Providing Leadership on Critical HIV/AIDS Issues: An Appeal by and to Members of Parliament

Transcript (.pdf)

For more information on this session, including access to speaker presentations, please see the conference Programme-at-a-Glance.

The severe stigma attached to HIV makes it a sensitive and often politically unattractive issue to champion. A number of parliamentary initiatives have attempted to address the needs of orphans and other children made vulnerable by AIDS. But parliamentary leadership and action for other vulnerable populations (such as people who use drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers, or prisoners and pre-trial detainees) and on controversial issues such as decriminalization of sodomy remain rare. Despite the fact that many parliamentarians are living with HIV, they have not disclosed their HIV status to the public, engaged in public conversation/dialogue about stigma, or acted as role models for other persons living with HIV. This session will highlight examples of leadership by members of parliament on such "difficult" issues from countries around the world, and discuss barriers to such leadership and how they can be overcome. It will conclude with an appeal for more, and sustained, leadership by members of parliament.

Presentations in This Session:

Introduction

Co-chairs:

• Petra Bayr (Austria)
  Member of the Austrian National Council
• Inviolata Mwali Mimbwavi (Kenya)

Short Introduction: Why Members of Parliament Should Oppose Criminalization of HIV Transmission
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu (South Africa)
Public Works Deputy Minister

Short Introduction: Why Parliamentary Leadership on Harm Reduction and the Rights of People Who Use Drugs is Important, What Barriers Exist and How They Can be Overcome
Libby Davies (Canada)
Deputy Leader of the Federal NDP
Politician, Member of Parliament

Short Introduction by Tim Barnett
Tim Barnett

Short Introduction: Why Leadership on Women's Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS, and on SRHR Is Important, What Barriers Exist and How They Can Be Overcome
Marleen Temmerman (Belgium)
Politician, Member of the Socialistische Parti

Panel Discussion

Questions and Answers

Conclusions

Providing Leadership on Critical HIV/AIDS Issues: An Appeal by and to Members of Parliament (.mp3)