Human Rights and HIV/AIDS

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4th RBEC Community of Practice Meeting
Human Rights and HIV/AIDS Context, Activities,
Challenges HIV/AIDS Liaison Unit, UNDP Office
in Geneva Human Rights Advisers, UNAIDS,
GenevaMoscow 6 June 2007
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Part of UN Staff obligations

• The values that are enshrined in the United
  Nations organizations must also be those that
  guide international civil servants in all their
  actions fundamental human rights, social
  justice, the dignity and worth of the human
  person and respect for the equal rights of men
  and women and of nations great and small.
• Standards of Conduct for the International Civil
  Service,Paragraph 3
• Remember Every UNDP staff member is a human
  rights officer!

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Human rights, do we think of
Obtuse covenants, and declarations?
Little old ladies laying out standards?
Table-banging inter-governmental meetings?
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Do we think of
Popular action and demonstrations?
International Human Rights NGOs?
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Why do human rightsmake people nervous?

• Define what a State cannot do to a citizen (civil
  and political rights) and what a State is
  obligated to do for citizens (economic, social
  and cultural rights)
• Change the nature of the dialogue things become
  entitlements - as a matter of right, NOT
  discretionary
• Imply assessment/criticism of government
  performance, i.e. what the government should or
  should not be doing
• Challenge status quo in terms of established (and
  often inequitable) power relations

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Commitment to human rightsin the response to
AIDS ?

• Part of the four non-negotiables
• promotion of human rights in fight against AIDS
• equality between men and women
• evidence as the basis of UNAIDS work
• accountability to the people for whom we work
  (those affected by HIV).
• Peter Piot, The Status of the Response What
  Will it Take to Turn the Epidemic Around? Rio,
  27 July 2005

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Realising rights programme opportunities

• Operationalising the human rights/gender content
  of the Declaration of Commitment, Political
  Declaration, Universal Access Assessment,
  Prevention Policy Position Paper
• Ensuring that the Three Ones are participatory
  and inclusive women, PLHIV, members of
  vulnerable pops, and human rights and legal
  actors
• Generating political, financial and programming
  commitment in national TUA roadmaps for barriers
  posed by stigma, discrimination, and gender
  inequality

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Human rights in Theme Groupsand Joint Country
Teams

• Make sure human rights and gender are regularly
  on the agendas
• Create system for regular reporting on these
  issues (by AIDS service organizations, groups of
  women and people living with HIV, human rights
  groups, government officials, cosponsors)
• Assess to what degree UNDAF and PRSP address
  issues of the marginalized and those vulnerable
  to HIV
• Work with UNAIDS to ensure resource mobilization
  and broker technical support for
  activities/projects in these areas

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Leadership on stigma discrimination

• Get famous figures and well-known companies to
  speak out for tolerance and non-discrimination
  for people living with HIV and marginalized
  groups
• Promote community dialogues on HIV, people living
  with HIV and gender issues
• Educate those reporting to the human rights
  treaty bodies to include issues related to HIV
• Support associations of people living with HIV
  and civil society

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Supportive legal and policy frameworks

• Participatory law and policy review and reform
• Development of legal aid and support services for
  those affected
• Development of HIV-related codes of professional
  practice and training for health care workers,
  police, judiciary, media, social workers

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Partners

• National Human Rights Institutions, legal and/or
  human rights NGOs, womens groups
• Representatives of professional associations/
  societies (medical, nursing, social workers,
  police, labour unions, business, media)
• Reps of Ministries of Interior, Justice, Armed
  Forces, Women, Parliament, Judiciary

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Using the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS
and Human Rights

• Product of 1996 expert consultation requested by
  UN Commission on Human Rights included reps of
  PLHIV organisations, NGOs, jurists, academics,
  government representatives
• Aim to translate international human rights
  standards into practical action
• STILL VERY RELEVANT!
• Can be used to assess national programmes and for
  advocacy when politically feasible

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What do you need?

• What are main human rights and gender challenges
  in countries in the region?
• How to take these issues forward in new way?
• How can UNDP help?
• What should UNDP be doing?