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- 2011 Political Declaration: Targets and elimination commitments
- Reducing sexual transmission
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- 2011 Political Declaration: Targets and elimination commitments
More feature stories on punitive laws
- Expert meeting reviews scientific, medical, legal and human rights issues related to the criminalization of HIV exposure and transmission
- World leading scientists and medical practitioners joined legal experts and civil society representatives to discuss the scientific, medical, legal and human rights aspects of the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission.
- Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV remains widespread in Asia and the Pacific, report shows
- People living with HIV in the Asia-Pacific region often experience high levels of discrimination within in a variety of environments, according to The People Living with HIV Stigma Index: Asia Pacific Regional Analysis launched on the fourth day of the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, held in Busan, Republic of Korea.
- ‘Confront legal and policy barriers to HIV’: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Dialogue on HIV and the Law
- To better understand the legal barriers to the AIDS response, the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, launched by UNDP and UNAIDS in June 2010, held its Regional Dialogue for sub-Saharan Africa at the beginning of August in Pretoria, South Africa
- New report explores implications of tests to estimate timing of HIV infection for criminal prosecutions
- The UK charity National AIDS Trust (NAT) launched a report on 4 August 2011 that explores the validity and meaning of Recent Infection Testing Algorithm HIV tests, or RITA tests, within the context of criminal prosecutions of HIV transmission.
- Historic resolution on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity adopted at the Human Rights Council
- The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a historic resolution entitled Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity on 14 June.
- High Level meeting side-event calls for full inclusion and recognition of key populations at risk of HIV in all responses to HIV
- A community dialogue event on 9 June brought together people from key affected populations to reinforce their call for a human rights-based approach to HIV programming.
- Harnessing the power and leadership of parliamentarians in the AIDS response
- The world’s parliaments and parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in an effective response to the AIDS epidemic. How this influence can be harnessed in the challenge to HIV was the central theme of a meeting held on the eve of the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York.
- Photography exhibition in Egypt documents the power of people to create social change and calls for end to HIV-related stigma
- To highlight the power of people to create social change including ending HIV-related stigma, a photography exhibition has opened in Cairo. It displays a combination of portraits from the Egyptian revolution that took place in January 2011 and portraits submitted to a World AIDS Day photo contest in 2010 by young photographers under the theme Positive faces.
- International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
- UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé highlights the importance of stopping stigma and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Countries questioning laws that criminalize HIV transmission and exposure
- To assist countries in the just application of criminal law in the context of HIV, UNAIDS has initiated a project to further investigate current scientific, medical, legal and human rights aspects of the criminalization of HIV transmission.
- To lift stigma around HIV in Egypt, forthcoming feature film tells one woman’s story of overcoming fear and social rejection
- Over the past several years, UNAIDS in Egypt has advocated with scriptwriters and film producers to create feature films that could bring a human face to HIV by creating characters that people could identify with.
- UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights encourages UN Member States to focus on human rights ahead of High Level Meeting on AIDS
- The UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights has issued a statement encouraging UN Member States to reaffirm the focus on human rights that has driven 30 years of progress in the global HIV response.
- Addressing stigma and discrimination and homophobia key to achieving universal access in Latin America
- The Secretary of Health of Mexico, Dr José A. Córdova, called on countries in Latin America to continue efforts to counter stigma, discrimination and homophobia in the region.
- Judicial officials convene in Dakar for consultation on HIV, the law and human rights
- Ministers of Justice and judges from across West and Central Africa gathered on 6-8 February in Dakar, Senegal, for a high-level consultation on HIV, the law and human rights. The meeting aimed to increase the engagement of judicial officials in the HIV response at national levels.
- African HIV prisons network receives prestigious international award
- The African HIV in Prisons Partnership Network has been presented with the prestigious 2010 Healthcare Award by the International Corrections and Prisons Association. Representing a major boost for the network, the award was given during the Association's recent annual conference in Belgium.
- Progress in Caribbean HIV response, yet punitive laws continue to hamper access to services for most vulnerable
- At the 10th annual general meeting of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), held in St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé joined former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Caribbean leaders to take stock of progress, challenges and lessons learned in the regional response to the HIV epidemic over the past decade.
- Use light to highlight rights this World AIDS Day
- The first Light for Rights event was held on 1 December 2009 in New York. This year, the campaign aims to encourage 100 cities around the world to dim the lights on public landmarks to remember the devastating affect AIDS has had, and to turn the lights back on to illuminate the fundamental human rights shared by all but often denied people living with HIV.
- Growing concerns over rights and treatment of LGBT people in high-income countries
- UNAIDS speaks with organizations in North America and Europe to better understand patterns of human rights violations and the connections to health.
- Asia-Pacific drive for increased focus on HIV and sex work
- HIV transmission via sex work accounts for many new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet in many countries HIV prevention, treatment and care services for sex workers are lacking. At the first consultation of its kind in the region, sex workers, government officials and United Nations participants emphasized the urgent need for action to increase focus on sex work within national HIV responses.
- African law students argue against criminalisation of HIV transmission
- More than 120 young law students from 60 universities representing 24 African countries gathered in Cotonou (Benin) from 4-9 October 2010 to compete in the 19th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition.