ANNUAL UN MEETING OPENS WITH CALL TO ENSURE HIV SERVICES FOR ‘PEOPLE ON THE MOVE’

The agency tasked with coordinating the United Nations response to the AIDS epidemic today called for improving HIV information and services for "people on the move," saying it will help further development and promote human rights.

Addressing the HIV-related needs of the millions uprooted from their homes every year, either by forced displacement or migration, is the focus of the annual meeting of the governing body of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, which began in Geneva today.

Figures by the UN refugee agency indicate that there were 16 million refugees, 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to conflict and an additional 25 million displaced due to natural disasters in 2007, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates there were over 200 million international migrants in 2008.

Meeting the needs of people on the move for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is essential for achieving universal access, UNAIDS noted in a news release.

The agency said that populations on the move are sometimes blamed for the spread of HIV, or for increasing the burden on limited services for people living with HIV. However, many of the underlying factors driving mobility also increase the vulnerability of this group to HIV infection.

In addition, those among this group living with HIV and those taking antiretroviral medication face additional challenges in obtaining needed care and treatment.

It is critical to address the needs of those who 'fall between the cracks' in national AIDS strategies, and in global discussions of forced displacement, migration and travel, the agency said.

Among the specific issues of concern being discussed at the three-day UNAIDS meeting are human rights, especially in connection with access to services, as well as stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV.

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BELARUS MAKING STRIDES IN COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, UN EXPERT FINDS

BELARUS MAKING STRIDES IN COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, UN EXPERT FINDS
New York, May 26 2009 1:01PM
The United Nations independent expert on human trafficking today commended Belarus – which is creeping towards becoming a source, transit and destination country for victims – for its efforts to combat the scourge.

"I am very impressed by the political commitment demonstrated at the highest level to combat all forms of trafficking in Belarus," Joy Ngozi, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, said as she wrapped up a week-long visit to the country on 24 May.

"Trafficking in persons is a huge global problem that has turned into one of the fastest-growing criminal activities in the world today, affecting virtually every country either as source, transit and/or destination country for women, children and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual labour or labour exploitation," she stated.

During the visit, which was carried out at the invitation of the Government, Ms. Ngozi met with senior officials and representatives of state institutions and non-governmental organizations working to combat trafficking. She also visited a shelter run by the International Organization for Migration (<"http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp">IOM), and the Territorial Center in the capital, Minsk, which provides a range of social assistance.

Belarus has ratified the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons to the 2000 UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol), under which States are required to take action to ensure the protection of trafficking victims, prevent trafficking and bring traffickers to justice.

The country "is on the verge of occupying the unenviable status of being a source, transit and destination country, which undoubtedly is a growing concern to the Government and hence the good leadership it has shown in this field," the Rapporteur said.

Belarus has introduced legislation and amended its criminal code to effectively combat the scourge, while an action plan has been developed and is being implemented, she added.

A high number of cases, also resulting in a high number of convictions, are being prosecuted. "The evidence of this huge success in prosecution indicates that the trafficking problem is not only real and serious in Belarus, but also that measures are being undertaken to deal with the menace," Ms. Ngozi noted.

She pointed out some areas in which the country could improve on this issue, such as boosting assistance to victims, ensuring that victims are not stigmatized, and addressing domestic violence which can perpetuate gender inequalities that can increase people's vulnerability to trafficking.

The Rapporteur, who was appointed to her position last June, reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in an independent and unpaid capacity.
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UN-SUPPORTED HIV SERVICES TARGET DRUG-ADDICTED WOMEN AND AFGHANS IN IRAN

UN-SUPPORTED HIV SERVICES TARGET DRUG-ADDICTED WOMEN AND AFGHANS IN IRAN
New York, Mar 20 2009 4:00PM

The United Nations drug control agency has signed agreements with the Government of Iran to provide HIV prevention and care services to women and Afghan refugees there who are dependent on drugs.

HIV programmes for such vulnerable groups represent "an often neglected and humanitarian side of drug control," said Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), expressing thanks to the Netherlands for financial assistance and urging other funding partners to follow suit.

"These agreements are further evidence of UNODC's pro-health approach to drugs, and to a deepening of our partnership with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Mr. Costa added.

According to UNODC, there are more than 900,000 Afghan refugees in Iran, down from a peak of 2 million in 2002 and 2003, making it one of the largest refugee populations in the world.

The group has been identified as being high-risk and has thus far not fully benefited from Iran's HIV prevention and support services, such as opioid substitution treatment, for injecting drug users.

The project is part of a three-year sub-regional initiative to assist Afghan drug-dependent refugees in Pakistan as well as those who have returned home.

"The hardships of Afghan refugees are compounded, not solved, by drugs. We need to reach out to this vulnerable group, and lower their vulnerability to drug abuse and the spread of HIV/AIDS through injecting drug use," Mr. Costa said.

Partners in the project include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), along with the Governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The second project targets Iranian women who are either drug dependent or affected by HIV or both, aiming to increase quality services tailored to the specific needs of these women in prison settings and elsewhere.

It will complement the "significant resources" that the Government of Iran already devotes to prevention and treatment of HIV and to drug-demand reduction measures, UNODC said.
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