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Law enforcers from six countries commit to protect rights of people living with HIV

Published on Tuesday, 23 July 2013 09:41

Picture by KELIN/Martin Namasaka

Forty-three law enforcement officers from Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania & Zambia participated in a regional capacity building workshop on HIV and the law from the 17th -19th July 2013 in Nairobi. As one of the initiatives aimed at taking forward the recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law. The workshop was organized by KELIN in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP- Kenya). While making opening remarks at the start of the workshop, the UNDP-Kenya Deputy Country Director Alfredo Teixeira, said: “The report of the Global Commission on HIV and the law recommends engaging law enforcement officers in building an enabling environment through education and communication programmes. The engagement of law enforcement will foster trust and rapport needed to deliver effective HIV prevention and care services to people living with HIV and key populations.” Among others, topics of discussion included; the status of the HIV epidemic in Eastern and Southern Africa,  stigma and discrimination and its role in HIV prevention and treatment among law enforcement officers, HIV, human rights and the law, and the findings of the Global Commission on law and HIV as they relate to law enforcement officers. In one of the workshop sessions, participants got insights into the personal life experiences of sex workers, Men who have sex with Men (MSM) and people who use drugs — and their expectations of law enforcement officers in creating and enabling legal environment to facilitate access to HIV prevention and treatment services for such key populations. During group discussions, participants deliberated on potential entry points for legal & policy dialogue in their respective countries with regard to the topics of the workshop. At the end of it, participants developed country action plans that sought to take forward three key main issues:
  1. Strengthening HIV workplace programmes
  2. Creating and enabling legal environment to minimize human rights violations
  3. Policy and advocacy country actions
The work plans will be shared with the respective UNDP country officers for further action.  The full workshop report will be shared on the KELIN website in due course. You can also follow KELIN on our Social Media Platforms for the latest news, jobs, updates, videos, info, events and much more here; Twitter: https://twitter.com/KELINKenya Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelinkenya Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/kelinkenya   Source: KELIN Kenya