A Side Event hosted by the UK and South African governments, in partnership with the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and other partners, was held 9 June 2011 at the High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York to discuss HIV and human rights. The event specifically focused on the value of human rights in achieving universal access for key affected populations.

During the event Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, called on governments to repeal laws that have a negative impact on responses to HIV and laws that criminalise key populations most at risk of HIV infection.

Mr. Kazatchine called the AIDS movement a movement for justice, equity and human rights. He commended governments for addressing human rights in the new Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, but expressed deep disappointment that some human rights language was watered down by deferring to national legislation. “Human Rights are universal…… there should be no caveats for moral religious or political grounds,” he said.

The UK Minister for International Development, Mr. Stephen O’Brien, spoke about the need to tailor the response to the needs of the people affected by and most at risk of HIV infection.

The panel was chaired by Michaela Clayton, Director of the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, and included panellists representing some of the key affected populations, including:

• Alexei Kurmanayevsky, who spoke on behalf of people who use drugs (PUD). He emphasised the importance of dialogue, depicting the family structure as a microcosm of the world.

• Dr. Othman Mellouk spoke on behalf of men who have sex with men (MSM). In a comprehensive portrayal of the situation in Morocco, he warned that discrimination against MSM, bolstered by the criminalisation of same sex sexual relations, legitimised other forms of stigma and discrimination.

• Penina Mwangi, speaking on behalf of female sex workers, demanded an understanding of the reality of sex work. She criticised the ambiguity of the law in regards to sex work in many countries, which created a legal vacuum in which violent acts against sex workers went unpunished. She called for 12% of AIDS funding to be allocated to sex workers.

• Marcela Romero spoke on behalf of female transgendered people. She called for an end to the humiliation of transgender people, especially when seeking health services and for an end to the violence, which largely goes unpunished. “Don’t be accomplices in the genocide by staying silent…we are not dangerous, we are in danger,” she said.

Making an intervention from the floor, Moono Nyambe, Programme Officer at GNP+, underscored the need for involvement of PLHIV and all key affected populations at risk of infection in the response to HIV. She called for respectful dialogue and funding to support the capacities of networks of people living with HIV and key affected populations.

The Minister for Social Development from South Africa, Ms. Bathabile Dlamini, closed the Side Event. Speaking candidly, she highlighted the importance of enforcing legislation. She pointed to the litany of rights in the South African constitution which nonetheless fail to protect against homophobic hate crimes. She highlighted the recent incidents of lesbians who were brutally tortured and murdered on account of their sexuality in South Africa.

Ms. Dlamini continued by calling on other leaders to protect human rights. “We disappoint the people that we represent when we do not fight for their rights,” she said. She called for continued dialogue in support of human rights and encouraged those persecuted to learn to negotiate with their enemies. “The success of our response to HIV, depends on the ability of our communities to dialogue,” Minister Dlamini concluded.

A dialogue on HIV and Human Rights: Universal Access for Key Affected Populations

Hosted by the UK and South Africa Governments

Partnered by: International HIV/AIDS Alliance and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Supported by: Global Forum on MSM and HIV, The Foundation for AIDS Research, Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), International Network of People who use Drugs (INPUD), Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE), Centre for Excellence for Transgender Health, Global Network of Sex Worker Projects (NSWP), AIDS FONDS, SAfAIDS and the Stop AIDS Alliance.