Geneva - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme of HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS), will launch a high level Global Commission on HIV and the Law on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Bringing together leadership
from the United Nations, community advocacy groups, and Global Commission members, the launch will address the aims, process
and expected results of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.
The AIDS response is increasingly undermined
by human rights violations. There are numerous reports from across the globe of the negative impacts of punitive laws, policies
and practices on national AIDS responses including escalating stigma, reducing access to health, legal and social services,
and increasing HIV risk and vulnerability. Credible evidence on the role and impact of legal environments on HIV and health
is essential for mobilizing national commitment for advancing rights based AIDS responses.
If universal access
to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and the Millennium Development Goals are to be realized, the AIDS response
must reach beyond prevention and treatment targets to engage and support those who are the most vulnerable in our societies.
If the full prevention benefits of anti-retroviral treatment are to be realized, health and community systems must be able
to effectively engage those who are marginalized by punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination. The hallmark
of the next generation of the AIDS response must be legal, regulatory and social environments that advance human rights and
gender equality goals.
The Global Commission on HIV and the Law launch will take the format of brief statements
from participants followed by a moderated Q & A with members of the press.
Venue: Palais des Nations, Press
Room 3, Geneva
Date and Time: Thursday, June 24th 2010, 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Participants:
•
Ms Helen Clark, Administrator, UNDP
• Mr Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS
• Professor Miriam Were (Kenya),
Commissioner, Global Commission on HIV and
the Law
• Ms Claudia Ahumada (Chile), Coordinator of Women’s Campaign,
World AIDS
Campaign
Moderator: Dr Mandeep Dhaliwal, UNDP
Biographies of the participants and
moderator are available upon request.
For more information contact:
Adam Rogers | Geneva | Senior Strategic
Communications Advisor |tel. +41 22 917 85 41| adam.rogers@undp.org
Natalie Amar | New York| Secretariat, Global
Commission on HIV and the Law |tel. +1 212 906 6168 | natalie.amar@undp.org
