UNDP reports legal environment on MSM and HIV

Report Launch: Legal environments, human rights and HIV responses among MSM and TG in Asia and the Pacific: An agenda for action

On Tuesday, July 20th, UNDP/APCOM presented a ground breaking study on Legal environments, human rights and HIV responses among men who have sex with men and transgender people in Asia and the Pacific: An agenda for action. This report and its key findings were delivered during the session on Criminalizing Homosexual Behaviour: Human Rights Violation and Obstacles to Effective HIV/AIDS Prevention at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna. A press conference was held on Wednesday, July 21st with Jeff O’Malley, Global Director of UNDP’s HIV Group and Shiv to launch the report.

The report clearly documents how both punitive and protective laws, policies and practices impact comprehensive HIV response. To support the findings and recommendations, the report maps out recent judicial, legislative and policy developments  and community responses at the global, regional and national levels. Together, these findings demonstrate why it is necessary for stakeholders across the spectrum to adopt a rights-based approach to universal access and proactively address policy and legal barriers to effective HIV responses. Finally, the report recommends that each government, development partner and UN agency take bold and effective policy measures to reach out to communities and individuals at risk, particularly those living with HIV.

The study method involved a yearlong review of legislation, cases, published research and grey literature, consultations with community representatives, technical experts and UN agencies, and analysis. A list of participants in the series of community and high-level consultations convened by UNDP to inform the report is provided at Annex II. Inputs were also collected from community representatives; with UNDP and UNAIDS country offices;  UNAIDS and WHO regional offices, with USAID and AusAID, and with some government partners. It’s important to acknowledge that the study has produced more than a report – it has also generated a process, a series of regional consultations within themselves help to raise awareness and build capacity of stakeholders in understanding the issues, and regional and national meetings were held to look at the legal environment and discuss implications.  The study also benefited from technical expertise with inputs from lawyers, parliamentarians and judges from the region.  The recent Punitive Laws, Human Rights and HIV prevention among men who have sex with men in Asia Pacific - High Level Dialogue held in Hong Kong on May 17, 2010 was the last of a series of regional consultations.  The work in this area has been highly  covered by both the international media and local news agencies, and has produced an editorial and full length article in Lancet.

A big thanks to all of you who participated by providing inputs and comments to the report.

Please download the full report HERE.

The following supporting publications can be downloaded HERE.

 - Punitive Laws, Human Rights and HIV prevention among men who have sex with men in Asia Pacific - High Level Dialogue Report (2010)

- WHO: Priority HIV and sexual health interventions in the health sector for men who have sex with men and transgender people in the Asia-Pacific region (2010)

- ICAAP IX Symposium: Overcoming legal barriers to comprehensive prevention among men who have sex with men and transgender people in Asia and the Pacific (2009)

- Developing a Comprehensive Package of Services to Reduce HIV among MSM and TG Populations in Asia and the Pacific: Regional consensus meeting (2009)

[Posted by Edmund Settle, MSM-Asia mailing list, 2010-07-21. The full report can also be downloaded HERE.]