Article: HIV Stigma & Employment Discrimination

28 August 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

The workplace continues to be a key venue for HIV-related stigma and the resulting discrimination, concludes a journal article based partly on data from the NGO Delegation’s 2010 report on stigma and discrimination. Co-written by Laurel Sprague, Sara Simon (the NGO Delegation’s Communication Facility Focal Point) and Courtenay Sprague for the African Journal of AIDS Research (2011, 10(supplement): 311–324), “Employment discrimination and HIV stigma: survey results from civil society organisations and people living with HIV in Africa” presents the global and regional findings from the Delegation’s 2010 survey – which focused on identifying the extent and forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and the effects of this on individuals’ access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services – as well as country-specific findings based on pre-publication data from the ‘People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index’ for Kenya and Zambia.

Stigma and discrimination

The NGO Delegation & the Global Commission Call for Better Legal Environments to Transform the Global AIDS Response

9 July 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

Today is the launch of the much anticipated Global Commission on HIV and the Law report on how law and human rights can transform the global AIDS response with evidence-informed solutions for protecting the health and human rights of people affected by HIV. Over the past year and a half, the NGO Delegation has been posting about and has been involved in the regional consultations that have provided evidence for the report’s research.

Intervention: NGO Delegate for Latin America & the Caribbean – Follow-up to the thematic segment from the 29th PCB meeting

6 June 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

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As a Delegation, our decision not to bring forward the full scope of our recommendations in our NGO Report at the 29^th PCB in December was in part due to the development of the report by the Commission on HIV and the Law. We saw this report as a key document to reinforce the correlation between the legal environment and access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

Intervention: NGO Delegate for Africa – Follow-up to the thematic segment from the 29th PCB meeting

6 June 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

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Thank you to many of you in the Secretariat and the working group for the work and negotiations that went into the production of this document. Without taking away from this work and good intentions, the NGO Delegation must state its frustration with the process and development of these key issues since the last PCB.

We think the current report, while important to have and fully supported by our constituencies, only contributes to maintaining the status quo. Rather than moving forward to reach populations most at risk of transmitted HIV, we are stalled in our discussions. We will not be able to address HIV without addressing key populations, including gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgendered people, people who inject drugs, sex workers, as well as women and girls, youth, and prisoners.

Sign the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation

2 April 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

Since its creation on 13 February, 1340 supports have signed onto the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation. Prepared by civil society in Oslo, Norway, on the eve of the global High Level Policy Consultation on the Science and Law of the Criminalisation of HIV Non-disclosure, Exposure and Transmission, the declaration is an advocacy and policy statement against the overly-broad use of the criminal law to regulate and punish people living with HIV for behaviour that in any other circumstance would be considered lawful.

11: Report of the Executive Director

18 January 2012 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

The PCB urges UNAIDS to intensify ongoing work with its partners to fight stigma, discriminatio n and marginalization, in order to reduce their impact, and encourage governments to secure the rights of vulnerable populations and people living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS.

2011 NGO Report to the Board

25 November 2011 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

The 2011 NGO Report is now available. This year’s report focuses on legal environments and HIV responses.

Go to our special Report page to download the full report and navigate through key findings and information from the report in seven languages.

Stigma and Discrimination Against People Living with HIV Remains Widespread in Asia and the Pacific, Report Shows

29 August 2011 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

29 August 2011

“HIV-related stigma is pervasive in the lives of people living with HIV. Stigma marks people as different and as disgraced… Stigma manifests in discriminatory and sometimes violent treatment of people living with HIV, their families and others affected by HIV.”

These are the opening words of the report entitled 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 (ICAAP), held in Busan, Republic of Korea.

‘Confront Legal and Policy Barriers to HIV’: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Dialogue on HIV and the Law

16 August 2011 by Amy Coulterman[PDF][print]

Press release, UNAIDS
12 August 2011

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most heavily affected by HIV, legal, policy and social barriers, including stigma, discrimination, gender inequality and the criminalization of key populations at higher risk of HIV infection, continue to make people vulnerable to HIV and hamper the ability of individuals, communities and states to respond to the epidemic. This was the conclusion of the Regional Dialogue for sub-Saharan Africa, part of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, held at the beginning of August in Pretoria, South Africa.

Survey Results: Africa 2010 NGO Delegation Consultation