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European Parliament resolution on a rights-based approach to the EU’s response to HIV/AIDS

Stop AIDS Alliance welcomes the adoption yesterday by the European Parliament of a Resolution on a rights-based approach to the EU’s response to HIV/AIDS, with an overwhelming majority of Members of the European Parliament (400 out of 621 present) voting in favour.

Alvaro Bermejo, International HIV/AIDS Alliance Executive Director was delighted: “the resolution, adopted by the European Parliament in view of the XVIII International AIDS Conference which will take place later this month, sends a very strong signal for the European Union to adopt a rights-based approach to HIV/AIDS, something that had been missing in the past. It is a major contribution to the acknowledgement by the donor community of the fact that AIDS is more than a health issue, notably because of stigma and discrimination facing key population such as people living with HIV and men having sex with men. We urge the European Commission and the Member States to undertake concrete actions to implement the recommendations formulated in the resolution.”

The resolution notes that a rights-based approach in response to HIV/AIDS is crucial in efforts to end the epidemic and requests the European Commission and the Council to meet their commitments and step up efforts to address AIDS as a global public health priority, with human rights as a central aspect of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. The EU is asked to promote in the political dialogue with partner governments best policies and practices which address AIDS as human rights issue, notably regarding people living with HIV/AIDS and other key populations.

Invited to debate with the Parliament on this issue, Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Vice-President of the European Commission, said: “The spread of HIV continues to cause considerable suffering. The impact of HIV is worse in situations where human rights are not respected [and] in countries where homosexuality is criminalised, some face the additional fear of imprisonment and, in extreme cases, even the death penalty. Human rights should empower individuals, including people affected with HIV. The right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health implies that those who are affected by HIV must have access to information as well as effective prevention and treatment options.”

Speaking on the importance of this resolution, Michal Cashman MEP said he was “really pleased that the Parliament has decided to take a rights-based approach, because once you have rights those rights can be enforced by you, by civil society acting on your behalf, or can be enforced by your government […] There is quite clearly so much more we need to do. We need to empower individuals about the choices they have, about their bodies and about denying the rights that others wish to force upon them – particularly men – or those, like transgendered people, who are often sex workers and have no choice but to yield to the demands of others. That is why I am particularly pleased that we have made reference to those who are primarily affected by this.” He concluded by asking the presents to “Think of the lost generations, lost lives, lost lovers, lost parents, lost brothers and sisters, lives often lost by the loss of the other. Think of the waste – the total, abject waste of life from the preventable transmission of the HIV virus.”

Funding to HIV/AIDS needs to be increased with human rights at the centre of decisions
While stating that human rights should guide funding decisions on HIV/AIDS, the resolution calls on the EU and the Member States to increase spending on health and AIDS by allocating at least 20% of all development spending to basic health and education and increasing their contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as other programmes designed to strengthen health systems and community systems. In that regard, the EU is requested to work through a mix of financing instruments, in addition to budget support,  notably by working with organisations which have proved successful in addressing the human-rights dimension of HIV/AIDS, in particular civil-society organisations and community-based organisations.

Address punitive laws and practices against key populations
The European Parliament requests the European Union to address the major economic, legal, social and technical barriers, as well as punitive laws and practices against key populations such as men having sex with men, which impede effective responses to HIV. The European Commission and the Member States are notably requested to actively support the work of the recently established Global Commission on HIV and the Law. Moreover, the European Commission is requested to support national governments, and engage civil society, in improving the poor level of coverage of programmes to fight the stigmatisation of, and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and other key populations.

In this regard, Baroness Ashton said: “In the last months EU representatives, both in Brussels and in partner countries, have made several démarches on this issue, including voicing EU concerns about the criminalisation of sexual behaviour among consenting adults – Uganda, Burundi, Malawi – or harassment of AIDS activists by police and judicial authorities in Senegal. The recent adoption of an EU tool kit to help promote and protect the respect of human rights by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will further consolidate EU action in this area.”

Renew the European Programme for Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis through External Action
The Parliament’s resolution requests the Commission and the Members States to initiate a broad consultative process for the continuation of the European Programme for Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis beyond 2012 and to support the operationalisation of the implementing EU Action Teams working on the priority areas. During the debate in the Parliament, Baroness Ashton committed to support the implementation of the Programme for Action.

Baroness Catherine Ashton firmly committed to implement the Parliament’s resolution
In her concluding remarks in front of the Parliament, Baroness Ashton said: “I am confident that the Vienna Conference will help us to move forward in enforcing the rights of people to be protected against avoidable HIV infections and in gaining access to the evidence-based prevention and highly efficient treatment […] I want to assure [the Parliament]  as well that we will maintain and increase our dedication to defending these rights inside Europe, but also as part of our relations with third countries. She added: “I saw was the tragedy of an unnecessary devastation and I pay tribute to [those] who have put forward this resolution and promise to do my best to support its implementation.”

Stop AIDS Alliance’s instrumental role in the adoption of the resolution
Stop AIDS Alliance was instrumental in securing the adoption of the resolution by the European Parliament. Stop AIDS Alliance worked very closely with Michael Cashman MEP and Heidi Hautala MEP to build support for this initiative among political groups in the Parliament and substantially contributed to the drafting process, with coordinated input from its partners. On his continuous work with Stop AIDS Alliance, Michael Cashman said: “There is no way we would have secured such strong support in the European Parliament for this resolution without the expertise and hard work of Stop AIDS Alliance and other civil society organisations. Stop AIDS Alliance is key in helping the EU lead the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially in developing countries, and I look forward to continuing building a close cooperation with them.”