View Notice
| Recruitment of International Consultant (IC) to HIV, Health & Development Team in UNDP RSC Africa |
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| Procurement Process : | RFP - Request for proposal |
| Office : | UNDP Regional Service Center - ETHIOPIA |
| Deadline : | 08-Dec-14 | | Posted on : | 26-Nov-14 |
| Development Area : | HEALTH  |
| Reference Number : | 19574 |
Documents :
Procurement Notice
TOR
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| Overview : : African countries are signatories to key international and regional human rights instruments which guarantee human rights to all individuals. This includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights. The ‘African Women’s Protocol’ specifically recognises the sexual and reproductive health rights of women in the context of HIV and AIDS. In addition to the need to align national legal frameworks with these existing human rights commitments, there is also a growing recognition of the central role of law and human rights in effective HIV responses and, based on principles of accountability and responsibility, of the need to enjoin countries to take steps to strengthen legal frameworks to protect people living with HIV and key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure and to promote universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
The Global Commission’s report Risks, Rights & Health affirms recommendations made by participants at the Africa Regional Dialogue for removing punitive and discriminatory laws and strengthening evidence informed and human rights based legal and regulatory environments for effective HIV responses. Recommendations include review and reform of laws to ensure the protection of people living with HIV, women and girls and key populations from stigma, discrimination and violence and to repeal coercive and punitive laws that block effective HIV responses. Other steps to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks include strengthening programmes to increase knowledge of rights and laws and to reduce stigma, discrimination and gender inequality amongst families, communities and key service providers as well as law enforcement officials. Finally, efforts to strengthen access to justice should include the provision of legal support services, sensitising the judiciary, encouraging strategic litigation and working with national human rights institutions and CSOs to document, monitor and investigate human rights violations.
Currently, steps taken in sub-Saharan African countries to address law and human rights in national HIV responses are inadequate. Countries are faced with an overwhelming number of issues and tend to take a piecemeal approach. This fails to sufficiently address all relevant aspects of strengthening a human rights based legal and regulatory environment necessary for supporting effective HIV responses at multiple levels with strong laws and policies, access to justice, implementation and enforcement of rights. |
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