Professor Kate Adoo Adeku is a Ghanaian woman who is a member of several non-governmental organizations that seek to address social justice issues in Ghana. Currently the acting Director of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) at the University of Ghana, Professor Adeku's activist work focuses on issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, education and gender violence. She is also a member of the Society for Women Against AIDS in Africa (SWAA), a pan-African organization that is dedicated to helping women in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. It is clear when looking at the contributions made by Kate that she acknowledges the interconnectedness of these central issues. She presented a paper on case studies which highlighted the need for education as a key to reducing domestic violence in Ghana. Her contributions to the HIV/AIDS movement are most prominent in a program implemented while she was serving as the acting Director of IAE. In an effort to provide participants with an adequate education to understand the impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals, IAE, along with the Ghana AIDS Commission and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) created a three-month distance education course on HIV/AIDS counseling and care-giving. The goal of this program was to put an end to discrimination and stigmatization of infected and affected individuals. As of October 2005, the program had just completed it's first phase of completion and Kate spoke to the participants of her optimism for the positive impact that this program will have on Ghanaian society.
Adult* HIV prevalence rate:
3.1%
Adults living with HIV: 320,000
Adults and children living with HIV: 350,000
Women Living with HIV: 180,000
AIDS deaths (adults and children): 30,000
*Adult statistics for persons 15-49 years old
**statistics from deaths that occurred in 2003
Source: UNAIDS
Related Links
http://www.swaainternational.org/
The official website for the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa
The official website announcing the one thousand women worldwide that were nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.
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