| Overview : Belize has an estimated total population of 370,300, of whom approximately 42% are under 25 years of age. Although an upper-middle-income country by World Bank classification, the heavily indebted, highly vulnerable to economic and disaster shocks, and weak national capacity of Belize disguises and denies significant rates of poverty, unemployment, chronic malnutrition, drug abuse and violence as well as other specific conditions that drive the HIV epidemic. Belize has an estimated adult prevalence of 1.2% for persons 15-49 years, and more than 3,300 people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The current Global Fund HIV/TB grant extends its focus on health systems strengthening and human rights for all as critical areas of support to ensure effective HIV and TB interventions. It is under this purview that the thrust for supporting the 90:90:90 targets of UNAIDS/WHO, the UNDP SDGs 3, 10 and 15 and Belize’s National HIV Strategic, Operational and M&E plans comes, appreciating fully that if the legal and policy environments are not amended to enable fair and equitable spaces for all persons, including key populations most vulnerable to the diseases, then the epidemic will continue to debilitate national development systems unabated. Legal Environment Assessment (LEA): An assessment of a country’s national legal and regulatory framework is an important step in strengthening a country’s response to HIV and AIDS. The primary aim of a legal and regulatory assessment is to identify and review HIV, health and any other related laws, regulations and policies and practices to identify which laws, policies and practices are relevant and have an impact in the national response to HIV. A range of laws (not just health laws) are implicated because HIV is not just a health/medical issue, but also a phenomenon that requires deep inquiry into structural factors of inequality, power, personal and social dynamics. The Legal Environment Assessment aims to determine how laws, policies and practices are implemented in the country in order to determine the extent to which the legal framework protects rights and promotes an enabling environment for the national response to HIV, including access to HIV-related services. It also aims to identify how these laws, policies and practices affect people living with and/or affected by HIV. |
