and “grey” literature in English, French, and Spanish. While the review revealed a heartening increase in research into socio-cultural factors shaping the pandemic, it also exposed a lack of attention to gender issues, to the culture of response, and to comparative and interdisciplinary approaches. In addition, this literature review is being updated for future publication.

As a response to these gaps, UNESCO has commissioned the SSRC to produce an edited volume on culture, gender & AIDS. In June, an Expert Group Meeting in Paris, France, is scheduled to further discuss and compile this volume. The volume will assess the role of every day culture in shaping the course of the pandemic and assess its impacts on inter-generational and gender relations. It will also give attention to the way in which communities, organizations, institutions, and broader cultural influences both mediate and shape the epidemic’s evolution. The volume will synthesize current state of the art knowledge for senior-level, UN bilateral policy makers and practitioner with the goal of bringing socio-cultural and gender analysis more centrally into HIV/AIDS policy and program development. Responding to the need for more comparative approaches, the volume will be global in scope, including work on “second wave” countries such as India, Russia and China, regions with less-developed or under-recognized epidemics, as in the Middle East, as well as regions with advanced pandemics, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Using interdisciplinary approaches, the volume aims to advance contribute to the development of conceptual approaches that move beyond notions of risk behavior and individual power, and which focus on risk context and structural power.