OHCHR AND UNAIDS LAUNCH HANDBOOK ON HIV AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS AT ASIA PACIFIC AIDS CONGRESS

22 August 2007

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) launched the Handbook on HIV and Human Rights for National Human Rights Institutions today, at the eighth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, taking place in Sri Lanka.

The Handbook on HIV and Human Rights is designed to assist national human rights institutions to integrate HIV into their human rights mandates. It provides a basic overview of the role of human rights in an effective response to the HIV epidemic and suggests concrete activities that national institutions can carry out within their existing work and with National AIDS Programmes.

National human rights institutions are independent bodies with a mandate to protect and promote human rights in countries by ensuring that national and international human rights obligations are transformed into meaningful realities for individuals and communities. They are therefore essential agents for improving the lives of people living with HIV and reducing vulnerability to HIV infection for others.

“This is a critical time for national human rights institutions to engage in the AIDS response”, said Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director. “We have learned that we will not succeed against HIV unless we address discrimination, gender inequality and other human rights abuses that drive the epidemic. National human rights institutions need to be full partners in the day-to-day AIDS response.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour referred to the Handbook as “an essential guide for national institutions in their efforts to ensure that States are held accountable for protecting the rights of people living with HIV”. Recalling her statement on World AIDS Day on 1 December 2006, she noted that ensuring universal access, if it is to be achieved, requires a legal framework, institutional mechanisms and an environment in and through which officials can be held accountable. Essential to this are the freedom of speech, accessible justice, transparent government, the ability of civil society to organize, and guarantees for the safety of activists striving to hold their Governments to account.

In 2006, countries committed themselves to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. As they scale up their efforts towards this goal, it is essential that they deal with the stigma, discrimination, and gender inequality that have been identified as major obstacles to universal access.

During the International Congress, which is being held from 19 to 23 August in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, OHCHR, the United Nations Development Programme and UNAIDS will be co-hosting a satellite event entitled “Unblocking the Barriers to Universal Access: the role of national human rights institutions”. The event, which includes the participation of the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV (APN+), will address how national institutions can work with partners to address critical human rights issues in the AIDS response, and promote accountability, including to universal access.

Hard copies of the Handbook are available from both OHCHR (publications@ohchr.org) and UNAIDS (distribution@unaids.org).
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