Engaging the Judiciary/Policy makers in advocating for rights based approaches to HIV and TB Johannesburg, South Africa April 2015

Outline of Presentation About KELIN Why the law is critical to the HIV response Engagement with the Judiciary and Policy makers Results of engagements with the Judiciary and Policy makers Lessons learnt

About KELIN KELIN is a human rights NGO working to protect and promote health related human rights in Kenya. This is done by: facilitating access to justice to those who have faced human rights violations, creating partnerships with key stakeholders, building capacity of communities to know their rights and analysis of laws and policies to ensure they integrate human rights principles. KELIN’s proposed strategic framework focuses on 4 thematic areas: HIV & TB; Women Land and Property Rights, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and Key & Affected Populations KELIN

Why the law is critical Bringing an end to the HIV epidemic requires an enabling legal environment which supports the necessary HIV responses. Bringing an end to new HIV infections and AIDS related cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to the social and legal contexts in which people live and the challenges that they face in fulfilling their health, dignity and security Laws and legal institutions can protect the dignity of all people living with HIV and TB and in so doing fortify those most vulnerable to HIV – key and priority populations which include women, MSMs PWUD, sex workers and the prison population.

Engagement with the Judiciary and Policy makers Taking cognisance of the need to create an enabling legal environment KELIN has engaged with two critical institutions the Judiciary and Policy makers. Engagement has been through various methods including- Judicial Dialogues (2 have been held so far in 2012 and 2014) County dialogues National dialogues Advisory notes Litigation Advocacy and use of media

Results of Engagement KELIN with support from UNDP has successfully conducted two judicial dialogue forums. The first was held from 28 – 31 October It drew participants from 12 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. The second was held from 2 – 3 December 2014 This forum drew participants from 5 countries in East Africa.

Ctd… There have been varied results to our engagement. Firstly our engagement with the Judiciary has resulted in: Public interest litigation which has led to the Courts upholding human rights and this has also resulted in a declaration of unconstitutionality of legislation which could impact on access to medicines (Anti- Counterfeit Case) The Judicial dialogues have evidenced an increased awareness on HIV issues amongst the Judiciary. Engagement allowed judicial officers to share experiences and brought to light difficulties faced in adjudicating HIV issues.

Ctd Engagement with Policy Makers has been in varying methods with National and County dialogues being utilised to engage the Executive and Legislature. In addition trainings for Police, Prison Officers and Civil Society also had the benefit of members of the Executive being present to better understand issues faced.

Ctd… Engagement with Policy makers has resulted in Increased awareness of HIV issues amongst those tasked with developing policy, more specifically issues affecting key and priority populations and the creation of an enabling legal environment. Significant changes in law and policy, notably the Kenya AIDS Strategic Framework which takes cognisance of key and priority populations. Cognisance of the barriers to the HIV response and efforts to address such barriers such as policies and trainings to ensure that Health Workers are able to administer HIV services without discrimination. Development of multi-disciplinary frameworks that ensure the HIV response is sufficient by addressing the legal and social barriers.

Lessons Learnt 1.Engagements may be more effective if they included the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary, Civil Society and PLHIV in the same meeting such as to allow a greater understanding amongst all the bodies on the HIV response and the role each plays. 2.Members of the Executive arm such as the Police and the Prisons feel constrained by legislation and policies that they believe hinder the response but are binding. 3.Members of the Judiciary feel similarly constrained by legal provisions they have to adjudicate on that may not necessarily aid the HIV response. 4.There is a need for increased political will among Policy Makers and the Legislature to ensure an enabling legal environment. A key area in pushing this is through the media and advocacy.

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