Addis Ababa, Aug. 5(ENA)--President Girma Wolde-Giorgis said women could become a formidable weapon in the battle against HIV/AIDS and endemic poverty in Africa.

Girma said women would have an irreplaceable role in reversing the deadly threats of HIV/AIDS and poverty, which he said, were jeopardizing the very existence of mankind in the continent.

The president was speaking here on Monday at the opening of a four-day African Women Theologian's Conference on HIV/AIDS.

He said women need to be well empowered to enhance their share in the initiatives being taken to turn the vicious circle of HIV/AIDS and poverty into the virtuous ones.

" We are faced with the choices of either allowing things to go their way and face inevitable catastrophe or take bold measures to address the challenges and thus ensure our future," Girma noted.

Secretary General of World Youth Women Christian Association (YWCA), Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro said on the occasion that women have the power to initiate actions that could reduce vulnerability to infection and to the spread of AIDS.

She said HIV/AIDS has been placing its heaviest toll on women and girls, which she said, are the cradle of human survival.

Dr. Kanyoro has seized the occasion to call upon the African Unity and the Governments of Africa to heed to the death cries of women and girls in the continent.

Head of the National HIV/AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS), Nigatua Mereke said on his part that the active involvement of women in the fight against AIDS in not negotiable.

He said HIV/AIDS pandemic is the added burden to the already existing poverty and multitude of social problems in Ethiopia.

The efforts so far taken to arrest the HIV/AIDS pandemic have never been commensurate with the alarming rate of infection, Nigatu said.

According to the head, an all-out effort need to be deployed to stem the pestilence, which he said, was posing a serious threat to development, social cohesion and security of the country and the region.

The conference was held under the leading theme " Sex, stigma and HIV/AIDS: African Women challenging Religion, Culture and Social Practices."

Some 100 women drawn from Africa countries and the rest of the world are in attendance at the conference.

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