My 2 Cents On Aids

Nigeria’s new law on Freedom of Information (FOI) may impact positively on LGBT rights advocacy in the country. The law will address the situation of corruption and promote good governance, which is a foundation for the protection of fundamental human rights.

LGBT rights activists could leverage on the provision of the new law to improve on their research and documentation of human rights violations on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Records of discrimination especially those perpetrated by state actors can be required by any Nigerian citizen without demonstrating specific interest in the information.

http://www.amsher.net/news/ViewArticle.aspx?id=295

The report called ‘The Schorer Approach International Collaboration on HIV/STI Prevention for MSM, WSW and Transgenders through Health Promotion, Mainstreaming and Capacity Strengthening’ is about effective, sustainable, and planned, evidence-informed HIV/STI prevention for men who have sex with men (MSM), women who have sex with women (WSW), and transgender people. It has been developed through intercultural dialogue in a close collaboration between Schorer and it’s partner organizations in the Global South.

In a small, qualitative study of about 60 women in two clinics in the Durban area, Tamaryn Crankshaw, a PMTCT program manager at McCord hospital in Durban, South Africa found that while two-thirds of the women did tell their partners they were HIV positive, only half of them reported that their partner had been tested for HIV as a result.

“There were some positive outcomes but mostly there was a lot of blame, recrimination, and silences,” Crankshaw told IRIN/PlusNews. “HIV was never raised again within the context of the relationship, and in a lot of cases it was actively discouraged.”

Read more here.

A new resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), condemns discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The same resolution urge states to adopt the necessary measures to prevent, punish and eradicate such discrimination.

Read the full feature story here.

Released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners in Johannesburg, South Africa, this report presents new data on HIV prevalence and incidence in adolescents and young people, breaking down the data by country and region. It also highlights high-risk behaviors while focusing on key gaps and opportunities for effective HIV prevention among youth.

This publication reviews quantitative and qualitative evidence on adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health from a number of developing countries and, where possible, highlights findings for boys and girls aged under 15 years in those studies. The review is organized around six interwoven processes that mark girls’ and boys’ passage through adolescence, with an emphasis on the early years. The concluding section brings together a number of research topics and approaches that could form the basis of a coordinated multi-country research agenda for young adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.

We can end HIV/AIDS right now if we want to. We already know how. We know how it’s transmitted; we know how to prevent and treat it. We’re just not doing what it takes to end it.

Read the full article on the site of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID).

Along with the new Political Declaration on AIDS the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS saw the launch of a new Global Plan to eliminate HIV among children and keep their mothers healthy. Kate Lorpenda, Senior Adviser on Children and Impact Mitigation, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, looks at the strengths of the plan and points out a glaring omission: the lack of discussion of key populations.

In a groundbreaking achievement for upholding the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution on human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/17/historic-decision-united-nations

On the closing day of the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, faith-leaders came together with people living with HIV, representatives from key populations at higher risk of infection and other partners in the AIDS response to discuss ways to end stigma and to build strong collaborative partnerships for future action at country level.

Read the press release here.