The World’s Biggest Minority Left Behind:National HIV-Responses Need to and Can Include Disability

Towards a UNAIDS Disability Strategy

Ruben MayorgaSenior Governance Adviser, UNAIDS

22 July 2014

UNAIDS• Getting to zero:

– 2011-2015 strategy extended until 2017

• Zero new infections• Zero AIDS-related deaths• Zero Discrimination

– Where we see the gap

Disability in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS

UN Member States unanimously:• Welcomed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities and recognized the need to take into account the rights of persons with disabilities in the formulation of our global HIV response;

• Noted with concern that HIV programmes have not been adequately targeted or made accessible to persons with disabilities;

• Commited to ensuring that financial resources for prevention are targeted to evidence-based prevention measures that reflect the specific nature of each country’s epidemic by focusing on… populations vulnerable to HIV infection…

• Committed to address factors that limit treatment uptake and access to drugs or resources

UN General Assembly at 56th session June 2011

Gap Report

• UNAIDS Gap Report– Beginning of the end of AIDS epidemic– 12 populations of people left behind

• Closing the gap– Perception of HIV risk is low among persons with disabilities (2012

South Africa survey)

Source: WHO / The World Bank

UNAIDS Accountability Framework (UBRAF) and Monitoring System (JPMS)

• Work is ongoing to include people with disabilities in the HIV response across regions and countries:

– Moldova– Ghana– Uganda– Thailand– Jamaica– Uruguay

Strengthen the evidence-base of the

vulnerability of persons with disabilities to HIV

Forge partnerships between the disability and HIV movements aimed at

promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities and people

living with HIV.

Advocate for inclusion of persons with

disabilities in national HIV responses

Address the intersection of HIV &

disability in laws, policies and practices

Moving Forward: UNAIDS Strategy on HIV and Disability 2015-17

Proposed

Objectives

Moving Forward: UNAIDS Strategy on HIV and Disability 2015-17

• Process to finalize a disability strategy for 2015-17

• Vision-set objectives

• Base-line and targets

• Involve key stakeholders

• Identify a mechanism to support implementation

THANK YOU!

For further information please contact:

The Human Rights and Law DivisionDepartment of Rights, Gender, Prevention and Community Mobilization