Millennium Plaza Hotel, New York, New York

The "Women Won't Wait" press conference was the official launch of the campaign with  Mary Robinson as the prominent speaker at the launch. Members of the eight-person panel introduced the "Women Won't Wait" campaign and its mission. The panelists' presentations highlighted the campaign's report, "Show Us the Money: Is Violence Against Women on the HIV&AIDS Donor Agenda?" and issues surrounding violence against women and HIV/AIDS and what international aid agencies are and are not doing to address these issues. Funding for this event was provided through a grant form the UN Foundation.

The press conference was moderated by Serra Sippel, Deputy Director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity. Speakers included: Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights: Ethical Globalization Initiative, former president of Ireland; Susana T. Fried, Senior Consultant, author of campaign report on how bilateral and multilateral agencies address the intersections of gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS; Isabella Matambanadzo, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa; Khuat Thu Hong, Co-director, Institute for Social Development Studies, Vietnam; Lori Michau, Co-director, Raising Voices, Uganda; Evelyn Rivera, Counselor for the Maternal and Child Studies Center (CEMI), Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico; and

Melissa Hope Ditmore, Coordinator, Network of Sex Work Projects.

More than 85 people from diverse backgrounds and professional arenas attended. Among the attendees was Adrienne Germain, Executive Director of the International Women's Health Coalition, Steven Kraus, Chief of UNFPA's HIV division and Minna Elias, District Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney. The launch also drew representatives from UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNIFEM, the Swedish Women's Lobby, Wellspring Advisors, the Global Fund for Women, Women and Law in Southern Africa, Church World Service, Human Rights Watch, Presbyterian Church USA, The African Women's Millennium Initiative and the Office of Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President.

Media sources that covered the event included BET, Reuters, Radio Nacional de Espana, Glamour Magazine and Brooklyn News Service. As a result of our media outreach around the Launch and the Audio Press Conference, the "Women Won't Wait" campaign generated 3 wire stories, two newspaper articles, two newsletter stories, over fifteen online postings on media and industry websites, and five posts to blogs.