Human Rights and HIV/AIDSContext, Activities, Challenges

HIV/AIDS Liaison Unit, UNDP Office in GenevaHuman Rights Advisers, UNAIDS, Geneva

Moscow 6 June 2007

4th RBEC Community of Practice Meeting 4th RBEC Community of Practice Meeting

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!

Human rights, do we think of…

Little old ladies laying out standards?

Obtuse covenants, and declarations?

Table-banging inter-governmental meetings?

Do we think of…

International Human Rights NGOs?

Popular action and demonstrations?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Partners

National Human Rights Institutions, legal and/or human rights NGOs, women’s 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

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

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?