African first ladies are pledging to unite with their compatriots to fight HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination across the continent. At a two-day sub-regional conference in Rwanda titled "United Against Stigma and Discrimination," the first ladies resolved to replace stigma with support, fear with hope, and silence with solidarity. "The more alarm we raise about HIV/AIDS the more lives we will save," said Janet Museveni, founder of one of the Uganda Women's Efforts to Save Orphans. Museveni pointed to Uganda's Universal Primary Education for promoting literacy as a way to fight the epidemic. She also noted that stigmatization and discrimination in the first decade of the epidemic in Uganda gave way to tolerance due to the intervention of different stakeholders.

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