Strengthening HIV Responses Among the Most Vulnerable: Asia-Pacific Consultation on Universal Access

1. HIV and Human Rights: Strengthening HIV Responses Among Those Most VulnerableAsia and Pacific Regional Consultation on Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support: ‘Getting to Zero’Royal Meridien Hotel, Plaza Athenee30-31 March 2011, Bangkok, Thailand Clifton Cortez UNDP Asia-Pacific Region Centre Practice Leader – HIV, Health and Development Human

2. Human Rights & HIV: The AIDS Paradox “In order to prevent and control the spread of HIV, we must protect and promote the human rights of those most vulnerable, typically marginalized”

3. Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001)Political Declaration (2006) • Ensure universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support • Protect human rights and end discrimination for people living with HIV and key populations • End violence against women and gender inequality • Ensure full participation in the response • Revise laws that act as obstacles • Reduce vertical transmission and meet the needs of children • Political Declaration: Pledge to promote….a social and legal environment that is supportive of and safe for voluntary disclosure of HIV status

4. UNAIDS Joint Action for Results 2009 - 2011 “We can remove punitive laws, policies, practices stigma discrimination that block effective responses to AIDS: By collaborating with civil society and all stakeholders to uphold non-discrimination in all efforts, countering social judgment and the fear that feeds stigma and discrimination and punitive laws – including the areas of sex work, travel restrictions, homophobia and the criminalization of HIV transmission.” UNAIDS Joint Action for Results 2009 - 2011

5. Global Results by 2011 • Eliminate HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence in at least 50% of the countries that currently have such restrictions • Eliminate inappropriate criminalization of HIV transmission and of key affected populations • Achieve a 30% year-on-year increase in programme to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase access to justice for people living with HIV and other key affected populations

6. Source: Cost and Finance Working Group, aids2031

7. Regional Dialogue of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law , 17 February 2011, Bangkok Four areas of inquiry proposed: • Punitive laws and practices that effectively criminalise lives • Laws and practices that sustain violence and discrimination as lived by women • Laws and practices that impede treatment access • Young people

8. Regional Dialogue of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law , 17 February 2011, Bangkok Some successes and important lessons: • the legal environment (laws, law enforcement and access to justice) has a significant impact on access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support • the impact of punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination is often most acutely felt by people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who use drugs • punitive and discriminatory legal environments limit the capacity of communities to mobilize and thereby limit their ability to claim their rights

9. Regional Dialogue of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law , 17 February 2011, Bangkok On-going challenges: • Criminalization: HIV transmission and exposure, men who have sex with men and transgender people, sex workers, people who use drugs • Discrimination – people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people • Lack of ‘healthy’ law enforcement • Expanding access to justice • Stigma, homophobia, transphobia • Violence – including gender based violence • Important to position the travel restriction and migration/mobility law issues within a broader range of concerns regarding stigma and human rights

10. Towards a new type of response • Identify vulnerability and respond: who, why, how • Shift coverage – follow programmatic expenditure and coverage and move it to cover those really vulnerable • Shift content – to programmes that empower, address legal and social vulnerabilities and other structural issues • Shift partners – to Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labour, Education; Parliaments, Judiciary, Prisons, human rights and social justice groups, women’s groups, justice reform groups, migrant groups, labour unions • Take HIV out of isolation, e.g. human rights defenders groups, sexual and reproductive health, faith communities, law reform • Go to scale Through national/regional working groups on human rights and law, and other alliances, identify and work to overcome the worst legal and social blocks to effective responses.

11. Thanks!clifton.cortez@undp.orgedmund.settle@undp.org Special thanks - Jeff O’Malley, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Jason Sigurdson, John Godwin, Massimo Ghidinelli, Cheikh Traore, Vivek Divan, Chris Beyrer, Stefan Baral, Paul Causey, David Lowe, Sam Avert, Scott Berry