Mission by Senior UNDP Policy Advisors to Jamaica Yields Positive Engagement from Parliamentarians on Implementation of Recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law
Published on Tuesday, 01 October 2013 03:44
- Ensure teaching of comprehensive, age-appropriate, culturally relevant, sexuality education in schools.
- Improve social support programmes to reduce incentives to pursue inter-generational sex.
- Realize the 2011 Declaration of Commitment by prohibiting discrimination based on gender and advancing gender equity.
- In line with the Domestic Violence Act, strengthen laws prohibiting gender-based violence, including for harassment, sexual violence, and marital rape.
- Continue expansion of the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme to reach all HIV positive pregnant women.
- Investigate and prosecute harassment and violence against MSM, transgender people, including the recent murder of Dwayne Jones, and sex workers.
- Guarantee the right to privacy for all individuals accessing public services, and provide training to ensure confidentiality in health settings.
- Strengthen community collaborations to identify and address the health needs of transgender people.
- Decriminalize or repeal sodomy/“buggery” laws.
- Continue to strengthen outreach programmes to sex workers, and decriminalize sex work to reduce instances of violence and police abuse.
Joined by members of the UN Country Team, the delegation met with key government officials and representatives from civil society organizations, including Minister of Justice Mark Golding, Chief Justice Zaila Mcalla, the Speaker, Senate President and key Members of Parliament, and public servants from Ministries of Health, Justice and Commerce. Outcomes of the meetings included:
- Plans for a technical briefing to the Ministers of Health, Justice and Commerce on the TRIPS flexibilities that should be incorporated into the new patent legislation to ensure that Jamaica can take maximum advantage of the freedom to import cheaper pharmaceutical products it will need to access once Global Fund support ends.
- Plans for a technical briefing to the Minsters of Health and Justice on the amendments required from a public health point of view to the sexual offences legislation.
- Key factsheets related to HIV and the recommendations of the Global Commission to be disseminated to all Members of Parliament in advance of upcoming parliamentary votes.
- A soon-to-be- published legal assessment and gap analysis report, a critical tool for parliamentarians to be informed of the legal frameworks relevant to HIV, to be shared with the Speaker of the House of Assembly and to the Clerk of the Houses of Parliament and will be formally launched at Parliament House.
- A toolkit for engaging parliamentarians to implement the recommendations of the report of the Global Commission will be produced, informed by the experiences of the mission.
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