HIV/AIDS

IDLO's work includes strengthening the legal response to HIV and AIDS in developing nations; fostering awareness of public health goals and human rights among government officials, and among those communities most at risk of HIV infection; and building lawmakers' capacity for reform based on evidence, international law and best practice.

We also work with United Nations agencies to scale up joint efforts towards zero HIV discrimination. Developed in partnership with UNAIDS and UNDP, our Scaling up HIV-Related Legal Services toolkit has been distributed in six languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian). Separately, we have launched multilingual e-learning courses on HIV Law and Policy.

IDLO's Publications on HIV/AIDS:

The objective of this handbook is to assist law lecturers, legal clinic managers and law students in Uganda to respond effectively to the HIV epidemic. Effective responses include providing HIV-related legal advice and litigation support; leading in research on HIV-related law and human rights; and advising the government on HIV-related legislation, and the implementation of related laws and policies.

The objective of this handbook is to assist law lecturers, legal clinic managers and law students in Tanzania to respond effectively to the HIV epidemic. Effective responses include providing HIV-related legal advice and litigation support; leading in research on HIV-related law and human rights; and advising the government on HIV-related legislation, and the implementation of related laws and policies. Swahili: Huduma Za Kisheria Zinazohusiana Na Vvu - Mwongozo kwa Kliniki za...

Legal Empowerment, Social Accountability and HIV Prevention for Young Women and Girls: Lessons from Tanzania and Uganda

20 October, 2020 Legal Empowerment, Social Accountability and HIV Prevention for Young Women and Girls: essons from Tanzania and Uganda reviews IDLO's programming in Tanzania and Uganda which integrated legal empowerment and social accountability strategies to accelerate justice for women and girls. Implemented as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, IDLO's program aimed at reducing new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women by strengthening demand for...

Equal Rights, Equal Treatment, Ending Aids: Strengthening and Expanding HIV-related Legal Services and Rights (English, Arabic, Spanish)

(ENGLISH, ARABIC, SPANISH) This report describes the contribution of IDLO’s HIV and Health Law Program (2009–2017) to ending AIDS in Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa regions. It details six approaches to strengthening legal services, and gives examples from different countries to illustrate how the approaches worked in a real-life setting.

Human rights protections in the law related to HIV and AIDS in Benin 29 June, 2016

As part of IDLO's program in Benin, the Benin Association for Law Development and IDLO, with the support of UNAIDS and OFID (the funding partner), developed the booklet: “Human rights protections in the law related to HIV and AIDS in Benin”. The booklet acts as a law guide for a broad audience in Benin communities, and primarily uses illustrations to communicate HIV/AIDS legal information.

Special Issue on Police, Law Enforcement and HIV

World leaders have committed to ending AIDS by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, but stigma and discrimination remain significant obstacles. In particular, police are critical, front-line determinants of risk for many people living with HIV (PLHIV) and members of other key affected populations (KAPs). The negative impact of adverse police behaviors and practices on HIV risk is well documented, and these risks undermine global efforts to end AIDS. Far less well documented, and less common, are attempts to ameliorate this impact by working t

Guia Sobre VIH Y Derechos Humanos: Para Facilitadores Legales

La promoción y protección de los derechos humanos de las personas que viven con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (PVV) y de las poblaciones clave (las que tienen más probabilidad de exposición al VIH) es una estrategia fundamental para la respuesta mundial al VIH. Además de salvaguardar la dignidad de estos grupos, esta estrategia ha demostrado ser efectiva a la hora de controlar la propagación del virus. En la región, la vulneración de los derechos de las PVV y de las poblaciones clave...

Toolkit: Scaling Up HIV-Related Legal Services (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian)

The purpose of the toolkit is to provide a practical resource to help to improve the quality and impact of HIV-related legal services and to expand their availability. The toolkit provides guidance on factors to be taken into account when designing and scaling up an HIV-related legal services programme. It also provides guidance about different models and approaches for delivering, monitoring and evaluating HIV-related legal services and gives information about resource mobilization

National HIV/AIDS conference in Tunisia harnesses the power of the law to protect the most vulnerable

Director-General, Jan Beagle's Statement at the High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

Empowering communities for improved access to HIV services

In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women aged 15 – 19 years account for 74 percent of new HIV infections.

Evaluation of the project "DREAMS: HIV services for adolescent girls and young women"

As part of IDLO’s continuous commitment to accountability and results-based management, IDLO is pleased to share this Evaluation Brief for the project, "Integrating Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability for Quality HIV Health Services for Adolescent Girls and Young Women". The evaluation has been conducted by independent evaluation experts, supervised by IDLO’s Evaluation Unit. This exercise utilized a theory-driven, mixed-method approach, in line with the IDLO Evaluation Guidelines and OECD DAC standards.

Evaluation of the “Law Schools – HIV” Project

As part of IDLO’s continuous commitment to accountability and results-based management, IDLO is pleased to share this Evaluati

The justice, health and inequality trifecta

On the margins of the Global Conference on SDG 16, IDLO and UNAIDs convened a side event on the intersection of health and the law, and why reform to criminal law is crucial to improving health, equality and peace.

Partnership connects African law schools to AIDS response

Stigma and discrimination, especially against women and girls and key populations, is a major barrier to people using HIV services. Up to 60% of countries report having laws, regulations or policies that deter people in key populations from being able to protect themselves from, or get treatment for, HIV.

Key Initiatives

Evaluation of the project "DREAMS: HIV services for adolescent girls and young women"

As part of IDLO’s continuous commitment to accountability and results-based management, IDLO is pleased to share this Evaluation Brief for the project, "Integrating Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability for Quality HIV Health Services for Adolescent Girls and Young Women". The evaluation has been conducted by independent evaluation experts, supervised by IDLO’s Evaluation Unit. This exercise utilized a theory-driven, mixed-method approach, in line with the IDLO Evaluation Guidelines and OECD DAC standards.
Evaluation of the “Law Schools – HIV” Project

As part of IDLO’s continuous commitment to accountability and results-based management, IDLO is pleased to share this Evaluati
DREAMS: HIV services for adolescent girls and young women

Adolescent girls and young women account for 71 percent of new HIV infections among young people in sub-Saharan Africa. They are more vulnerable to HIV because they are often subjected to a range of gender and age based biases, discrimination and violence, including sexual assault, forced marriage and trafficking. Despite growing HIV-related responses, they and their communities most often do not have the capacity, voice and power to hold these service providers accountable for improved delivery of quality HIV-related services.
Strengthening the capacity of law schools

One of the challenges in scaling up HIV-related legal services is the limited number of knowledgeable, skilled and committed lawyers to provide such services. Part of the solution therefore lies in building the capacity of law schools to ensure law graduates are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to support human rights-based approaches to HIV. Many universities, including in East Africa, offer clinical legal education programs to give students direct experience of providing legal information to clients.
Special Issue on Police, Law Enforcement and HIV

World leaders have committed to ending AIDS by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, but stigma and discrimination remain significant obstacles. In particular, police are critical, front-line determinants of risk for many people living with HIV (PLHIV) and members of other key affected populations (KAPs). The negative impact of adverse police behaviors and practices on HIV risk is well documented, and these risks undermine global efforts to end AIDS. Far less well documented, and less common, are attempts to ameliorate this impact by working to change police behaviors.