HIV/AIDS

IDLO's work includes strengthening the legal response to HIV and AIDS in developing nations; fostering awareness of public health goals and human rights among government officials, and among those communities most at risk of HIV infection; and building lawmakers' capacity for reform based on evidence, international law and best practice.

We also work with United Nations agencies to scale up joint efforts towards zero HIV discrimination. Developed in partnership with UNAIDS and UNDP, our Scaling up HIV-Related Legal Services toolkit has been distributed in six languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian). Separately, we have launched multilingual e-learning courses on HIV Law and Policy.

IDLO's Publications on HIV/AIDS:

The objective of this handbook is to assist law lecturers, legal clinic managers and law students in Uganda to respond effectively to the HIV epidemic. Effective responses include providing HIV-related legal advice and litigation support; leading in research on HIV-related law and human rights; and advising the government on HIV-related legislation, and the implementation of related laws and policies.

The objective of this handbook is to assist law lecturers, legal clinic managers and law students in Tanzania to respond effectively to the HIV epidemic. Effective responses include providing HIV-related legal advice and litigation support; leading in research on HIV-related law and human rights; and advising the government on HIV-related legislation, and the implementation of related laws and policies. Swahili: Huduma Za Kisheria Zinazohusiana Na Vvu - Mwongozo kwa Kliniki za...

Legal Empowerment, Social Accountability and HIV Prevention for Young Women and Girls: Lessons from Tanzania and Uganda

20 October, 2020 Legal Empowerment, Social Accountability and HIV Prevention for Young Women and Girls: essons from Tanzania and Uganda reviews IDLO's programming in Tanzania and Uganda which integrated legal empowerment and social accountability strategies to accelerate justice for women and girls. Implemented as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, IDLO's program aimed at reducing new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women by strengthening demand for...

Equal Rights, Equal Treatment, Ending Aids: Strengthening and Expanding HIV-related Legal Services and Rights (English, Arabic, Spanish)

(ENGLISH, ARABIC, SPANISH) This report describes the contribution of IDLO’s HIV and Health Law Program (2009–2017) to ending AIDS in Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa regions. It details six approaches to strengthening legal services, and gives examples from different countries to illustrate how the approaches worked in a real-life setting.

Human rights protections in the law related to HIV and AIDS in Benin 29 June, 2016

As part of IDLO's program in Benin, the Benin Association for Law Development and IDLO, with the support of UNAIDS and OFID (the funding partner), developed the booklet: “Human rights protections in the law related to HIV and AIDS in Benin”. The booklet acts as a law guide for a broad audience in Benin communities, and primarily uses illustrations to communicate HIV/AIDS legal information.

Special Issue on Police, Law Enforcement and HIV

World leaders have committed to ending AIDS by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, but stigma and discrimination remain significant obstacles. In particular, police are critical, front-line determinants of risk for many people living with HIV (PLHIV) and members of other key affected populations (KAPs). The negative impact of adverse police behaviors and practices on HIV risk is well documented, and these risks undermine global efforts to end AIDS. Far less well documented, and less common, are attempts to ameliorate this impact by working t

Guia Sobre VIH Y Derechos Humanos: Para Facilitadores Legales

La promoción y protección de los derechos humanos de las personas que viven con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (PVV) y de las poblaciones clave (las que tienen más probabilidad de exposición al VIH) es una estrategia fundamental para la respuesta mundial al VIH. Además de salvaguardar la dignidad de estos grupos, esta estrategia ha demostrado ser efectiva a la hora de controlar la propagación del virus. En la región, la vulneración de los derechos de las PVV y de las poblaciones clave...

Toolkit: Scaling Up HIV-Related Legal Services (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian)

The purpose of the toolkit is to provide a practical resource to help to improve the quality and impact of HIV-related legal services and to expand their availability. The toolkit provides guidance on factors to be taken into account when designing and scaling up an HIV-related legal services programme. It also provides guidance about different models and approaches for delivering, monitoring and evaluating HIV-related legal services and gives information about resource mobilization

LEAHN Consultation on Police and HIV

IDLO is co-organizing a consultation on Police and HIV to be held in conjunction with the 2nd Law Enforcement and Public Health Conference in Amsterdam in October. The consultation is being convened by the Law Enforcement and HIV Network (LEAHN), and is being co-organized along with the Centre for Law Enforcement and Public Health and Birkbeck School of Law at the University of London.

HIV-AIDS: Building Skills and Solidarity Across the Andes

Delegates from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela will attend a three-day workshop on HIV-related services in the Andean region from September 23-25, 2014.

Tackling 'Lifestyle' Diseases in the Caribbean

IDLO Director-General Irene Khan and Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Executive Director James Hospedales have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on non-communicable diseases. The text pledges joint action to strengthen legal frameworks and expand capacity to tackle cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes in the Caribbean.

IDLO and MENA: Regional Consultation on HIV

Cairo, Egypt - IDLO hosted the Third Regional Consultation on HIV-related Legal Services and Rights, which brought together lawyers and community activists from five countries in the Middle East & North Africa: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia.

IDLO hosts first Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on HIV-related Legal Services and Rights

Bangkok, Thailand - IDLO co-hosted the first ever Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on HIV-related Legal Services and Rights, to exchange best practices and share achievements on legal aid and access to justice for people living with HIV (PLHIV).

Bringing HIV under the Rights Agenda

David Patterson has come a long way since backpacking around the world in search of a cause. He traces his interest in HIV and health law back to an episode in his native Australia, when an insurance offer came through his door. The eighties AIDS panic was raging, and the document came with a proviso: homosexuals need not apply.

Policing and HIV: The Role of Police Services in Improving Health

The role of the police in helping combat HIV is emerging as a key issue in public health. Several international consultations are scheduled for 2012 to drive for cultural change within law enforcement bodies in HIV prevention.

The first such consultation was held at the Headquarters of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome on 10-11 May 2012.

First Steering Committee Meeting to Review the Legislative and Policy Environment in Pakistan with regard to the Human Rights and HIV

Islamabad, Pakistan - At the invitation of UNDP and UNAIDS Pakistan, Ms Naomi Burke-Shyne, IDLO, spoke at the First Steering Committee Meeting to Review the Legislative and Policy Environment with regard to the Human Rights and HIV in Islamabad.

‘Let them eat law’: The right to food, from soft consensus to hard reality

As representatives of big United Nations agencies, NGOs and the American Bar Association gather in Rome to debate the justiciability of the right to food, some may wonder if the word itself can be successfully pronounced.

Good Cop, Caring Cop: Policing the Frontline of Public Health

So you’re a police officer. You’re on patrol. The call comes: a man is threatening to jump off a bridge. You rush there. The community, and your own conscience, expect you to ‘do something’.

Most likely, somewhere in the depths of his ailing mind, the man on the bridge is also longing for you to ‘do something’.

Key Initiatives

DREAMS: HIV services for adolescent girls and young women

Adolescent girls and young women account for 71 percent of new HIV infections among young people in sub-Saharan Africa. They are more vulnerable to HIV because they are often subjected to a range of gender and age based biases, discrimination and violence, including sexual assault, forced marriage and trafficking. Despite growing HIV-related responses, they and their communities most often do not have the capacity, voice and power to hold these service providers accountable for improved delivery of quality HIV-related services.
Strengthening the capacity of law schools

One of the challenges in scaling up HIV-related legal services is the limited number of knowledgeable, skilled and committed lawyers to provide such services. Part of the solution therefore lies in building the capacity of law schools to ensure law graduates are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to support human rights-based approaches to HIV. Many universities, including in East Africa, offer clinical legal education programs to give students direct experience of providing legal information to clients.
Strengthening the legal response to HIV/AIDs

It is well recognized that discrimination against people living with HIV and affected populations (such as injecting drug users and women in the sex industry) blocks HIV prevention efforts. Discrimination discourages HIV testing and can limit access to care and treatment services. IDLO is working to provide legal information and representation to HIV-affected and key populations in Benin. Through collaboration with local organizations, IDLO is building local capacity in Benin and strengthening the legal response to help those living with HIV assert their rights and address intolerance.
Tackling HIV in Papua New Guinea

IDLO has conducted a three-year project to strengthen the legal environment for the response to HIV in Papua New Guinea. Under the project, the PNG Development Law Association was established as the country's first non-governmental legal aid service to address the rights of vulnerable populations. In collaboration with AusAID, IDLO provided financial and technical support; expanded access to legal information, representation and services for people living with and populations vulnerable to HIV, including victims of domestic violence; and raised awareness of rights and protections.
Empowering People with HIV in Egypt & MENA

Tolerance of minorities (religious, sexual or otherwise) remains low in Egypt and other Middle Eastern and North African countries. People living with HIV are among the groups facing most discrimination. The virus is associated with stigmatized behaviors, such as sex between men and drug use. Many people with HIV are thus forced into the shadows, denied treatment, at risk of abuse and imprisonment. IDLO has been working with UNAIDS and local partners to help hundreds of people living with, and affected by, HIV in Egypt to access health and legal services.